The international journal AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics is a scholarly open access, blind peer-reviewed by two reviewers, interdisciplinary, and fully refereed scientific journal.
AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics accepted to publish our paper. The journal is no. 3/2023, September.
Suomen Tilastokeskuksen data kertoo että erilliskerätyn biojätteen merkittävin käsittelytapa on kompostointi ja mädätys. Suomessa käsitellään vuosittain n. 400 000 tonnia biojätettä sillä menetelmällä. Kotitalouksista kerätystä sekajätteestä n. 40 % on biojätettä.
Vuosittain Suomen kunnissa kerätään ja prosessoidaan biojätettä lähes 500 000 tonnia. Kuinka monta toimijaa kerää ja käsittelee biojätettä? Mitä nämä toimijat ovat? Missä kunnissa nämä toimijat operoivat? Kuka ohjaa ja hallinnoi biojätteen käsittelyä? Millaiset ohjeistukset eri kunnissa on annettu biojätteen keräämiseen ja käsittelyyn? Millainen tilkkutäkki on suomalainen kunnissa toteutettava biojätteen käsittely?
Monta kysymystä, mutta vastauksen saaminen olikin vaikeaa. Tiedot ovat vaikeasti avoimista lähteistä löydettävissä. Tästä syystä Smart & Lean Hub Oy investoi aikaa siihen että keräsi tiedon, muodosti tietokannan ja visualisoi tuloksen PowerBi alustalla.
Ylläolevat karttakuvat ovat ruutukaappauksia uudesta karttapohjaisesta visualisoinnista, jonka Smart & Lean Hub Oy toteutti Power Bi alustalla.
Testaa Power Bi visualisointia : https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiMTJiYTViMjktMTk4Zi00ODkxLTgyZWUtYmQ4ZjQ1NTQ2ODIwIiwidCI6ImM4NTBmZTljLWI0NmMtNGIyZC1iODYzLTAxZmEyYTg5ODA2OCIsImMiOjh9&pageName=ReportSection
Tämä työ kuuluu Cities2030 hankkeeseen, jota rahoittaa Euroopan Komission Horizon2020 ohjelma. Projekti numero on 101000640.
Lahti Living Lab carries out an experiment: Bokashi – Food waste bio composting. The coordinator of the lab is SLEAN (P14).
The experiment was initiated in June 2022 and it was closed by the end of September 2022. The ideation phase took circa half a month in June. The building phase which overlapped ideation and monitoring lasted from the middle of June until the end of July. The monitoring phase lasts from the middle of June until the end of September. The learning phase lasted from July until the end of September.
1. CRFS Vision 2030 and the challenge
Lahti Living Lab carries out innovation actions that contribute to EU, city of Lahti, and Cities2030 visions and objectives.
The Lahti Living Lab’s experiment at Cities2030 is “Bokashi – Food waste bio composting”. Its objective is to explore bio-composting food waste from the table to the fields to enhance inhabitants’ positive carbon handprint, self-sufficiency, and resilience.
See figure 1.
2. Key change drivers
The general and individual change drivers are listed in figure 1. The list of general change drivers is developed based on an analysis of EU-, national- and regional initiations and actions. They are for example set EU, national and city goals, new recycling and bio waste legislation and regulation. The list of individual change drivers is a summary of experiment participants’ motivation factors.
The 10 experimentalists replied to the survey about which of the listed change drivers were in their opinion the most relevant and important. Which change factors influence most of their thinking and behavior?. The most influential change factors are all linked to the experimentalists’ subjective benefits: reducing the cost of public waste management, enhancing awareness and capacity, getting organic and rich soil and fertilizer, enhancing home garden growth and wellbeing, and disposal of food waste in an ecological and easy manner. The key change factors are noted in figure 1 with a red tag.
.jpg.5c88ebfefba2fb55087b5e080f353546.jpg)
Figure 1: Experiment 1: visions, objectives, change drivers and nudges.
