10. Eco-innovation and sustainable employment

10A. Present Situation

Please complete the following table providing the most recent data that is available:

Indicator Unit Year of data

Number of electric vehicles owned by the municipality 29 number 2015

Number of electric vehicles owned by the municipality (in % of all cars owned by the municipality)

17 % 2015

Number of charging outlets available for the cars owned privately.

28 number 2015

Describe the present situation in relation to eco-innovation and sustainable employment, including any relevant disadvantages or constraints resulting from historical, geographical and/or socio-economic factors which may have influenced this indicator area. Where available, information/data should be provided from previous years (5 – 10) to show trends. Make reference to:

1. Innovations that address material / resource use, (substitution, minimisation of material use, closing loops, etc) and reduce environmental impacts, i.e. measures to improve resource efficiency; new business models (sharing schemes), including actions inspired by circular economy thinking;

2. Awareness raising and training to encourage the development and take-up of environmentally friendly technologies, particularly through training in industrial and business settings. Make reference to the authority launching the initiative as well as its target audience;

3. Efforts to promote green skills, or green jobs; 4. Efforts to promote Green Public Procurement (GPP); 5. Social innovation/stakeholder participation, including for example community programmes, that

shows entrepreneurship and new ways of organisation that promote sustainable development and protect the environment locally and globally;

6. Share of the city budget dedicated to support environmental R&D (with particular reference to eco-innovation) by public and private entities;

7. Number of jobs created in green sectors in total, as a share of total jobs in the city and as total jobs created during a period of one year;

8. Share of hybrid or fully electric cars in total stock of vehicles owned by the city. Number of charging outlets available for the cars owned privately.

(max. 600 words & 5 graphics, images or tables)

In the last five years, the clear trend among the key indicators of the green economy in Estonia has been

the attempt to use resources more efficiently and to develop new technology that produces greater

efficiency. The number of new green companies is increasing. The City of Tallinn also contributes

actively to innovative activities.

The most important focus areas for Tallinn in terms of the development of enterprise and innovation

are the service economy and future technologies (incl. environmental technologies), which is supported

by the highly developed information and communications technology in Estonia.

This is why Tallinn cooperates with all major initiatives and clusters related to sustainable enterprise and

technologies. Examples of these are the Estonian Wind Power Cluster that deals with renewable energy

solutions, the Waste Management Cluster and the Estonian ICT Cluster, which focuses on the use of

ICT solutions in other economic sectors.

Tallinn has also initiated a cross-cluster online platform, which helps Estonian clusters and member

companies gain international awareness and find new cooperation opportunities.

Tallinn City Enterprise Department co-financed the projects of several clusters from 2009-2014, thereby

promoting cooperation between companies at all levels. The project of the Electromobile Estonia cluster

which promoted the use of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly electric cars and rechargeable

hybrids stemmed from the Estonian Electromobility Programme ELMO. ELMO rental allows people to

rent environmentally friendly electric cars on an hourly basis and electric car users to charge their cars in

the ELMO charging network. In 2012 Estonia became the first country in the world to establish a

nationwide electric car charging network that uses renewable energy. The first charging point in

Estonia was established by Tallinn City Government (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Tallinn established the first electric car charging point in 2009. The current number of charging

points in Tallinn is 28.

Tallinn is one of the founding members of the science and business park Tallinn Science Park

TEHNOPOL, which deals with environmental technologies and green economy. TEHNOPOL also deals

with the following areas: smart street lighting; innovative energy services; energy monitoring and

measuring; remote control of substations; monitoring of the marine environment; production of biogas

from algae; construction of passive houses; production of solar panels; and more. TEHNOPOL supports

the implementation of promising new technologies and accelerates the development of technology-

based companies (Figure 2).

Tallinn is a cooperation partner to the MEKTORY Innovation and Business Centre of Tallinn University

of Technology, which solves product development problems and finds new, innovative and

environmentally friendly solutions.

