The CircBuild project has six partner companies: A-Kruunu Ltd, Hartela-yhtiöt Ltd, Foundation for student housing in the Helsinki region (Hoas), Kiinko Real Estate Education, Saint-Gobain Finland Ltd and Y-Säätiö. We’ll conduct a personal pilot with each company. The pilots are carried out together with the companies and the project’s researchers. We also get assistance from Tampere University students, who will have a valuable opportunity to examine real case sites as part of their studies.
In each pilot, we consider how companies can integrate circular economy into their current implementation models and develop scalable solutions for future projects. The goal is to find sustainable solutions that benefit both the circular economy and business.
“In the past five years, I have had the opportunity to follow the discussion around the concept of the circular economy from both research and teaching perspectives. Now, clearly implementable and concrete solutions have emerged, enabling companies to operationalize the principles of sustainable development in practice,” says Tampere University Doctoral Researcher Juha Franssila.
Regenerative Thinking renews
Another doctoral researcher in the project is HAMK Design Factory Senior Lecturer Sanna-Maaria Siintoharju. They have the change to go abroad to learn during the project, with the goal to familiarize themselves with circular economy research in the construction sector in other countries. Siintoharju already has a ticket to Australia, where she will meet with professors in the field, such as one of the main researchers of regenerative thinking, Bruce Pascoe.
Siintoharju is interested in regenerative thinking, which is the next step forward compared to circular economy. Regenerative thinking can be seen as a model that renews or restores ecosystems and cultures. It is a comprehensive and holistic approach, where processes start with sustainable development and result in a net-positive society, people, economy, and environment. This also sparked interest at our meeting.
“Regenerative thinking can bring new insights to the construction sector as well, when looking broadly at the possibilities of low carbon, biodiversity, and circular economy. For example, could large shading trees not only enhance residents’ comfort but also reduce the cooling needs of buildings?” ponders Hartela Ltd Sustainability Manager Julia Brunfeldt.
We have many interesting avenues of research while pondering this subject, for instance. We’ll doubtly get even more inspired through the research journey by both Finnish and international academic research and our excursions. On top of the trips our doctoral researchers have, we travel on a learning excursion to Europe at the end of the year 2025 and then to our final seminar at the end of 2026. Next for us is a trip inside Finland, however, where we attend FRUSH25 in Forssa and focus on ESG requirements!
Read more about the CircBuild project on our website!
For more information:
Jaakko Kinnunen
Project Manager at CoreLab
Faculty of Built Environment
Tampere University
jaakko.kinnunen@tuni.fi
Olli Koskela
Research Manager at HAMK Tech
Häme University of Applied Sciences
olli.koskela@hamk.fi
Text:
Alisa Hakola
Communications and Research at CoreLab
Faculty of Built Environment
Tampere University
alisa.hakola@tuni.fi
The project is co-funded by the European Union and the South Savo ELY Centre. Additionally, the project is funded and partnered by A-Kruunu Oy, Hartela-Yhtiöt Oy, Foundation for student housing in the Helsinki region (Hoas), Kiinko Real Estate Education, Saint-Gobain Finland Oy, and Y-Säätiö.
