Place: Helsinki, Finland
Team: MASU Planning, Luontotieto Keiron, City of Helsinki
Client: City of Helsinki
Type: Publication
Timeline: Published 2024
Biodiversity guide for Helsinki
‘Wilfully Wild – A guide to Assessing and Enriching the Biodiversity of Urban Nature in the Built Environment’ is the name of Helsinki’s new biodiversity guide.
The guide is written by MASU Planning and Luontotieto Keiron in close collaboration with the City of Helsinki. In the research for the guide several experts in Finnish and Danish cities have been interviewed and the learnings are included in the guidebook.
Enriching biodiversity in Helsinki
The background for the guide is the Helsinki Action Program for Biodiversity Conservation 2021-2028, also known as the LUMO Program. One of the program’s goals is to enrich biodiversity in the built environment with a focus on future needs. The biodiversity guide is aimed at city project leaders, designers, contractors, and maintenance professionals of urban green spaces.
A hands-on biodiversity guide
Through rich illustrations, more than 100 pages and five chapters, the guide introduces various nature-based solutions, suggests further measures, and summarizes the key needs for change. The guidebook includes a deep dive into the characteristics of Helsinki’s urban green spaces and typologies, while considering threats and opportunities from a biodiversity perspective.
Biodiversity assessment tool
A biodiversity assessment tool is presented with two easy-to-use check lists: the first related to the quality of ecologic networks, and the second list focusing on a concrete site level. The main part of the guide introduces concrete ideas and different methods for enriching the biodiversity of urban nature. In addition, the guide introduces case examples of built projects and key themes of urban biodiversity.