4. Multi-actor nudges and interventions to promote food waste bio composting and bokashi
4.1. Nudge 1: Establish a community of practice
The bokashi experiment of Lahti Living Lab target group is wide, not by quantity but by coverage of the target group. The experiment aims to engage and influence on following actors:
In addition to the above stakeholders, the experiment has looped other stakeholders and experts that represent e.g. horticulture, microbiology, food advisory, capacity building organization, and urban greening planning expert. Totally 27 people are considered to be in the communication loop.
The experiment aims to engage and impact simultaneously all engaged actors. The aim is to create actionable conditions (policymakers, policy implementers), obtain objective evidence of the applicability and effects (researchers), explore and uptake functional bokashi process (process know-how, goods, and consumable suppliers), and finally learn and test food waste bio composting in households.
The below youtube video presents the 10 experimentalists who received their new bokashi buckets in June 2022: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/3GOY8cEIIe8?feature=oembed
4.2. Nudge 2: Bokashi buckets and starters guidance
All 10 experimentalists received a bokashi package and starters’ guidance in June 2022.
4.3. Nudge 3: Analysis of bokashi drivers and obstacles
At the beginning of the experiment, a deep dive into bokashi change drivers and obstacles was conducted. The purpose of the analysis was twofold: firstly to find out the subjective motivational factors of the experimentalists, but also to extend their know-how of the EU, national and local change drivers which are typically related to the legislation and regulation.
Figure 2: Bokashi change drivers and obstacles
The aim of the exercise was also to identify which of the change drivers may have an impact on the systemic transformation of the City Region Food System (Figure 3). We identified that new waste management, particularly bio waste, regulations and laws affect food waste management, models, and structures. Also, the availability of bokashi and bio-composting goods and equipment paves the path to transformation. In a summary, the regulations urge us to consider starting bio-composting in households, and on the other thanks to equipment, the threshold to start bio-composting is lower than before. This situation is the starting point for the bokashi experiment.
Figure 3: Legislation, regulation and facilities to enhance urban food waste management
4.4. Nudge 4: Online peer support
The activation of the low-threshold Whats App group enables peer support among experimentalists.
4.5. Nudge 5: Online expert by experience support
The engagement of 2 Experts of Experience in the group appeared to be truly a value-adding nudge. They supported the experimentalists, and brought in their practical know-how of the bokashi process.
4.6. Nudge 6: Social media visibility and public experiment
The experiment was communicated and shared in Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and Instragram by experimentalists, by other stakeholders and by the coordinator of the experiment. The aim was to create encouraging pressure on the experimentalists and bring out their positive handprint on food waste management.
4.7. Nudge 7: Self-reflection on bokashi experiment
All 10 experimentalists are committed to delivering 2 either blogs or video in which they reflect on the experiment. The submission deadline is the end of September 2022. The deliverables are saved into http://www.smartlean.fi web page and distributed through social media. https://smartlean.fi/category/bokashi/
4.8. Nudge 8: An initiation for public bokashi course
At the Lahti region, there has been no offering of a bokashi course by any institution. The plan to start a short course next spring or latest 2023 autumn is in the process. The course will contribute to raising awareness and building capacity for bio-composting and bokashi.
4.9. Nudge 9: Matchmaking urban agriculture and Urban Greening Plans
In the Lahti region, urban agriculture is modest and practices are undeveloped. However, the city supports the rent of allotments by providing the land areas. Urban agriculture is part of the Urban Greening Plans that municipalities are required to deliver. It’s part of the European Green Deal and EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030. The experiment coordinator has communicated with a body (SYKE) that contributes to the development of Urban Greening Plans at the national level. The aim is to influence the city of Lahti to update the Urban Greening Plan and integrate urban agriculture into the content.
