2026 Finland–Sweden Smart cities forum: solutions contributing to climate neutrality
Join us to explore how Nordic collaboration is shaping the next generation of climate-neutral, resilient and nature-positive cities. This event brings together city leaders, researchers, climate strategists, industry innovators and smart city experts to showcase the most impactful tools and approaches driving real progress today.
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About the event
Throughout the day, Finnish and Swedish frontrunners will present cutting-edge climate action methods, including digital twins, participatory planning, impact assessment tools and national programmes accelerating the green transition. You’ll hear concrete case examples from pioneering cities and energy companies that are already transforming their systems and learn what it takes to scale these solutions across Europe.
This event, organized by VTT and RISE, is a continuation of annual Smart Cities forums around the globe, endorsed by the journal IET Smart Cities and IET.
Whether you work with urban planning, climate neutrality strategies, smart city development, digital platforms or energy systems, this event offers:
- Hands-on insights into proven tools supporting climate action planning and monitoring
- Nordic best practices from leading researchers, national programmes and city practitioners
- Real examples of how data, digitalisation and cross-sector collaboration enable systemic change
Who is this for?
- City officials, climate strategists and sustainability managers
- Urban planners, smart city developers and environmental experts
- Researchers and academics working on smart city solutions and climate neutrality
- Representatives from national or regional climate programmes
- Companies offering smart city, energy, digital twin or climate‑tech solutions
- Utilities and energy companies supporting urban decarbonisation
- Industry professionals focused on data platforms, monitoring tools and ICT infrastructure
- NGOs and organizations promoting sustainable urban development
- Policymakers and public sector decision-makers driving the green transition
- Anyone interested in Nordic collaboration and pioneering solutions for climate‑neutral cities
Agenda
9:00-9:05 Agenda and practicalities | Prof. Sami Kazi, moderator, VTT
9:05-9:10 Opening | Prof. William Webb, FREng, Editor-in-Chief IET Smart Cities, Former President of IET
9:10-9:25 Why smart cities are crucial for biodiversity? | Miimu Airaksinen, Vice President RDI, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, FI
From visions to climate neutrality by 2030
9:25-9:40 Finnish cities’ progress towards climate neutrality by 2030 | Mari Hukkalainen, Principal Scientist, VTT, FI
9:40-9:55 Viable Cities - Strategic innovation program supporting Swedish cities towards climate neutrality by 2030 | Olga Kordas, Program Manager, Viable Cities, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE
9:55-10:10 Approaches for monitoring the progress towards climate neutrality | Sofie Sandin Lompar, Researcher, The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, Lund University, Viable Cities, SE
10:10-10:20 Tools for planning and monitoring city-wide climate action pathways | Jouni Tuominen, Chief Science Officer & Founder, Kausal, FI
10:20-10:30 A Collaborative data-driven platform helping cities move from climate plans to real progress | Tomer Shalit, CPO & Co-Founder ClimateView, SE
10:30-11:00 Q&A and panel discussion
11:00-11:45 Lunch break
Data-driven approaches for climate action
11:45-12:00 Building centralized IT capabilities for a smarter and more sustainable city | Robert Lann, IT architect - Smart City, Malmö, SE
12:00-12:15 Using city models and digital twins in climate work | Enni Airaksinen, City Model Specialist, Helsinki, FI
12:15-12:25 Automated climate and nature impact assessment for urban plans | Eero Puurunen, Director, Sitowise, FI
Energy Innovations & sector Contributions
12:25-12:35 Energy Net – “Internetification” of electrical distribution for the 21st century grid | Jonas Birgersson, Founder & Vice chairman, ViaEurope, Sweden, SE
12:35-12:45 Smart contribution from an energy company towards climate neutrality | Jörgen Carlsson-Noël, Business Developer, Umeå Energi AB, SE
Participatory planning and community engagement
12:45-12:55 Maptionnaire as a tool for empowering communities to sustainable urban futures | Maarit Kahila, CEO & Co-founder, Mapita, FI
12:55-13:25 QA and panel discussion
13:25-13:30 Summary & closing
Speakers
Dr. Miimu Airaksinen works as Vice President RDI in Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. She is responsible for Metropolia's research, development, and innovation and is a member of Metropolia's executive team. Before she joined Metropolia, Airaksinen was Senior Vice President of development at SRV and CEO at RIL Finnish Association of Civil Engineers, as well as Research Professor at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Currently, Airaksinen is active in U!REKA European University Alliance and the European Innovation Platform for Smart Cities and Communities.
Enni Airaksinen, MSc (Tech), works as a 3D specialist for the City of Helsinki and is passionate about using 3D city models, open data, and smart city platforms to support better urban planning and climate-smart decision-making. She enjoys collaborating across disciplines and contributing to digital innovations that help create more sustainable and resilient cities.
Jouni Tuominen is a founder and Chief Science Officer at Kausal, a SaaS company helping cities turn climate goals into actions. He is an environmental health researcer and has expertise in health impact modeling, toxicology, and risk assessment. He is an advocade of open science and a developer of a method called open policy practice.
Eero Puurunen is a specialist in sustainable urban development with over twenty years of experience at the intersection of urban planning, architecture, and digital solutions. He is a Director at Sitowise, a leading Nordic AEC company, where he leads the development of sustainable land-use services and digital solutions for cities. He heads the development of Planect, an innovative SaaS platform for early-stage lifecycle and nature impact assessments for urban plans, currently used by more than twenty Finnish cities. Eero brings a holistic perspective to smart city development that combines quantitative analysis, digital innovation, and design quality.
Maarit Kahila PhD, holds degrees in planning geography from the University of Helsinki and urban planning from Aalto University, Finland. Her research has focused on developing new methods to enable and encourage broader public participation in urban planning. In her PhD dissertation, she explored how urban planners can use map-based PPGIS tools, such as Maptionnaire, to gather valuable ideas and insights from residents. She is currently the CEO and co-founder of Mapita, the company behind Maptionnaire. Maarit continues to advance the field of community engagement by helping urban planners and city developers create effective, map-based participation processes. Maptionnaire is a global citizen engagement SaaS platform used in over 40 countries, empowering communities to contribute meaningfully to shaping their environments.
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