Exploring a Greener Future

KONE participates in “decarbonization catalyst” workshops.

Finnish OEM KONE recently participated in a series of workshops that brought together members of the Nordic Superblocks as Decarbonization Catalysts consortium (NSDC) to brainstorm innovation opportunities and consolidate hundreds of ideas into a few specific areas, align on shared goals and identify key success factors and roadblocks, the World Alliance for Low Carbon Cities (WALCC) reported in January. The workshops marked the beginning of process that aims to, ultimately, lead to the creation of greener, more inclusive city planning. Sponsored by Business Finland, NSDC consists of KONE, Skanska, Tietoevry, Granlund, Integrio, Synocus and Tampere University. Nordic Superblocks refers to an “internationally scalable and viable city block design concept” created through collaboration with community stakeholders and aiming to ensure a sustainable and inclusive environment throughout a community’s life cycle. WALCC elaborated:

“The vision and roadmap for the Nordic Superblocks are guided by principles such as sharing spaces, functions, services and infrastructure with holistic accessibility and inclusivity, securing data sharing and cross-utilization, connection with the urban ecosystem, economic viability, stakeholder co-creation and tackling climate change and biodiversity loss.”

With a common goal of supporting sustainable urban planning and development, as well as building life-cycle management through breakthrough research, NSDC used the “strategic foresight” process adopted at KONE as part of its innovation program, “The Flow of Urban Life,” to create a vision for an internationally scalable and viable city block design concept supported by four pillars: zero-emission energy, harmonization with nature, social inclusivity and cohesive collaboration. WALCC elaborated on what each pillar entails for the Nordic Superblocks, which aim to:

• In terms of zero-emission energy, accelerate the transition toward zero-emission buildings by implementing smart hybrid energy systems, establishing connectivity to local energy systems based on smart grids, exceeding regulatory requirements and integrating new energy technologies.
• Be in harmony with nature to meet and achieve climate targets for citizen value and enable district-wide sustainable living by restoring nature and fostering biodiversity, reducing embodied carbon emissions, enabling smart water management and maximizing recycling.
• Promote a socially inclusive community and meet its diverse needs with a design for holistic accessibility and inclusive ideology, infrastructure and digital platforms.
• Have co-creation as a core concept created with and for community stakeholders in an effort to develop a collaboration strategy, create data-sharing principles and share a learning mindset.

Strategic foresight is “a structured and systematic way of using ideas about the future to anticipate and better prepare for change,” according to The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The process entails organizations exploring different, plausible, future scenarios arising from their individual opportunities and challenges to better understand the future and make better decisions.

The workshops took place in Helsinki, Finland, in October-November 2023. Representatives of the seven consortium companies began by developing an overview of the NSDC ecosystem and identifying innovation search fields. Relevant background information was drawn from scenarios created by KONE in collaboration with foresight experts during previous foresight studies. More than 200 opportunities were explored and consolidated. 

The project team defined shared goals and the Nordics Superblocks’ vision supported by four strategic pillars and three underlying principles that help achieve this vision. Finally, short-, mid- and long-term strategic initiatives and innovation opportunities were mapped on a roadmap for each pillar.

KONE Flow of Urban Life Project Manager Ulla Tikkanen and Jaana Hyvärinen, senior manager of the KONE Strategic Foresight team, said the workshops provided a solid base for a program that will continue through 2025. Hyvarinen said that, since 2022, the Strategic Foresight team has believed the process helps better anticipate changes that could emerge in the future, reveals options for experimentation with innovative approaches and “stress tests existing or proposed strategies and solutions.”

Tikkanen observed that, although there is still a lot to be worked out — including ownership of the topics — the inaugural set of workshops were a “good kickstart for the NSDC project and a good opportunity to get to know all consortium parties, which are very different, and work together with them to create a common vision.” She said the first workshops will help inform future iterations of the project.

Hyvärinen added:

“At KONE, we are not just observing the future, we are actively shaping it. But the future is not a puzzle to be solved by a single player. Therefore, we strongly believe in the power of collaborative foresight.”