University of Helsinki

Key Research Areas

The University of Helsinki is a leading multidisciplinary and research-intensive university in Europe. It engages in international top-level research across many disciplines.

Research in Lahti focuses mainly on the ecology of cities while research in Viikki (Helsinki) is concerned with the ecology in cities. As such, a holistic view of the urban environment, in terms of its ecology, is presented by the two centres.

Key research and teaching in Lahti, using modern facilities, is performed on urban ecosystem ecology and hydrology, addressing aquatic and soil ecology, ecotoxicology, environmental chemistry and biotechnology. Urban and other human-induced effects on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems as well as different management regimes and techniques are central to this programme. Ecological processes are studied e.g. through hydrology by analysing movement, distribution, and the quality of water in urban ecosystems. For instance, stormwater is used as a key ecological indicator of the quality/sustainability of the environment.

Lahti campus is situated on the premices of the Lahti Science and Business Park, which is also the home of innovative environmental companies and other related businesses. The city of Lahti is the pilot site for the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA) long-term socio-ecological research project (HMA-LTSER). HMA-LTSER forms part of the Finnish Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research network (FinLTSER). In this comprehensive research programme, the city is studied as an ecosystem dealing not only with ecology, but also with socioecological systems that emerge through the interaction between ecosystems and socioeconomic systems. The ecological research topics emerge from the quality, sustainability and management of the natural and built, urban environment. Basic and applied scientific research in this comprehensive research programme offer unique opportunities to pursue studies in topical issues in modern facilities.

Research in Viikki (Helsinki) is carried out in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and constitutes an important basis for teaching. The Urban Ecology Research Group in Viikki is mainly responsible for studying the effects of fragmentation and human disturbances on the epigaeic invertebrate fauna and the vegetation of urban forests, semi-natural grasslands and meadows, and golf courses. Additionally the group studies the use of ecological knowledge in urban planning and the aesthetic, environmental-ethical, environmental-psychological and ecological values of urban green space.