Strong cooperation between regional actors, communities and other stakeholders is the key for creating sustainable and resilient circular ecosystems at local and regional level. Therefore, the creation of a regional CE platform for cooperation between public and private sectors in the Tampere Region will reinforce the regional bioeconomy and CE development. The main themes for CE development in the platform will be construction (housing and infrastructure) and industrial symbiosis. 
 

The platform develops understanding of CE, and creates pathways for municipalities on how both the different city functions and city owned businesses could produce a more sustainable living environment through CE. 

Council of Tampere Region 

Innovation and foresight 

1. Tampere region EU office 
2. Tampere region´s municipalities 
3. Tampere University 
4. Business Tampere 
5. Verte Ltd. 
6. Pirkanmaan Jätehuolto Ltd. 
7. Ekokumppanit Ltd. 

The Joint Authority of Tampere City Region has begun the initial process to draft their Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) to create a future-oriented agenda for the appropriate actors and achieve a cleaner, more sustainable region. The action plan will build upon raising awareness, strengthening regional cooperation, capacity-building and accelerating the transition towards a regenerative growth model that keeps the resource consumption within the planetary boundaries. The work has been launched with discussions with the ministry of environment, the appropriate municipalities and stakeholders. 

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Nordregio, together with Baltic Sea actors, drafted a policy brief about industrial symbiosis in the Baltic Sea region. It consists of 11 steps to implement industrial symbiosis. ECO3 from Nokia (the second largest city in the region) is an innovative, industrial-scale, multidisciplinary bioeconomy and CE business area that took part in this exercise. 
 

This nationally important competence centre is a demonstration and piloting environment. It is developed by both the City of Nokia and the CE company Verte Ltd., which is the City of Nokia’s development company. Verte Ltd. works in cooperation with companies and universities and has excellent national and international networks in the sector. 
 

The Tampere region has long been a home for the development of extensive research expertise, as well as business activities that reinforce the development of CE. Tampere University, VTT and the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) are key research players. Other areas of business development include the cities of Taraste (on the border of Tampere) and Kangasala and the Lemene area in Lempäälä. Also, as an urban development project, Hiedanranta (which is in the Tampere Region) represents the most significant site for CE development in the region. 
 

In our region, the development of CE is strongly guided by both the Council of Tampere Region and the city of Tampere carbon neutral roadmaps, published in 2020, and is aiming for the region to be carbon neutral by 2030. CE is an essential part of these roadmaps with a variety of activities such as developing CE business areas in cooperation and circulating construction materials. 
 

The strategic objectives and programmes are also reflected in some local and regional projects, such as: 
 

• ‘KIERTO: Growth from a Circular Economy’ 

• CICAT2025 

• ‘ReCreate – Reusing precast concrete for a circular economy’ 

• TREASoURcE 

Tampere is committed to establishing the Tampere Region Circular Economy Development Centre (Kiertotalous Pirkanmaa). The aim is to address circular economy challenges within the Region of Tampere and explore innovative approaches for public actors and municipality-owned companies in the region. 

The Centre will provide services under three key areas:
 

• House building: Facilitating dynamic discussions among key stakeholders in the public and private sectors to develop criteria and tools for land allocation processes that prioritise sustainability and circularity. The project aims to draw inspiration from the Kissanmaan Circular Economy land allocation process (more info in Finnish here). 
• Infrastructure development: Encouraging dialogues among key stakeholders, assessing the current public procurement process, and creating an improved procurement system that fosters systemic change toward a circular economy. The project aims to draw inspiration from the Yliopistonkatu circular economy street procurement (more information here).
• Industrial symbiosis (or local material flows): Identifying waste streams and determining focus areas, while also assembling the necessary experts to develop actions. The project draws inspiration from the ECO3 industrial Circular Economy area in Nokia. 
   

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Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra) has published a national CE road map in 2016 (updated in 2019), that sets four goals: 
 

1. renewal of the foundation of our competitiveness and vitality; 
2. making a shift to low-carbon energy; 
3. natural resources are regarded as scarce; 
4. everyday decisions act as catalysts for change. 

Finland has published its national CEAP in 2021 called ‘New directions: the strategic programme to promote a circular economy’. The Tampere Region participates in the strategic programme (Green deal) coordinated by the ministry of environment and the ministry of economic affairs, to promote CE objectives for the use of natural resources and measures based on a carbon neutral CE. It provides a sustainable foundation for our society and economy by 2035. 

This video provides a brief introduction to the region’s work on creating a CE: 

https://businesstampere.com/business-environment 

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