4.10. Nudge 10: Contribution to the ongoing academic research
Biodiverse Anthropocenes is a Research Programme of the University of Oulu supported by the Academy of Finland PROFI6 funding (2021-2026). This innovative and transdisciplinary research initiative brings together scholars from across the social and natural sciences to collaboratively investigate the biodiversity loss currently threatening multi-species well-being and planetary sustainability, and to generate future-oriented solutions both in the Arctic and around the planet.
Bokashi bio-composting is considered in the research program as a mode of urban waste management. Lahti Living Lab bokashi experiment has given a tiny input to the program. The Bokashi experiment is one of the ongoing local case studies in Finland.
4.11. Nudge 11: Lobbying to harmonize national urban food waste procedures on bokashi
Due to the novelty of bokashi and also to the recent update on bio-waste management law, the waste management authorities’ practices related to bokashi vary in different regions in Finland. The aim is to influence firstly local waste management authorities’ insight and interpretation so that it gives an opportunity to carry out the bokashi type of bio composting solutions. The second aim is to communicate the different practices to show the variation. .
4.12 Nudge 12: Capacity-building event 25.8.2022
The below youtube video allows you to peek at the capacity-building event that was arranged by Lahti Living Lab on Thursday 25.08.2022 at the idyllic premises of Ahtiala Old Railway Station. Nearly 20 women share knowledge, experiences, and insights on food waste recycling, bio-composting, and bokashi composting.
Figure 4. Capacity-building event at Ahtiala old railway station
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TnZqFnLTSbQ?feature=oembed
5. Innovation actions and results
5.1 Lahti Living Lab’s innovation actions, results, and analysis of results
Innovation actions:
Innovation actions aka experiment’s results:
5.2 Anticipated and actual action per SMART Goals
The four first indicators are on the city, region or national level. In short term, the experiment has no impact on them. In long term – 5 years – the enhanced bio composting solutions, including bokashi, has an impact on the three first indicators, but the main reason for the transition is the improved laws and regulations. Bokashi experiment raises awareness of the importance of soil in food production and household gardens, and thus in a tiny way impacts food self-sufficiency in Finland.
The other indicators in the table are directly linked to the implementation of the experiment. Only one goal was not achieved, which is the goal to deliver innovation. The other goals were achieved or exceeded.
6. Expected impacts
The result aims to influence research, policymakers, policy implementations, and capacity-building institutions. They have a key role to raise awareness of different food waste management solutions that households can and will apply. After 5 years, inhabitants will separate better the biowaste than today. Those who are able to bio-compost by using isolated heat composters are the mainstream. But there is also room for those urban citizens who want to show their positive carbon handprint and process their food waste into enriched organic soil and fertilizer. For them, bokashi bio-composting will be a well-known, available and feasible solution.
The reuse of food processing residuals in the household gardens to renovate soil and enhance plant growth and yield has an impact on inhabitants and city regions. The impact reflects on inhabitants’ empowerment, resilience, and self-sufficiency in urban agriculture and food production. It has positive impacts also on biodiversity. Urban agriculture binds carbon which fosters carbon neutrality and thus mitigates climate change.
7. Additional material
I’m in the process to write my share into the Horizon2020 periodic report. The aim is that we – project consortium partners – look backward and assess what went well and what didn’t go so well. What was the performance and progress in the research and innovation action compared to the grant agreement?
While writing I reflect on good Performance Assurance and Monitoring (PA/PM) practices that are in use in the best organizations e.g. in industrial organizations, public institutions, and companies. How do they assure and monitor their performance?
In Horizon2020 research and innovation projects, the purchaser of the action, i.e. European Commission, defines that the project coordinator’s responsibility is to monitor the project performance and progress.
However, it may happen that EC’s command rules the project practices. The project coordinator puts all efforts into Performance Monitoring (PM), and neglects Performance Assurance (PA). If the project coordinator doesn’t implement Performance Assurance (PA) practices into the project, it gives an unofficial mandate to all partners to comply same questionable example.
The efficient, right directed and timely Performance Assurance (PA) measures are key variables in the project execution, progress, and performance.
