Finnish academia and businesses unite for sustainable innovation in the built environment
The Faculty of Built Environment at Tampere University and Häme University of Applied Sciences continue their collaboration in the new “Promoting circularity and sustainability for the construction and real estate sector (CircBuild)” project. This national project operates at the interface of practical research on the circular economy and business operations.
The two-year CircBuild project started in January 2025 and has already verified cooperation with six Finnish real estate and construction companies. In the project’s pilots, we tailor solutions for companies to utilize circular economy in their business operations. In addition, we organize workshops and events related to circular economy.
The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with funding granted by the South Savo Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centre). Additionally, the project is funded by company partners. The entire project and Tampere University’s sub-project are led by Jaakko Kinnunen, Project Manager at the CoreLab innovation platform, while HAMK’s sub-project is led by Research Manager Olli Koskela.
“We have an excellent team from two universities and a group of development-oriented business partners. I am particularly excited about the international cooperation in our project. These networks support both the development of companies’ circular economy business and academic research.” Jaakko Kinnunen, Project Manager
We combine research knowledge and business needs in a way that produces sustainable development and new value for companies.
Olli Koskela, Research Manager
“Collaboration with Tampere University and CoreLab has been extremely fruitful, and it is great to continue it in this new project. The strong expertise in the circular economy from Tampere University complements HAMK’s practical research work perfectly. I look forward to rolling up our sleeves with our business partners and combining research knowledge with concrete business needs in a way that produces both sustainable development and new value for companies.” Olli Koskela, Research Manager
The research activities involve doctoral researcher Juha Franssila, university researcher Raul Castano De la Rosa from Tampere University, as well as project engineer Antti Äikäs and HAMK Design Factory’s senior lecturer and doctoral researcher Sanna-Maaria Siintoharju, who is doing her doctoral research at Tampere University. The doctoral researchers aim to go abroad for training during the project. This promotes the development of international cooperation, which is also enhanced by strong collaboration with European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU).
“It is great to get started with CircBuild. We received significant support during the preparation phase from Olga Wessels, head of the ECIU Brussels office. During our networking trip to Brussels in February, we met circular economy professionals and other partners.” Jaakko Kinnunen, Project Manager
The project’s communication is handled by researcher Alisa Hakola from Tampere University and project coordinator Satu Koivisto from HAMK.
Promoting circularity and sustainability for the construction and real estate sector (CircBuild)
The goal of the CircBuild project is to make the research expertise of higher education institutions more accessible to businesses and to create new business opportunities for companies both in Finland and abroad. This nationwide project gathers the latest knowledge into a comprehensive resource and implements a series of pilots in collaboration with Finnish real estate and construction companies, where circular economy solutions and methods are tested in practice.
The project is co-funded by the European Union and the South Savo ELY Centre. Additionally, the project is funded and partnered by A-Kruunu Ltd, Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region sr (Hoas), Saint-Gobain Finland Ltd, Y-Säätiö, Hartela-yhtiöt Ltd, and Kiinko Real Estate Education. International collaboration is supported by the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU).
For more information:
Text:
Alisa Hakola
Researcher, CoreLab
Faculty of Built Environment Tampere University
alisa.hakola@tuni.fi
The news was originally published on the Tampere University website.