Figure 2. Science and business park Tallinn Science Park TEHNOPOL centralises local and

international energy and environmental technology competencies. Over 180 companies and the

neighbouring Tallinn University of Technology and IT College currently operate in TEHNOPOL.

Figure 3. The Innovation and Business Centre MEKTORY, where scientists, students and entrepreneurs

are brought together to solve product development problems and find new, innovative and

environmentally friendly solutions, and thereby take theoretical knowledge to the practical level

Recognition plays an important part in increasing awareness of the area of eco-innovation. The city has

been organising Tallinn Entrepreneurship Day since 2004, which has included the Tallinn

Entrepreneurship Awards since 2007. The City Enterprise Department with the Responsible Business

Forum and other partners issues the Responsible Entrepreneur Award. This title is used to recognise

sustainable companies that are employee-, community- and environmentally friendly and that see

responsible business as part of their strategy and management. Remarkable eco-innovation, which has

a notable positive impact on the environment due to a new innovative solution, has also been

recognised with a special award since 2013. The winners to date have been Meiren Engineering OÜ for

its innovative and environmentally friendly snow plow (Figure 4) (2013) and AS Chemi-Pharm for its

environmentally friendly product development (2014).

Figure 4. The innovative and environmentally friendly snow plow of Meiren Engineering OÜ

Since 2008, the City Enterprise Department has been one of the partners to the biggest Estonian

televised business competition Brainstorm, which helps young entrepreneurs establish innovative

companies. The projects entered in the competition have also taken environmental protection into

consideration. Since the competition is held in the format of a TV show and is aimed mainly at young

people, it attracts a large number of viewers and also raises awareness of entrepreneurship and

innovation (including sustainability and eco-innovation). The best Tallinn Business Project is also

selected from among the best projects every year. Past winners include the smart bicycle parks of

Bikeep (Figure 4, Section 10B); Smart Load Solutions, which optimises the energy use of consumers;

the smart flower pot Click&Grow; and many more.

Tallinn City Government is making increasing use of the principle of environmentally friendly public

procurement in procuring products and services. The existence of the ISO 14001 Environmental

Management System or other environmentally friendly conditions have been required in several

procurements organised by municipal agencies (e.g. paper procurement, construction of city

infrastructure or other sites, street cleaning). The 2015 public procurement contained a requirement that

70% of the machines used for street cleaning must comply with at least EURO IV limit values of

emissions. The condition in the procurement of vehicles for Tallinn Environment Department is low CO2

emissions, and recycled paper must be used for the printed materials ordered by the city. Tallinn

Environment Department was the first agency to add the principle of environmentally friendly

procurement to its Procurement Procedure.

Statistics Estonia will start collecting statistical data about the green economy and green

workplaces that is comparable to the data of other EU Member States in 2017. At present, Statistics

Estonia analyses the data of the sector that produces environmental protection services and products,

mainly in respect of environmental protection expenditure (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Annual investments (in EUR) in environmental protection of companies that do (on the left) and

do not (on the right) specialise in environmental protection in Estonia

10B. Past Performance Describe the measures implemented over the last five to ten years concerning eco-innovation and sustainable employment. Comment on which measures have been most effective. Make reference to:

1. Initiatives aimed at increasing eco-innovation and sustainable employment, e.g. projects under Cohesion Policy funds, LIFE, Eco-Innovation Action Plan (EcoAP), Green Public Procurement (GPP), as well as national policy initiatives;

2. How European and national policies have been transferred into policy action at the city level; 3. The publication of reports, such as green accounts, revealing the timely implementation of

planned initiatives. 4. Any action which the city is taking in order to develop the urban tissue/infrastructures in an

innovative/sustainable way including actions inspired by circular economy thinking. 5. Name/describe what you consider the flagship of eco-innovation in your city.

(max. 1200 words & 5 graphics, images or tables)

Tallinn has actively used EU financing programmes (Cohesion Fund, Interreg, URBACT, CIVITAS,

FP6, FP7, HORIZON2020, IEE) to finance environmentally sustainable activities. For example, funding

from the Cohesion Fund was used to reconstruct and close landfills in Tallinn (2001-2008) and to

establish the Environmental Education Centre at Tallinn Zoo (2014). EU funding has also been used to

establish and renovate various municipal buildings (schools, kindergartens, sports halls, substitute

homes, social housing units) to make them energy-efficient, and proceeds from sales of CO2 emissions

quotas have also been used.

