We Vantaa folk are champions and now it's time to celebrate – welcome to Innovation Festival Week!

Restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic pushed back this city-wide celebration by a year, but now we can finally celebrate!

During Festival Week 24-30 October, there will be a variety of events around the city, including:

• open doors at Vantaa City Hall
• admission to Science Centre Heureka €10 Mon-Fri
• the Aviation Museum's Careers in Aviation event for young people
• trying out e-bikes with coffee and a bun
• a soft toy pyjama party
• Metropolia's Innovation Week with robotics and Mika Salo
• open doors at the Waste Terminal 

In addition, the City of Vantaa is organising a series of webinars in English, open to all and free of charge. The webinars will showcase Vantaa innovation and pride in three different themes: 

• Making the Green City Together – Green Transition and Co-operation 
• City for All – Social Innovations for Participation and Wellbeing
• Learning City – Digital Education and Continuous Learning

In the same week, Vantaa's Business Day will culminate in the crowning of the best ideas in the Urban Innovations of All Sizes Competition. Over the past spring and summer, residents, organisations, city employees, educational institutions, associations and businesses had the opportunity to submit ideas that could make everyday life easier and more enjoyable for residents, make our city centre thrive and mitigate climate change. A total of €300,000 will be awarded to the best ideas to help implement them. Meet the competition finalists!

All the events, locations and dates of the Innovation Festival Week can be found in the events calendar – come and join us! 

Innovation City Vantaa

Vantaa was selected by the European Innovation Council as the European Rising Innovative City 2021 and received €500 000 at the iCapital Awards ceremony in Brussels. The award for Vantaa was received by our 'coach', Mayor Ritva Viljanen. In the international competition, the city's strengths included strong growth, many small social innovations, the growing economic area of Aviapolis and the city's ambitious climate targets. In the final, Vantaa beat two tough opponents: Cascais from Portugal and Trondheim from Norway. 

Vantaa's winning strengths were: 

• Climate neutral – a roadmap for resource wisdom is guiding Vantaa towards carbon neutrality by 2030.
• Shared – Shared Table is a food assistance service and network based in Vantaa
• Digital – DigiOne connects learning and education systems
• Bold – Inclusive Vantaa encourages and facilitates Vantaa residents to make a difference
• Inventive – social innovations that foster a sense of community
• Flying high – Aviapolis is Vantaa's largest and Finland's fastest-growing centre for work and enterprise 
• Growing – the Urban Growth project has helped businesses in the region to grow 
  

   

In 50 years, Vantaa has grown from a small town to the fourth largest city in Finland. To ensure growth, both socially and environmentally, Vantaa has tried to be innovative and flexible in its use of resources. 

It is important for us that our city grows in a balanced way, socially, ecologically and economically, and this goal will be achieved by continuing to collaborate and innovate together with all our networks and stakeholders.

Vantaa's Mayor Ritva Viljanen

We are innovation champions! Let's cheer and encourage our inventive city and its inhabitants See you at the Innovation Festival Week events!