In this series, we introduce the people behind the B.Green project. Now we would like to introduce Senior Expert Heidi Tuhkanen from SEI. She is specialised in climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction work in the urban context.
Heidi, what topics are you working with in your organisation, and what kind of expertise do you bring to the B.Green project?
In Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Tallinn CentreTallinn, I am working with climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction work in the urban context. I also focus on stakeholder participation and equity related issues. All these issues relate directly to B.Green as green infrastructure can be considered as part of the Nature based Solutions for tackling societal problems, including climate adaptation. In B.Green, in addition to bringing in expertise related to these topics, I am leading the content development of the handbook for spatial planners which is one of the main outputs of the project.
What have been the most important learning points for you during the project?
Although I have dealt with urban development issues for a long time and am familiar with urban planning as a topic, B.Green is the first time that I have had direct collaboration with actors directly involved in spatial planning within the European context, rather than e.g. the environmental department. It has been interesting to get to zoom into the complexity of their work.
Which B.Green activities are you the most excited about?
In B.Green, I get to work with topics that I really love – urban nature, urban planning, and participation – all in two of my favorite cities: Helsinki and Tallinn. One of the things that has been really interesting has been to be able to hear about and follow so many of the participatory methods that have been implemented during the project time-frame. There has been such a broad range of new methods that I have been able to personally also experience for the first time – like design sprints, VR apps for planning, and serious games. It has been great working with both project teams to think about how these pilots might be improved and useful also for other cities or actors.
