Projects and experiments
On this page, you can read about previous and ongoing research and development projects and experiments dealing with the development of Hiedanranta.
Energy Wise Cities (EKAT) – a 6AIKA project
The objective is to bring the six largest cities in Finland to the cutting edge of energy-efficient urban development by renewing the energy systems of buildings and areas by means of digitalisation and the Internet of Things.

External link6Aika Energiaviisaat kaupungit EKAT project
Active Refugees in the Community
The ARC project offers communal, down-to-earth activities involving urban agriculture and cultural events in Hiedanranta. The activities – an example being gardening consultation gatherings open to all – engage Tampere residents and immigrants and facilitate the meeting of cultures, the distribution of information and, for immigrants, the chance to practise speaking the local language.

Further information:
Pirkanmaa Martha Organisation
Heidi Ovaska
etunimi.sukunimi(at)martat.fi
050 371 8913
Biofiltration pilot
A new kind of a bio filter was built for the purification of the nutritious seepage waters of the landfill of the old Lielahti pulp mill. The bio filter purifies the waters by means of biochar produced in Hiedanranta, as well as peat and expanded clay. Shrubs and perennials will be planted on top of the filter. The purification capacity of the bio filter will be monitored by means of automatic water quality measurements. In addition, the capacity of the system to sequester carbon and to increase the number of pollinators is also studied. The system that mimics nature’s own purification systems has been designed in collaboration with experts and local residents. The aim is to implement a purification system that can be utilised in the purification of other similar waters in Finland and abroad.

CircHubs – a 6Aika project on future circular economy hubs
The aim of the project is to identify new business opportunities and business models in a circular economy, as well as new partnerships and new forms of collaboration in the regions of the 6Aika cities. The objective is also to support the commercialisation of innovations related to a circular economy.

Further information:
Business Tampere
Pirkko Eteläaho
etunimi.sukunimi(at)businesstampere.com
040 630 4840
Circular Economy in Built Environment
This is a doctoral dissertation study investigating practices for a successful urban development project that promotes circular economy innovations.
The objective is to establish how multi-disciplinary cooperation and the adoption of new technologies change the practices of planning and administration. The aim of the study is to produce a concept for experimental urban planning that is acceptable to all parties involved in the planning.
Further information:
Tampereen teknillinen yliopisto
Tuomo Joensuu
etunimi.sukunimi(at)tuni.fi
050 309 0413
CircVol – Utilisation of large volumes of side streams and earth masses in cities
The practical objective is to come up with solutions for the utilisation of earth masses generated by industrial side streams of large volumes and infrastructure construction in the 6Aika cities.For Tampere and Hiedanranta, the goal is to find solutions and business opportunities for the treatment and utilisation of the waste fibre.

Further information:
Tampere University
Project Manager, Jarmo Uusikartano
Tutkimusryhmän johtaja, Associate Prof. Leena Aarikka-Stenroos
etunimi.sukunimi(at)tuni.fi
Dwellers in Agile Cities
This is a research project funded by the Strategic Research Council (SRC) of the Academy of Finland. In the DAC project, a city dweller is considered to be the key driver of urban development and change. We focus on experimental and open-minded cases in Finnish cities, as well as on internationally interesting examples.
Further information:
Tampere University, johtamiskorkeakoulu
Mikko Kyrönviita
etunimi.sukunimi(at)tuni.fi
050 509 9026
External linkDAC - Dwellers in Agile Cities
Digital roadmap of Hiedanranta
The objective of the project is to create a digital roadmap that supports the horizontal development of Hiedanranta, incorporating the solutions of a future smart city in all phases of planning. Digital solutions are a key element in achieving the sustainability goals.
External linkPolar Night Energy
Floating garden
The floating garden is an experimental project based on free-form resident-oriented activities where plants are cultivated in boxes that have been placed on a jetty. Some of the boxes have been community cultivations and the others boxes of some urban agriculture enthusiasts. The project was launched in cooperation with the Hiedanranta project and urban agriculture enthusiasts in the spring of 2016. Information on the project has been provided via the Temporary Hiedanranta website. It is open to all who are interested.

