Urban Biodiversity Parks

We contribute to Turku's Skanssi Biodiversity Park as a model for conservation and community-driven urban planning

Duration of the project

1.3.2024. – 31.7.2027

Source of funding

EU / European Urban Initiative

Total funding

4 873 704 €

The City of Turku is developing the Skanssi area as a pilot biodiversity park and a flagship site for biodiversity conservation in Finland. The biodiversity park will pilot a development concept that can be applied in other cities in the future. As some of the ways of enhancing nature are experimental, the biodiversity park will take forward the development of methods for biodiversity conservation throughout Finland.

Turku UAS is involved in three project areas:

• WP3: Turku University of Applied Sciences will create a framework for assessing the social impacts of the project, the level of stakeholder participation and stakeholder satisfaction, and will be responsible for data collection and analysis.
• WP6: Together with the University of Turku, Turku University of Applied Sciences is developing new participatory methods to involve local residents in the urban planning process. The work package will explore what kind of nature-based solutions local residents would like to see and develop and test a new participatory 3D modelling-based method using virtual landscapes as a design tool. The work package will also use community reporting as a tool for participation: the aim is to include the voices of groups of people who do not normally participate in surveys or workshops. The workpackage will provide more information on how to involve different groups in sustainable and ecological greenspace planning, and how different methods can be applied to different target groups.
• WP8: Turku University of Applied Sciences is developing ways to integrate biodiversity into the operations of companies. The aim is to raise awareness and skills, develop financing and business models, and explore possible regulatory mechanisms and incentives to encourage the private sector to become involved in biodiversity enhancement in the urban environment.

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Photo by Heikki Räisänen, City of Turku