Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

scale. Overcoming "fast no's," deflating conformist arguments, and buildingtransformational momentum will happen only with a shared understandingof value.The opportunity for this studio is to make this value proposition andto design a pathway to carbon neutrality for the near and long-term. Suchinsight into the value and mechanism of carbon neutrality will help releasethe full potential of the public and private sectors in Finland. The work ofthis studio will help protect the natural environment and catalyse a newcommunity to become global exporters of climate neutral know-how.This marks the first comprehensive effort to design a clean, green andsmart development strategy for Finland—not in 2020—not in 2050—but now.Why Carbon?Why not design a pathway to maximum energy efficiency?Improving energy efficiency has been a focus of the public and privatesectors in Finland since the Energy Crisis of the 1970's. In fact, Sitra initiatedan early energy program in response to the crisis given Finland's particularvulnerability caused by the scarcity of domestic energy sources. Thisprogram sparked a revision of Finland's building codes, which specifiedgreater energy efficiency and helped the country to move towards a morediversified fuel supply.Since, Finland has become a leader in energy efficiency and technology.Its energy plants, among the most efficient in the world, use combined heatand power, district heating and even district cooling. Energy efficiency hasbecome a vital part of the national energy policy and the impacts of thesemeasures are reflected in the decline of Finland's energy intensity by 23%between 1994 and 2006. This decline has occurred despite an increase intotal final consumption, by nearly a third, from 1985 to 2005.Finland’s effective energy audit system provides detailed information toits end users. This system is paired with voluntary agreements that have hada significant impact on energy efficiency at many scales. A 2006 Ministryof Employment and the Economy study revealed that the audit/agreementsystem was exceeding expectations in terms of improving energy efficiency.Government and private sector investments in the energy audit system arecontinuing.At its core, energy efficiency is a technical challenge that can beaddressed through effective policies, measures, and investments. Finlandhas shown great strength and leadership in driving cost effective improvementsin energy efficiency and all signals from government and the energyindustry suggest that this trend will continue.210