Since the area of information and communications technology in Estonia has strongly developed the

success of the ICT sector can also be used to improve the quality of living in Tallinn and to offer services

conveniently to citizens. This has allowed the city as a community to develop rapidly, perfect its services

and be successful in the implementation of innovative solutions. This area can also be regarded as the

flagship of the city’s (eco)innovation.

Tallinn offers 567 public services in total, many of which can be applied for and used conveniently and

paper-free via the city’s website www.tallinn.ee (there is also a map of services online). This makes it

possible to offer services to citizens via the Internet – people do not have to visit the city government

offices to obtain them. The ID card (or Mobile ID) used in Estonia allows citizens to sign the necessary

documents digitally, e.g. to request permits, support or services. 38% of the public services provided by

Tallinn are fully electronically usable (the service is accessible via registers or forms that can be filled in

electronically, or the service can be applied for by e-mail). Application forms for and information about

the remaining services can be found in electronic channels. The city’s information and services are also

accessible on mobile phones (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Mobile view of the Tallinn website

The electronic document management system of Tallinn’s agencies was launched in 2001. At

present, the circulation of documents in the city’s agencies and the processing of the city’s legal acts

only take place via the electronic document management system, i.e. no paper is used. The documents

of the city’s agencies are also publicly accessible online via the document register. All of the legislation

adopted by the City Government and the City Council are accessible via the Tallinn Legislation Register,

and the materials of the meetings of the City Council and City Government are also accessible online.

Correspondence between the city’s agencies is usually electronic and digitally signed, and the same

applies to correspondence sent outside of the city system, i.e. state agencies, companies, local

authorities and other organisations. This reduces the use of paper considerably and also decreases the

ecological footprint of the city.

Tallinn has always been open to testing smart city solutions. Companies that develop ICT solutions

have assembled mostly in two business parks (Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol, which was initiated by

the public sector, and the private capital-based smart business city Technopolis), which are also suitable

for testing product demos. The E-Estonia Showroom, which showcases Estonian e-solutions, is also

located in Ülemiste City at Technopolis. The companies based in the aforementioned business parks are

largely the ones that have helped Tallinn introduce smart phone and web applications that make the use

of different services faster and more convenient (e.g. parking, public transport, plan register, cutting

permit register, operative information database, cemetery register and 3D Tallinn).

Tallinn uses several web and smart phone applications that help to make the use of services easier.

Mobile parking or M-parking was launched in Tallinn as early as year 2000 and is one of the best

examples of innovative solutions in the organisation of life in the city. M-parking is a method of payment

that allows people to use their mobile phones to pay for parking in the city’s paid car parks and private

car parks. 90% of payments for parking are made by mobile phone at present (Figure 2). Nine other

towns and cities in Estonia also use M-parking.

Figure 2. Share of M-parking in the public paid parking area of the city

The public transport travel planner with timetables is one of the most popular information services – its

use comprises ca two-thirds (ca 40,000 users per day) of all visits to the city’s websites, and the use of

the smart phone version is increasing constantly (Figure 3). The travel planner helps users to plan their

journeys in the city from point A to point B, highlighting specific public transport vehicles and their

timetables and drawing the optimal route on a digital map of the city. The travel planner on the official

Tallinn website allows users to find suitable travel descriptions within the borders of Tallinn and Harju

County using trains, buses, trams, trolleybuses, cars and bicycles.

Figure 3. Public transport timetables and travel planner view on mobile phone

http://m.soiduplaan.tallinn.ee/

It is also possible to park bicycles smartly using mobile phones in Tallinn. The company Bikeep has

installed bicycle holders near eight shopping centres and other public buildings in Tallinn to which

bicycles can be secured using locks that can be closed and opened with mobile phones (Figure 4). The

same company has also created the new mobile application Barking, which helps discover alternative

parking options in the city.

