Working with Eurocities
For Espoo, Eurocities is a key platform for building partnerships, strengthening European engagement and raising the city’s international profile.
Hosting the Eurocities Annual Conference in 2022 was an important milestone. It raised Espoo’s visibility across Europe, created new opportunities for cooperation with cities and EU institutions, strengthened the city’s confidence in organising major international events and brought colleagues together around a stronger European outlook.
As a relatively young city, Espoo does not have the same historic network of sister cities as many other European cities. Eurocities has helped fill that gap by connecting Espoo with cities across the continent for peer learning, benchmarking, joint advocacy and EU-funded projects.
The network also helps Espoo stay informed about upcoming EU policy developments and ensure that the city’s priorities are heard at European level. Espoo works closely with Finland’s other Eurocities members on joint advocacy towards Eurocities, EU institutions and the national government.
One of the strongest legacies of the 2022 Annual Conference was the Future Mentors programme. Reflecting Espoo’s strong commitment to youth participation, young people from cities across Europe mentored their mayors on their hopes and concerns for the future of their cities. They also developed recommendations for strengthening youth participation, many of which were later taken forward by participating cities. The programme went on to receive recognition in Finland and at EU level, while its most important impact has been the lasting contribution it made to youth participation across Europe.
Espoo has identified three main goals for its continued engagement in Eurocities. These are strengthening peer learning and EU advocacy, building sector-specific partnerships and project consortia, and raising Espoo’s international profile as an innovation city, a leading climate city and a capital for children and young people.
Being an active member of Eurocities helps ensure that Espoo remains connected to new ideas, partnerships and opportunities across Europe.
What people need to know about the city
Espoo is one of the European forerunners in innovation and sustainable smart city development. Home to the leading innovation and technology hub in the Nordic countries, world-class research institutes, SMEs and global company headquarters alike, Espoo is the hotspot of innovation in Finland. The strength of Espoo’s ecosystem lies in the deep tech sector, with key areas including microelectronics, semiconductors, 5G and 6G, sensors, quantum computing, and sustainable products and materials.
Next door to Finland’s hottest startup hubs, you can find many of the most valuable Finnish companies. Espoo is also where Finland’s two most important innovation players are located: Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Slush, the leading start-up event in the world, and most of Finland’s unicorns were born here, as was the whole Finnish start-up miracle.
Espoo leads the way in holistic sustainability. The city is a proactive forerunner and a partner locally, nationally and in Europe in green transition and uses the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals as a framework, metrics, and a way to communicate work and results. Espoo is an active member of EU Missions (Climate neutral and smart cities and Adaptation to Climate change) and aims to be carbon neutral by 2030, having already cut the CO2 emissions by 62% per capita from 1990 level. A large part of this is done together with companies and the Espoo community. A good example is Fortum – a leading energy company in Finland that discontinued the use of coal in the city’s district heating in 2025.
As the second largest and fastest-growing city in Finland with over 320,000 inhabitants, Espoo is also far from traditional. A key priority in the new Espoo Story, in other words the city’s strategy, is supporting the opportunities and everyday lives of children and young people. For example, promoting literacy creates a foundation for many other things. Another aim is to ensure that the city grows in a controlled and economically sustainable manner so that all neighbourhoods remain safe and pleasant.
Espoo residents are among the healthiest and among the happiest in Finland, and no wonder. The city’s living environment is family-friendly and green space is in abundance: 165 islands, 58 kilometers of seashore and 95 lakes make Espoo a wonderful place to live and visit during all four seasons. Espoo’s five urban centres are all equipped with great access to services and nature close by. According to MyEspoo study, closeness to nature is an important value to residents of Espoo. In the growing city, Nature-Wise Espoo roadmap guides city planning towards the goal of improving biodiversity.
Espoo is home to the highest density of international talent and the highest education level of all Finnish cities. A staggering 52% of residents over 24 years old hold a university degree and English has an official status as a public service language.
Espoo offers diverse and high-quality culture and leisure activities. At the City´s libraries, museums, cultural centres and events you can find yourself amid surprising experiences. In Espoo, the cultural services aim to promote equality and strengthen the feeling of belonging to the community, inclusion, and wellbeing. Culture is the foundation of a creative and successful city.
And it’s the people who make the city. A thriving culture of empowering citizens and encouraging innovation is the key ingredient driving Espoo towards a sustainable future. Participation is deep-rooted in Espoo, rising from a profound commitment to leave no one behind and make everyone’s voices heard. Espoo Story, the city strategy, is co-created with residents. Doing and creating together is at the heart of how the city operates.
