Nordic CityMaking Week

We designed Nordic CityMaking Week to combine traditional conference elements with hands-on collaboration and contextual learning. Our curatorial approach emphasized authentic collaboration, focusing on workshops and site visits that allowed participants to engage directly with ongoing urban projects and their local contexts, believing that sustainable city-making requires both knowledge sharing and the creation of lasting relationships across sectors and borders.
Our initiation year in 2020 was fundamentally shaped by COVID-19, pushing us to pioneer hybrid approaches that combined responsible on-site gatherings with global digital participation. This challenge became an opportunity to expand our reach while maintaining the hands-on, place-based learning that was central to our vision.
For 2021, we evolved the program around 'Common Ground - Common Place,' exploring the essential connections between bottom-up community initiatives and top-down planning processes. This theme reflected our belief that sustainable urban development requires alignment and mutual understanding between different scales of urban action.
We established partnerships across Helsinki and Vantaa in 2020, expanding to include Turku in 2021, creating a network of Nordic cities committed to collaborative urban innovation. Along with these cities, we partnered with companies such as Kone and NCC, and collaborated with organisations including Sitra, various embassies, and numerous NGOs. Working in close collaboration with universities, we engaged future citymakers as active participants rather than passive audiences, experimenting with innovative participation tools and masterclasses that bridged academic learning with practical urban challenges.
Beyond programming, we managed the comprehensive media presence—streaming seminars, social media engagement, and developing the creative identity that positioned Nordic CityMaking as a distinct platform for urban collaboration and established its public face and brand development.

Speakers and contributors at NCM 2020&2021:

Anni Sinnemäki / City of Helsinki, Timo Hintsanen / City of Turku, Tarja Laine / City of Vantaa, Charles Landry / Creative Bureaucracy Festival, Jenny Osuldsen / Snøhetta, Charlotta Mellander / University of Jönköping, Dan Hill / University of Melbourne, Ann Virkus / Noblessner Tallinn, Jeff Risom / Gehl Architects, Jorick Beijer / Blossity, Camilla van Deurs / City of Copenhagen, Richard Sennett & Pablo Sendra / authors of Designing Disorder, Manu Claeys / stRaten-generaal, Christian Pagh / Oslo Architecture Triennale, Hossam Hewidy / Aalto University,Nasima Razmyar / City of Helsinki, Riikka Åstrand / City of Vantaa, Aija Staffans / Aalto University, Teemu Kurkela / JKMM Architects, Fredrik Lindstål / Glad Stad, Martin Manthorpe / NCC, Karla Lindahl / Kone, Bram Dewolfs / Urban Foxes, Charlot Schans / Stipo, David Sim / author of Soft City, Hanna Harris / City of Helsinki, Arja Lukin / City of Vantaa, Soumia El Ghazouani / NCC, Marco Steinberg / Snowcone & Haystack, Petteri Niskanen / Myyrmäki-liike, Kamilla Sultanova / DEI expert, Pärtel-Peeter Pere / City of Tallinn, Hans Karssenberg / Stipo, Mari Männistö / City of Helsinki, Kalle Nieminen / Sitra

See more NCM2020 https://nordiccitymaking.fi/ncm2020
See more NCM2021 https://nordiccitymaking.fi/speakers

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• Established Nordic CityMaking as a platform for cross-border urban innovation
• Partnerships connecting diverse actors across public, private, and civic sectors
• Hybrid event model reaching hundreds of global participants while maintaining hyperlocal engagement
• Innovative learning formats including the Nordic CityMaking BookClub
• Content framework on Nordic urban values that expanded to platforms such as Nordic Talks
• Evolving concept with future editions focusing on experiential learning through Camps and new media formats

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