Neighborhood sustainability indicator project

The sustainability indicator project for neighborhoods arose from the need to gather and identify various researchers' and disciplines' views on the contents, diversity, and required actions for sustainable development at the neighborhood level. Sustainable development as part of municipalities' statutory task to promote vitality requires clearer content that takes into account neighborhood-specific characteristics and residents' needs.

The project's first book publication "Towards more sustainable residential areas: indicators of neighborhood and block sustainability" was released on April 24, 2024. The e-book (only in Finnish) is available for free at the link provided. English translation is going to be published in the near future.

In the book, 34 Finnish experts introduce 29 neighborhood-level sustainability indicators. The main objectives of the book are:

1. To identify and compile indicators of social, ecological, and economic sustainability that can be monitored and applied at the block and neighborhood levels. Unlike most previous indicator projects, we aim to delve into the characteristics of sustainable neighborhoods through the project's scale and identify particularly local environmental problems and their potential solutions.
2. To promote multi- and interdisciplinary academic research cooperation and dialogue. We aim to increase, diversify, and deepen interdisciplinary discussions on the dimensions and characteristics of sustainable development at the neighborhood level. Our goal is to inspire researchers from different fields to discuss solutions beyond disciplinary boundaries using a concrete research subject, the neighborhood.
3. To increase interaction between research and other societal actors, as well as the impact of scientific research. We hope that our book will promote the implementation of sustainable development principles in Finnish neighborhoods by making multidisciplinary scientific knowledge about sustainable neighborhoods available in a concise, understandable, and applicable format.