Performance Assurance (PA) measures build the conditions that all partners have an opportunity to succeed and carry out good work.
High-class performance in the project regarding quality, delivery, and cost (value v.s. working hours) is a result of the project culture.
A world-class high-performance culture calls for leadership, communication, values, work teams, structures, human capital, performance assurance, and performance monitoring.
Häme’s (FI) rural areas development is now converted into an algorithm that runs multiple input and output variables.
An open-source application provides a simulation tool and playground for Häme regional policymakers and authorities to foresight the rural long-term future until 2040.
The System Dynamics Modelling application is the result of PoliRural project efforts.
This is my home city – Lahti. It is located in southern Finland in the province of Päijät-Häme. Lahti is the biggest city in the province.
10 cities and 2 regions are currently engaged in the CITIES2030. The project incorporates diverse cities and regions as stated in the below table. These 10 cities and 2 regions are called front-runners.
| 10 cities and 2 regions Geography | Demography*) |
| Bremerhaven (DE), flat, temperate oceanic | 1.200 |
| Bruges (BE), flat, temperate oceanic | 850 |
| Haarlem (NL), flat, temperate oceanic | 5.461 |
| Iaşi (RO), uplands, humid continental | 3.092 |
| Quart de Poblet (ES), flat, Mediterranean,dry/hot summer | 1.300 |
| Murska Sobota (SI), flat, temperate oceanic | 806 |
| Seinäjoki (FI), flat, subarctic | 44,26 |
| Troodos (CY), mountainous, Mediterranean, hot semi-arid | N/ap |
| Velika Gorica (HR), flat, temperate oceanic | 190 |
| Vejle (DK), flat, temperate oceanic | 400 |
| Vicenza (IT), flat, humid subtropical | 1.400 |
| Vidzeme region (LV), highlands, humid continental | N/ap |
Cities2030’s aim is to engage a total of 50 cities by the end of the project covering a spanning diversity of scales, climates, and terrains, from continental to coastal settings. At the end of the day, Cities2030 will engage 12 front-runners and 38 followers.
Lahti locates in the province of Päijät-Häme being the biggest city in the province. The three strategic RDI target fields in the Päijät-Häme province are sports, food & drinks, and the manufacturing industry. The RDI strategy is updated in November 2021 (link)
The province’s and accordingly Lahti’s strategic orientation to focus RDI efforts too on food & drinks sounds like a good idea from Cities2030 perspective. S&L will be following the next acts in Päijät-Häme province and in Lahti waiting for an opportunity to initiate cooperation between the city of Lahti and Cities2030.
We, in the CITIES2030 project, have a hypothesis: 12+ pilots carry out an Extended Innovation Pattern (EIP) to deliver innovations to capitalize, best practices to share, and improvements to enhance processes. The innovation environment is built upon a multi-actor approach and open innovation. CITIES2030 project contributes to the transformation of Urban Food Systems.
The platform to generate innovations, novel practices, and process innovations is Living Lab. Each of the 12 cities i.e. 12 pilots establishes a Living Lab that engages and activates regional and local multiple stakeholders to assess, study, develop and innovate new attributes on CITY REGION FOOD SYSTEM (CRFS). The aim is to foster the Urban Food System transition towards 2030.
Eventually, by the end of the project, CITIES2030 has engaged 50 cities all over Europe. These multiplier’ cities follow and learn from the pilot cities’ achievements, and initiate their own transition pathways towards 2030.
The description of the implementation of Extended Innovation Pattern is in the technical report D5.2 CRFS Living Lab facilitators, and guidelines for development and innovations.
Transition needs system innovations among other things, hence we delivered a technical report at WP3 – D3.3 Systems Thinking Methodology.
The survey was developed in parallel in all the PoliRural 12 regional pilots during the same period, beginning on Feb 10th and ending on March 9 th 2020. In Häme the survey gathered the interest of a total of 90. The below conclusion is copied directly from the deliverable D4.2 and it reflects all 12 pilots.
