Page 25 - European Energy Innovation magazine - autumn 2022 edition

Autumn 2022 European Energy Innovation
COMMUNICATION 25

project, followed subsequently by An effort will also be made to
Brussels (Belgium), Zaragoza (Spain), utilise the solutions elsewhere
Botoșani (Romania) Ptolemaida in Turku, especially in Turku
(Greece), Gabrovo (Bulgaria) and Science Park and the Runosmäki
Severodonetsk (Ukraine) (Latest residential area.
information before the city was taken
over by Russian forces was that the “The Response project is also one
Ukrainians want to stay involved in way of bringing Turku closer to its
the project) goal of being carbon neutral by 2029”,
says Lamoureux.
“The idea is that the subsequent
cities will draw up a plan on how they Lecturer Samuli Ranta from Turku
can implement the innovations of the University of Applied Sciences was
pilot cities.” also interviewed for this article. ●

Fast travel from Turku Science Park

to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

An internationally signifi cant cluster of expertise merging science and
business in line with sustainable development is being built in Turku. The
one-hour Turku Rail Link will add Turku Science Park under the commuting
umbrella of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.
A fairly compact area in Turku features two universities of applied sciences,
the Student Village, the hospital complex and a signifi cant number of
October 2022 will see the start of a businesses.
three-year monitoring period with the
purpose of gathering information on Director of Urban Planning Timo Hintsanen says that the area in question,
how functional and practical the new titled Turku Science Park, is now being expanded and made into a more
innovations are. integrated entity.
“The idea is to promote encounters that facilitate creative innovations.
“Whenever you develop something Cooperation also opens up other synergic benefi ts; for example, the area
new, you’ll have some inventions that already has a new resource-smart laboratory shared by two universities.”
work well and others that are less
effective than expected. But even a Turku Science Park is mainly located in the districts of Kupittaa and Itäharju.
single new solution can have a huge The plan is to integrate these two areas even more closely together with a
impact if it is something that can be deck structure that will reach across the railway and motorway and feature
used in other places as well.” several green areas.
On the other hand, the railway will connect the area closely to the Helsinki
Lamoureux mentions some Metropolitan Area. With the high-speed Turku Rail Link, the journey from the
more innovations in Tyyssija: “The Helsinki Metropolitan Area to Turku Science Park would take about an hour.
apartments have sensors that help
optimise heating. Tyyssija will also “And within Turku Science Park, everything would be less than a 10 minute
have a V2G charging point for electric walk away.”
cars, which will make it possible for The area is also well-connected to the rest of Turku:
residents to sell electricity stored in “There is a plan for a tramway to pass through the Science Park, and the area
their car batteries to the grid if they is easy to reach by bus as well. We’ll also have urban planning that supports
do not need it for themselves.”
cycling and walking – but primarily not private car use.”
Spreading innovations around Construction is already ongoing in Turku Science Park, and the entire area will
The objective of the Response project be completed by 2050. The aim is that, by then, more than one million new
is to specifi cally create solutions that square metres will have been built in the area, with apartments for more than
can be reproduced. Turku and Dijon 20,000 Turku residents and over 10,000 new jobs created compared to today.
in France are the pilot sites of the

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