Further information:
Tiina Laukka
etunimi.sukunimi(at)homeros.fi
0407662860
Hiedanranta MaaS
The project focuses on experimenting with new kinds of mobility services in Hiedanranta and packaging them for the service users.The aim is to facilitate mobility in Hiedanranta and to improve the connections from the district to the surrounding services. Practical travel chains will be provided to users in order to improve access by public transport to the current functions in Hiedanranta, such as Lielahti Manor and the Kulttuuritila Kuivaamo event venue. At the same time, the businesses in the district will be provided with efficient and sustainable solutions for the daily mobility of people and goods.

Hiedanranta forum
In the furure, Hiedanranta forum will provide a platform for tackling the challenges relating to the development of the Hiedanranta city district. The forum brings together stakeholders to solve perceived challenges and to create new, innovative solutions for city development. The goal is to create a forum, which is actively utilized in the development of Hiedanranta and which can be further scaled to the city development. The forum begins operating during the fall of 2019.
Part of the forum´s funding comes from the Ministry of the Environment´s Sustainable City –programme.
HIERAKKA – Hiedanranta as a nutrient cycle and public awareness development area in 2017–2018
The objective is to gain more information on the long-term effects of using urine as a fertilizer, to advocate the use and official approval of urine as a fertilizer and to influence general attitudes towards the matter. Various events will be arranged in Hiedanranta during the project for consumers, officials and experts, and the public will be able to visit the project's testing fields.
Further information:
Käymäläseura Huussi ry
Susanna Pakula
etunimi.sukunimi(at)huussi.net
045 875 3576
External linkMore info in Finnish
External linkVideo: Hiedanranta, ravinnekierto ja lannoituskokeet
The ‘City premises to 24/7 use’ project and the Varaamo space reservation system
The intention of the ‘City premises to 24/7 use’ project is to make public spaces more easily available for the use of citizens. The project tests the Varaamo service with which it is easy to manage and book public spaces. In Tampere, Hiedanranta has been the first to take the Varaamo service into use. Via Varaamo, you can book the manor’s meeting rooms and the drone testing area.
The ‘City premises to 24/7 use’ project
Uuma project, a light traffic experiment
A pedestrian and bicycle route has been completed on Tehdaskartanonkatu Street, in the construction of which local recovered materials – slag from the burning of municipal waste, fly ash and granular fly ash – were used. The pedestrian and bicycle route belongs to the Uuma development project, which focuses on construction in which recovered materials are used. The project was launched in 2017. The environmental suitability and technical qualities of the recovered structures and materials used in the construction of the pedestrian and bicycle route will be monitored for three years until 2020.

Further information:
Ramboll
Suunnittelija
Ilari Harju
puhelin 040 838 3723
Building maintenance training in a real work environment
The Tampere Vocational College Tredu has moved a part of their building maintenance training to Hiedanranta in cooperation with the City of Tampere Employment Services. The aim is for Hiedanranta to become a multi-disciplinary practical learning environment for Tredu students.
KIEPPI
Kieppi is the programme of Tampere, Espoo and Turku, with the purpose of creating a platform model for a CO2 –neutral city district, where the material flows needed to grow cities circle effectively. The programme aims to find solutions that eliminate all the waste from building a city. In this model one business’s waste becomes another business’s raw material. The goal of the programme is to create new business and jobs around circular economy and sharing economy. Kieppi develops and collects new solutions for circular economy, all of which help targeted city districts’ development to sustainable and alluring.
KIVIREKI – resource efficient business from urban agriculture
The key objective of the project was to generate, develop and test business opportunities facilitated by urban agriculture applications as well as new innovations and knowhow related to urban agriculture practices that implement the principle of a closed nutrient cycle.
The initial hypothesis was that, in addition to being a leisure activity, urban agriculture has the potential to be developed into a large-scale and financially profitable business. The project served as an innovation platform for various urban agriculture solutions.
Further information:
Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu
Eeva-Liisa Viskari
etunimi.sukunimi(at)tamk.fi
040 846 9452
Growing algae biomass in source-separated urine
Urine contains a major proportion of the nutrients in municipal wastewaters. An important goal is to make the recovery of nutrients and the related infrastructure more efficient. In the project, researchers bind nutrients from source-separated urine into algae biomass and investigate possibilities for the further use of the nutrient-rich biomass produced.
The growing of algae in source-separated urine is tested at the Hiedanranta algae growing plant.

