Helsinki and Espoo are Aalto University's strategic city partners. Key goals of cooperation include finding solutions for sustainable development and strengthening the Helsinki region as an area that attracts and holds on to people.
Collaboration in solving global challenges also opens new opportunities for students in the form of student work, for example. Aalto University and the University of Helsinki, as well as the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa, are working in close cooperation to advance the sustainable development of the cities. In the areas of urban research and planning, the two universities have a common Urban Studies and Planning master's programme and minor studies. Aalto University also has a professorship for urban economics led by Assistant Professor Tuukka Saarimaa.
Cooperation between the City of Helsinki and Aalto University is based on a shared view of the need to prepare for major changes in the world and the possibility of using them to build a more functional and safer world.
Aalto University and the City of Espoo want to find ways to build a more sustainable world both locally and globally. The aim of the cooperation is to encourage bold creativity in a new type of thinking, action, and continuous learning.
Aalto University engages in cooperation with many regional entities, including several regional councils. The University is represented in the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council cooperation group and it is also a partner in the Council's EU office, which represents the region's interests and disseminates regional information. Other cooperative partners include the Chamber of Commerce as well as the Centre for Economic Development, Transport, and the Environment (ELY Centre).
Continuous cooperation also takes place with the Regional Council of Häme, especially in innovation activities. The presidents of university-level institutions in the Helsinki region and municipal leaders have been holding joint meetings since 2007. In the shared vision, the Helsinki Metropolitan Area is being developed as a unified whole with an environment that is close to nature, and where it is good to live, learn, work, and engage in business.