Figure 4. Bikeep bicycle parking lot by Viru Keskus shopping centre

The free public transport service for residents of Tallinn is based on an electronic ticket system, which

also supports the development of eco-innovation. The common electronic ticket system implemented in

the capital and Harju County in 2012 is based on the Ühiskaart chip card, which makes it possible to

offer a wide selection of ticket products to passengers (single trip, 24-hour, 3-day, 5-day, month),

including joint tickets with the public bus lines of Harju County and the Elron trains that service the

county. Compared to the previously used ID ticket and paper ticket, the new system allows the city to

save twofold on administrative expenses and collect data of mobility patterns due to card validation.

The Park & Ride entrance and exit system in Tallinn is also based on the joint ticket system, which

allows users of the system to travel for free on public transport in Tallinn irrespective of whether they are

Tallinn residents.

In addition to public transport, it also is possible to buy ID tickets to museums in the city, Tallinn

Botanical Gardens and Tallinn Zoo online or with a mobile phone in the www.pilet.ee environment.

The updated Tallinn plan register system has many new options. Among other things, citizens can keep

themselves up to date with the detailed plans that interest them by having plan publication notifications

sent to their e-mail address. It is also possible to submit opinions or objections regarding specific plans

or propose the initiation of plans via the register.

Tallinn offers residents and visitors free WiFi in all city districts. Larger parks and recreation areas,

agencies of the city government and city district administrations are also public WiFi areas. The WiFi

areas can also be seen on the online map of Tallinn.

The international organisation Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) has ranked Tallinn among the seven

most innovative communities in the world five times. In 2011, Tallinn received the European Public

Sector award for the development of e-services. Tallinn has previously received awards for e- and m-

services as well – in 2007 the e-School application was considered worthy of a diploma by the European

Public Services Award (EPSA). In 2007, the independent organisation Living Labs gave the annual m-

Watch award to Tallinn as the city in the European Union that had implemented the best mobile

applications.

In the area of culture, 2012 saw the completion of the virtual city or 3D model of Tallinn. This compact

solution gives a visual idea of the city and also makes it possible to obtain information. The application

not only contains models of buildings and other elements of the urban space, but tourists can also find

important information about the city’s sights, reading material about the history and architecture of

buildings, audio and video clips that introduce the city, and information about hotels, restaurants and

museums with links to their websites.

In order to inform the general public about sectoral activities, Tallinn Environment Department has been

issuing a yearbook since 2010 which focuses on achievements in the protection, prudent use and

sustainable development of the environment and which gives an overview of the status of the

environment in Tallinn.

10C. Future Plans Describe the future short and long term objectives to promote eco-innovation and sustainable employment and the proposed approach for their achievement. Emphasise to what extent plans are supported by commitments, budget allocations, and monitoring and performance evaluation schemes. Make reference to:

1. Plans to establish eco-innovation clusters, strategies and initiatives to attract public-private partnerships for further developing eco-innovation and sustainable employment;

2. Future targets of how eco-innovations can be applied by the city, e.g. make reference to share of hybrid or fully electric cars in total stock of the public fleet, or plans to support the infrastructure development for electric cars in public areas (i.e. increase the number of charging points for electric cars in public car parks), sharing economy schemes (i.e. bike sharing) use of public procurement of innovation;

3. Participation at green business networks or partnerships and covenants and cooperation with knowledge institutions, such as universities;

4. Programmes to reach the population and industries promoting green economy thinking. 5. Identify the key future plan which is considered as the flagship of eco-innovation in your city.

(max. 800 words & 5 graphics, images or tables)

Tallinn has established the Tallinn Enterprise and Innovation Strategy 2014-2018, which focuses also

on the development of innovative urban space considering the development of the smart city concept,

more active use of public procurement that favours innovation, providing more opportunities for testing

innovative products and services (living labs) and the implementation of new e-services. Tallinn

University of Technology, with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the IT cluster, the

City of Helsinki, Aalto University and the European ICT lab, has initiated an ambitious project to

concentrate smart city knowledge and innovation in a centre of excellence in Tallinn (FinEst Twins).

