Funding for strategic research

The Strategic Research Council SRC at the Academy of Finland has allocated approximately EUR 34 million to nine consortia under two programs. The programs are Climate Change and People (CLIMATE) and Knowledge Literacy and Knowledge-based Decision Making (LITERACY).
 
Aalto University is a partner in two sub-projects: the Co-Carbon project, which studies the carbon sequestration of urban green spaces, and the Datalit project, which studies the utilization of social and health services data.

Co-Carbon – urban green in climate change

In the three-year Co-Carbon project, atmospheric, soil and social scientists as well as landscape architects are exploring the potential of urban green in mitigating climate change. The research consortium is led by the University of Helsinki, and the partners in addition to Aalto University are the Finnish Meteorological Institute and Häme University of Applied Sciences. The total funding allocated to the project is EUR 3.6 million, of which Aalto's share is approximately EUR 1 million.
 
Aalto University is researching and developing urban and landscape planning solutions to increase the efficiency of carbon sequestration and, for example, creating methods for life cycle calculation of green infrastructure. Consumers' carbon footprint is also under consideration.
 
‘Exploiting the carbon sequestration potential of urban green in urban and landscape planning has so far been little studied. Our multidisciplinary working group strives to produce research information that is applicable in practice and influences decision-making, together with an extensive network of stakeholders’, says Professor Ranja Hautamäki from the Department of Architecture.
 
‘We are also studying carbon storage in urban green areas from a consumer perspective, as well as the impact of urban farming and horticulture on time use, consumption and carbon footprint’, says postdoctoral researcher Juudit Ottel from the Department of Built Environment.

Datalit – good practices for the use of Finnish health and social services data

The DataLit project develops understandable and reliable practices for using health and social services data. The research focuses on key concepts related to health and social services data as well as on examining how officials can use the data in a socially sustainable manner. The research consortium is led by the University of Helsinki, and in addition to Aalto University, the University of Eastern Finland and numerous partners are involved. The funding granted to the project totals EUR 3.9 million, of which Aalto University received EUR 725,642.

The task of Aalto University in the project is to develop machine learning methods and models for health and social services data. The research is led by Assistant Professor Pekka Marttinen from the Department of Computer Science.

The strategic research programmes CLIMATE and LITERACY are new and will run until 2026. The Academy of Finland announced the decisions on 10 November.

Read more about funded projects:

The Strategic Research Council selects projects to be funded under programmes starting in 2020

Photo Mikko Raskinen, Aalto University