Further information:
Tampere University
Marika Kokko
etunimi.sukunimi(at)tuni.fi
050 447 8751
External linkLeväsieppari project
Nordic Super Block survey from Hiedanranta’s point of view
In Finland, cities have long been planned and built one house at a time. Hiedanranta will be a dense and city-centre-like district located alongside a tramline, therefore offering an opportunity to develop a diverse and multiform city. The idea of Nordic Super Block is to design shared spaces, yard areas, functions, commercial premises, mobility services, as well as energy and waste water technologies at the level of single or multiple blocks. This will create a more vibrant and multidimensional urban space, in addition to generating higher-quality functions and facilities at a lower cost.
Further information:
Markus Laine
[email protected]
044 503 6056
NutriCity – Hiedanranta as an urban nutrient cycle trendsetter
NutriCity is a nutrient cycle project funded by the Ministry of the Environment. The City of Tampere implements the project together with Tampere University of Applied Sciences and the Finnish Environment Institute.
There is a “linear material flow model" of cities in the background of this project. In this model, resources are wasted. The goal is to create a more sustainable circular economy model that includes the recycling of nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) from waste streams back to use. The Hiedanranta innovation platform provides a setting for experiments of the NutriCity project and in 2019, vacuum toilets and a urine-separating dry toilet will be tested at the manor.
City Guidance Ecosystem
The City Guidance Ecosystem project has introduced two experiments to Hiedanranta with the help of which the visibility and accessibility of the service and cultural offerings are promoted. Visitors will receive information by means of mobile guidance that illustrates the history and current activities of Hiedanranta.

External link6Aika - Opastamisen ekosysteemi
Blue bioeconomy – recovery of waste fibre from the Hiedanranta lake sediment (“Zero Waste from Zero Fibre")
The Zero Waste from Zero Fibre project aims at developing the utilisation of waste fibre in Hiedanranta. The objective is to recover the waste fibre that has accumulated on the bottom of Lake Näsijärvi for economical and sustainable utilisation, without significant environmental hazards.
A new microbiological process will be developed in the project, enabling the production of valuable chemicals, biogas and organic fertilizers from the waste fibre.
The waste fibre spearhead project has been granted funding from the Blue Bioeconomy programme of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The City of Tampere is implementing the project together with businesses and universities.
Increasing number of digital services and new technologies require an infrastucture for telecommunications, which transmits large amounts of data wirelessly and reliably in real time. The Smart pole embeds the required technology imperceptibly to the cityscape.
The Smart pole serves as a platform for various devices and sensors, and provides services to citizens and companies. In addition to the mobile network base station, the pole at Hiedanranta has integrated LED lights, a surveillance camera, a USB charging point and a bench. Devices can be added and replaced if needed.
The Smart pole in Hiedanranta has been made by Orbis Oy, Tehomet Oy and DNA Oyj. With this pilot project companies accuired experience in developing new smart city solutions.

Further information:
Orbis Oy
Anu Peussa
Sales Director
+358 400 902 402
[email protected]
SOGREEN
SOGREEN is a joint project of the Tampere University of Technology and the University of Helsinki exploring green walls and green roofs. The aim is to produce research information on the functionality of various green solutions and on experiences related to them as regards environmental quality.
Further information:
Tampere University
Harry Edelman
etunimi.sukunimi(at)tuni.fi
040 514 9993
Sorvaamo – professional support service for conservative renovation
Sorvaamo is an ESF-funded collaboration project that assists unemployed people in finding employment in the field of conservative renovation. The Jukola timber building in Hiedanranta is being renovated in the project.Conservative renovation means that a building is regarded as a whole, taking into account the life cycles of various building elements. Conservative renovation extends the life cycles of buildings and saves materials, in addition to reducing the carbon footprint and improving the quality of the renovation work.