One of the key areas highlighted in the strategy is the area of environmental technology (the green

economy) overseen by Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol. Tehnopol and Pakri Science and Industrial Park

established the Energy and Environmental Technology Development Centre (RoheTAK) at the end

of 2014. Its goal is to grow new, innovative business ideas into viable companies in the area of energy

and environmental technology and hence to further the development of green technology and create

sectoral jobs in Tallinn. The companies operating in these areas have also come up with an initiative to

create a clean-tech cluster.

Tallinn is also involved in the Green Technology Centre of Excellence that will be established in Pakri

Science and Industrial Park, whose goal is to become the biggest energy and environmental technology

science park in Northern Europe by 2020, relying mainly on its favourable geographic location. The park

focuses on the main global challenges of the green technology sector and innovation: renewable energy,

the energy efficiency of buildings, the smart grid, the smart city, energy storage, electric vehicles and

green fuel.

The testing environment for smart city/living environment solutions Tehnopol 2.0 is also planned for

Tehnopol by 2018, where companies can test their solutions and promote the implementation of

innovative and environmentally friendly solutions in the city.

Tallinn focuses on the more efficient use of resources and the development of new technologies that

generate greater efficiency. Smart specialisation is included in EU, national and local policies, and it also

steers the activities of Tallinn towards the preferential development of areas with the greatest growth

potential that produce added value (information and communications technology, health technology and

services, and more efficient use of resources).

Tallinn Environment Department and Tallinn Energy Agency are participating as partners in the Horizon

2020 project R4E – Roadmaps for Energy. The objective of the project is to create an energy strategy

for Tallinn (energy roadmap). Tallinn is participating in the R4E project in two areas: smart buildings

and smart mobility. The objective of the project is to increase the capacity of the public sector and

implement the sustainable energy policy and measures. Within the scope of the project, the partners are

developing a new type of energy strategy by involving local stakeholders, including those who benefit

from the strategy, such as residents and partners from research groups and industry.

Development of the smart Ülemiste City, which began in 2005, will also continue (Figure 1). Ülemiste

City is a modern city block created on the site of the former Dvigatel plant close to the airport. It covers

36 hectares and provides premises for a number of innovative and IT companies. 281 companies

currently operate there, employing over 6000 people. The vision of Ülemiste City is to grow into a 24-

hour multifunctional city by 2025 – one that unites 15,000 employees of companies and organisations

and 5000 residents of the city. Ülemiste City will be a so-called Smart City, where the focus is on the use

of the latest technology to increase the city’s efficiency and protect the environment.

Figure 1. Many innovative companies have concentrated in Ülemiste City. The objective is to develop

into Smart City, while preserving the old valuable limestone buildings of the former plant when building

the new ones

The measures of the Tallinn Environmental Protection Action Plan 2013-2018 require supporting and

implementing eco-innovative solutions and applications that improve the living environment of Tallinn’s

residents. The action plan also prescribes the preparation of an eco-innovative study, the

organisation of eco-innovation seminars in Tallinn and the implementation of eco-innovative

projects in cooperation with partners. There are plans to carry out the relevant events within the scope

of the annual Tallinn Entrepreneurship Day, whose objectives are to value business activity, to

encourage people to implement their innovative ideas and to provide useful information about different

options and areas. Innovation, smartness and new options have been the focus for a long time. The best

entrepreneurs are also recognised during Entrepreneurship Day (incl. categories for Responsible

Entrepreneur, Eco-innovation and Creators of Jobs; Figure 2). Cooperation with partners that further

sustainable business, incl. partner organisations, clusters and universities, will also continue.

Figure 2. The best entrepreneurs are also recognised during Tallinn Entrepreneurship Day

Tallinn City Council has launched a design contest in order to find new and innovative ideas that will

change a specific aspect of city life and look to the future, 10-20 years from now. The objective of the

contest is to prepare a roadmap of innovative solutions in Tallinn, i.e. a list of big and preferably new

ideas, activities, facilities, etc. important for the development, infrastructure, living environment and

organisation of life in Tallinn, and which the city could support or implement itself.

