Helsinki Metropolitan Smart & Clean Foundation was a five-year ‘step change’ project with 29 public-private partners from the Helsinki Metropolitan cities, leading businesses, universities, research institutions, and state actors. The Foundation orchestrated impactful climate solutions for systemic urban challenges in transport, energy, construction, and the waste and water sector. Emission-reducing solutions also generate new types of business and create export references for businesses. The Foundation’s operating period was 1st July 2016 to 30th June 2021.
Orchestrator’s role is new and important in leading systemic change. The key is getting the right people and organisations together and getting them to work together in an interdependent ecosystem.
An orchestrator:
⬤ Collects data and calculates the impacts
⬤ Creates a holistic picture of the actions needed to make the change wanted
⬤ Identifies all the actors needed to make the change
⬤ Identifies and connects the actors
⬤ Identifies the right actions with the most impact (utilising data)
⬤ Creates leadership models that enable the individual actors to see that their actions are dependent on each other and that sometimes individual organisations need to compromise for the good of the common goal
⬤ Communicates and markets the ecosystem and the solution(s)
⬤ Fosters trust as a neutral actor
⬤ Builds capacity and knowledge
The foundation had an innovative long-term financing and governance model. It was financed by donations from its partners and the board consisted of the CEOs, mayors and other senior directors from its partners.
Smart & Clean’s aim was to create an operating model to help make a systemic change into a 1.5°C society together.