City of Helsinki Launches Local Sustainability Programme

The Think Sustainably service empowers residents and visitors to make informed daily choices, rating the Finnish capital’s restaurants, attractions, shops and accommodation against bespoke sustainability criteria.

Release time : 2019-11-21 11:17:32

source : rustourismnews

The Think Sustainably service empowers residents and visitors to make informed daily choices, rating the Finnish capital’s restaurants, attractions, shops and accommodation against bespoke sustainability criteria.

According to a survey1 carried out by the City of Helsinki in 2018, two thirds of residents identified the climate crisis as their major concern when thinking about the future of the city. In response, Helsinki has launched Think Sustainably, the world’s first online service that enables making sustainable choices as easy as using an app.

Think Sustainably provides residents, visitors and business owners with practical tools to rethink their daily behaviour and make more sustainable lifestyle and business decisions.

Services filtered through the online programme include restaurants, shops, events, experiences and accommodation, each benchmarked against tailor-made criteria developed by the City of Helsinki in collaboration with the independent think tank Demos Helsinki, local interest groups and sustainability experts. The service also includes a route planner feature that enables choosing emission-free transportation options to the wide variety of experiences on offer in the city. The route planner provides CO2 emissions in grams per person per trip. Currently gathering feedback from users, the Think Sustainably service is publicly available with plans to roll the programme out further and review its impact in 2020.

Cities house more than half of the world’s population and are responsible for over 70 per cent of the world’s energy-related carbon emissions (C40). The City of Helsinki recognises that cities are at the forefront of combating climate change and implementing innovative policies. The City is aware of the need of systemic change in habits and the programme is the latest initiative to support its 2035 carbon neutral target. In developing Think Sustainably, The City has recognised the unique role that cities play in