Edible Park
The City of Tampere is constructing a public park and an urban agriculture area in the Lielahti Manor Park in Hiedanranta. The park will be located on the plot where the vegetable garden of the Lielahti Manor used to be in the late 19th century. The Edible Park, as the area is called, has been designed to be communal. In the park, people can participate in the growing of various edible plants and they can also use the plants. Part of the park is implemented together with the Active Refugees in the Community (ARC) project, which has brought the Valokoru greenhouses and a multicultural urban agriculture community to the Edible Park.
Read more about the Edible Park
Urban Smart Energy (USE)
The USE project studies and develops a scalable service model that is based on digital solutions and combines energy consumption and production in a versatile manner, in addition to investigating and developing technologies in support of such a system. The experimental core of the project is a local renewable energy experiment with its measuring arrangements that will be implemented in Hiedanranta.
The system will be planned and implemented as a collaboration between researchers, the participating businesses and the City of Tampere. The project will lay the foundations for the development of Hiedanranta and highlight the energy ecosystem in the district.
Further information:
Tampere University
Markku Norvasuo
etunimi.sukunimi(at)tuni.fi
+358 50 512 4593

Green roof demo
A suitable object for a green roof demo is being looked for amongst the old industrial buildings in Hiedanranta. On the green roof, various growing media and vegetation, ranging from meadows to gardens, will be tested. The aim is to use Finnish plant species. On the roof, the detention of stormwaters, the nutrient load and the moisture of the soil/structures will be measured. In addition, the green roof’s capacity to sequester carbon and its biodiversity will be studied. The perspective of the building’s residents will also be of interest: what added value will the green roof bring to them and to other citizens? And how must it be maintained in the northern conditions? At best, the roof or some of its solutions can be copied. This way, the companies constructing Hiedanranta can start to use them over the coming years.
Urban Nature Labs
The UNALAB project develops the nature-based management of stormwaters in Hiedanranta and Vuores. Tampere is one of the three demonstration cities in this EU project, particularly due to the stormwater management system that runs via the Vuores central park.
The City of Tampere’s aim is to further develop the stormwater management system in Vuores and monitor the functionality of the system, i.e. how efficiently the detention and infiltration structures and the wetland clean the stormwaters before they are directed into the oligotrophic lakes in the area. The experience gained in Vuores will be utilised in Hiedanranta, where the planning of the stormwater management systems and green areas is just beginning.
Further information:
Reijo Väliharju
+35850 388 0901
[email protected]
Eero Puurunen
+358 40 188 2182
[email protected]
Further information:
Markku Ylönen
Polar Night Energy Oy
CTO
0452342784
[email protected]
In the future, the Hiedanranta forum will serve as a platform for finding solutions for the development of the city district. The forum will invite interest groups to tackle with the challenges and to create new, innovative solutions for urban development. The intention is to create a forum that is actively utilised in the development of Hiedanranta. The idea is also to make its activities more extensively scalable, as part of the urban development. The forum will start its activities in the autumn of 2019.
The forum receives part of its funding from the Sustainable City project of the Ministry of the Environment.
In the KIEPPI project, Tampere, Espoo and Turku want to create a platform model for a carbon-neutral city district in which the material flows required for the growth of the cities are circulated efficiently. The project aims at finding solutions in which urban construction activities would not generate any waste. In this model, a side stream of one company becomes a raw material for the other company. The goal of the project is to create new companies and jobs that are based on circular economy and the sharing economy. The project develops new circular economy solutions that assist making the city districts attractive and sustainable.
Further information:
Markus Laine
[email protected]
044 503 6056