Browsing by Author "Rossi, Annamaria"

Green infrastructure supports biodiversity and vitality of ecosystem services in urban environments. A successful planning and implementation of green infrastructure require, however, cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary collaboration. Yet, the lack of this multidisciplinary collaboration has been identified to be one of the central factors challenging the planning and implementation of green infrastructure. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of design sprint concept in cross-sectoral joint development for green infrastructure used in a Virtual Verdure project. Further, this study assessed the process and the operations in the pursuit of the project’s objectives. The evaluation material was collected by using semi-structured expert interviews, participative observation, and feedback surveys. The evaluation framework used in the study aimed to provide knowledge on the use of design sprint concept in collaborative green infrastructure planning and for the development of similar project processes. This master’s thesis was executed as an assignment for Helsinki City owned innovation company Forum Virium Helsinki. The study was part of the Virtual Verdure project, coordinated by Forum Virium Helsinki. The project aimed to co-create an operating model, that would holistically consider cities’ ecosystem services in the planning process for green infrastructure development with public and private organizations. The Virtual Verdure project, financed by Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council, was carried out in 1.9.2019-31.5.2020. Partner companies for the project were WSP Finland Oy ja Innogreen. Further, the project collaborated tightly with Kalasatama area development project, environmental services and city planners of Kalasatama and Western Harbour of the City of Helsinki’s Urban Environment Division. The case areas for the Virtual Verdure project were Kyläsaari ja Hermanninranta, that are located in the northern part of Kalasatama development project area. The evaluation of the co-creation focused on three design sprint events organized during the project. From the perspective of process evaluation, the Virtual Verdure project proceeded logically and achieved most of the set objectives. The design sprint events proved to be a successful practice to bring together experts from different sectors to co-create solutions for the planning of green infrastructure and deepen knowledge on green infrastructure and the multiple benefits it provides in urban environments. The design sprint process facilitated discussion and creative problem-solving by utilizing design thinking, multidisciplinary collaboration and practical workshop methods. As results from the project, planners’ knowledge on green infrastructure and the requirements for its successful planning deepened. The partner companies of the Virtual Verdure project contributed to the project with their expertise, and further gained deeper knowledge on opportunities of their own products and services focused on developing green infrastructure. Four deliverables were produced during the Virtual Verdure project to support the planning and implementation of green infrastructure in Kalasatama and other areas: green area factor tool, that was translated into Finnish and is now available for all the planners, green factor analysis from the Kyläsaari area, info cards, that provide technical and ecological information about different green infrastructure solutions, and a final publication, that showcases the learnings of the joint development in the project and provides recommendations for considering green infrastructure in different phases of planning, execution, and maintenance in urban environment. The results of this study will be utilized in a next project, B.Green, that will continue the work of Virtual Verdure.