Decade of great innovations

Society’s structural and cultural problems demand our attention. We need new innovations and solutions to respond a changing world.

Cities play an important role in creating new models and innovations for long-term vitality. Changes require cities to move between different roles as innovation actors. HEVinnovations program is for creating solutions in cooperation with different actors. HEVi supports the capital region innovation ecosystems to boost innovations, business, and sustainable urban development.

HEVi took part of the Eurocities Economic Development Forum. HEVi’s team arranged an interactive workshop called ‘’Innovation ecosystem capabilities’’ together with senior expert Outi Kuittinen from Demos Helsinki. Workshop’s hot topic was how the city can take stronger role in leading ecosystems to strive for a resilient, sustainable, and socially and economically vibrant future.

In the beginning of workshop participants had a change to get to know basics of cities’ capability framework. City has three roles in the framework. Those roles are visionary, community agent and service provider. It should be noticed that in different phases of an innovation process, different roles are central, but a city needs to play all three roles to succeed.

After the presentation, the participants were able to complete the task. Task was the put different kind of capabilities to the ‘’map’’. Participants were recognizing organization’s competence, expertise, activities, structures, processes, systems, information, and resources.

– I would like to highlight that it was nice to have conversation with different actors, both from the business world and from the public sector. I really enjoyed the conversation and got some new perspectives on innovation-related paths, told participant from Lisbon.

Participant from the Economic Department of Munich was also happy to hear more about ecosystem capabilities. He planned to present the things he learned to his colleagues as well, so they can develop their own structure.

Conversation will continue with the city partners. HEVi-team will arrange next event about innovation ecosystem capabilities on 24th of April. The discussion is held in Finnish.

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