Exchanging ideas and experience will also continue in cooperation with the International Urban

Development Association (INTA), whose 38th global conference was organised by Tallinn in early

2015. The conference was attended by more than 100 leading specialists from 25 countries to discuss

the development strategies of smart cities.

Tallinn is planning to implement the e-student card system in all municipal general education schools in

the city. The common e-student card system would be compatible with the Ühiskaart system and would

make it possible to implement new e-solutions (use of public transport, e-student diary system, various

access systems). This will also create an opportunity to replace the current paper-based student cards.

Student cards with electronic options are currently used in 10 municipal general education schools in

Tallinn.

There are plans to expand the joint ticket system used in Tallinn to the whole country and to

neighbouring countries. There are also plans to launch cooperation for the creation of a cross-border M-

parking system so that Estonians can use it in Helsinki and Finns in Tallinn.

Tallinn plans to create a rental bicycle system in the city which will give both locals and tourists the

chance to travel in the city.

10D. References List supporting documentation, adding links where possible. Further detail may be requested during the clarification phase. Documentation should not be forwarded at this stage. (max. 400 words)

3D Tallinn – http://3d.tallinn.ee/home_eng.html

ELMO Programme – http://elmo.ee/en/

Estonian clusters – www.estonianclusters.ee

Estonian ICR Cluster – http://itl.ee/Eng

Estonian Wind Power Cluster – http://estonianwindcluster.eu/wind-power-cluster/more-details

INTA – http://www.inta-aivn.org/en/

Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) –

https://www.intelligentcommunity.org/index.php?submenu=Awards&src=gendocs&ref=Smart21&categor

y=Events

Meetings of Tallinn City Council – https://aktal.tallinnlv.ee/

Meetings of Tallinn City Government – http://www.tallinnlv.ee/lvistung/bin/meetinglist.asp?uid=guest

MEKTORY – http://www.ttu.ee/mektory-eng

Parking in Tallinn – http://www.parkimine.ee/nutiparkimine/

Public Services in Tallinn – http://www.tallinn.ee/eng/teenused

Responsible Business Forum – http://www.csr.ee/

Statistics Estonia – http://www.stat.ee/en

Tallinn Cemetery Register – http://www.kalmistud.ee/eng/

Tallinn Cutting Permit Database – http://raie.tallinn.ee/open_raie.php

Tallinn Document Register – http://tallinnadhs.ml.ee/atp/

Tallinn Enterprise and Innovation Strategy 2014-2018 –

https://oigusaktid.tallinn.ee/?id=3001&aktid=126670&fd=1&leht=1&q_sort=elex_akt.akt_vkp

Tallinn Entrepreneurship Day – http://ettevotluspaev.tallinn.ee/in-english

Tallinn Environmental Protection Development Action Plan 2013-2018 –

https://oigusaktid.tallinn.ee/?id=3001&aktid=125983&fd=1&leht=1&q_sort=elex_akt.akt_vkp

Tallinn Legislation Register – https://oigusaktid.tallinn.ee/?id=3001

Tallinn Operative Information Database – https://opinfo.tallinn.ee/

Tallinn Plan Register – https://www.tpr.tallinn.ee/

Tallinn Public Transport – http://soiduplaan.tallinn.ee/

Tallinn Public Transport Travel Planner with Timetables – http://soiduplaan.tallinn.ee/#plan/

Tallinn Science Park TEHNOPOL – http://www.tehnopol.ee/?lang=en

Tallinn Services Map – http://www.tallinn.ee/eng/teenused?action=kaart

Technopolis Ülemiste – http://technopolis.ee/en/

Travel Planner of Official Tallinn Website – http://kaart.tallinn.ee/Tallinn/Show?REQUEST=Main&task=2

Waste Recycling Cluster – http://www.ejkl.ee/et/?274