The differences among the European territories and population with regard to geographic, cultural, language and other factors, do not mean to be a weakness and could be identified as a strength due to the commonalities that arise from the detail study on the needs and factors of attractiveness for the rural areas.
However, there is a need to create the conditions to improve the attractiveness of rural areas connected to the development of a framework for coordinated program and activities towards different economic sectors in rural areas, which express the need to build the different policies based upon the coherence and strategic planning, of policies, measures and activities with a holistic view.
More than 80 needs where identified in this exercise, however, it was possible to reach to a common understanding of the most important needs with a total number of 32 needs finally assessed that have allowed to develop cluster maps per each of the 7 pillars and needs, integrated into 4 different categories: Quality of life; Social capital; Cultural appeal; and Natural capital (see below image).
Note: The light blue text in the mind-map means that this need is also identified in Häme region.
The digitisation process of the society and the economy is well connected to the factors of attractiveness of rural areas. At this regard there is common concern on the need to have a good internet connectivity (broadband) in the whole territory, which is a framework condition for the further development of other digital services.
The sustainability and environmental aspects are strongly considered as factors of attractiveness of rural areas. All the regions highlighted the importance of these aspects in relation to different categories for the attractiveness: social capital, cultural appeal and natural capital.
One of the most relevant factors, is the one related to the need of finding more employment possibilities to reduce the dependency ratio and improve the conditions to attract new entrants, with a special view to women and youth. Gender equality and the participation of women and youth in business and in the society, is also relevant to consider future actions oriented to rural areas.
Finally, the mobility rural-urban and the provision of public services (medical, educational and dependents care) are very relevant needs identified and prioritized through the exercise. These are considered of importance to improve the quality of life, avoid the abandonment of rural areas and attract new entrants.
COVID-19 has also affected the need to support of tele-working opportunities prioritized by only two regions. It is supposed how tele-working will have a stronger view for the future development of opportunities in the rural areas that cannot be neglected. Another effect is the one related to e-health, e-learning and other digital services, like e-commerce, that will allow to enhance the capacity to develop the factors of attractiveness of rural areas in the future.
References:
D4.2 Grassroot Needs & Factors of Rural Attractiveness, https://polirural.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/D4.2.pdf, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-OmW-66_T5saXURTAqMphrghJoGmweJtJv0N7prJP1g/edit?usp=sharing
PoliRural’s twelve (12) pilot teams have familiarized themselves with the system modelling process through four phases. The four phases are the
following:
As described by Dr Patrick Crehan (CKA) in the internal working document for PoliRural’s twelve (12) pilots:
“DRIVERS ANALYSIS is a process whereby you obtain an overview of the factors that are driving change in your region, with a view to understanding the challenges faced and how they are likely to evolve in the coming years.”
PoliRural’s 12 pilots’ Drivers Analysis built-up information and insights that made it possible for System Dynamics Modelling experts to identify rural attractiveness main dynamics and the related Key Performance Indicators (KPI). The second phase of the system modelling, which is “Building the Matrix KPI – DRIVERS”, was completed.
In terms of System Dynamics Modelling (SDM), the main dynamics are POPULATION, EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE, NATURAL CAPITAL, QUALITY OF LIFE, RURAL ATTRACTIVENESS AND RURAL RETENTION CAPACITY.
References:
A STEEPV – Inventory of Drivers of Change
The initial and overall ambition of the Häme pilot is:
The pilot will use PoliRural results to boost the region’s attractiveness by introducing business-friendly policies that can encourage new entrepreneurs to create products and services on circular-economy and well-being, which in the future may become a significant source of employment.
Change Factors Analysis (CFA) groups the identified change factors in two: Factors that help to achieve desired change and factors that are against desired change. Some of the change factors belong to both groups.
The note “KPI” refers to the time series and other data that has been collected for Häme’s System Dynamics Modelling (SDM).
Smart & Lean 