Looping Local Mushroom Operations in Viikki: A New Pilot Project Testing Urban Food Upcycling

The pilot, coordinated by the Viikki Food Design Factory, brings together a team of University of Helsinki students, who have named themselves the Shroomhead crew, university researchers and local companies. The objective is to test how a circular loop of local mushroom cultivation, their gastronomic utilization, and upcycling of the spent composite for construction material use can be organized and operated in an urban context. For the students, the pilot is a project course offering them an opportunity to learn about sustainable food production methods, circular bioeconomy, and urban food systems, as well as to work hands-on with finding the best ways of operating such a looped system. 

The mushroom growing kits are provided by , and the harvested mushrooms are used by the local brewery and taproom , also providing the space and the greenhouse for their cultivation. Using mash from the brewery process as a growing substrate for new mushrooms is also tested to create a local side-stream loop between brewing and cultivation. The oyster mushrooms are eaten by happy CoolHead Brew Taproom’s customers in the renowned Shrooms pizza (a longstanding Viikki Food Design Factory crew favourite!) After use, the leftover mushroom substrate is further explored as a material for mycelium-based applications, including potential composite materials for construction. With this, the students benefit from the expertise of Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry’s Professor Tuula Jyske’s team, and PhD researcher Milla Koponen’s know-how in the study of mycelium applications through material sciences.

Running from May to August 2026, the students participate in greenhouse setup, mushroom cultivation, harvesting, logistics, and experimentation with leftover mycelium. In planning and doing this operative work, participants learn about project coordination, teamwork, innovation skills, and cross-organizational collaboration with Helsieni, CoolHead Brew and the .

By combining local partnerships, food production, side stream upcycling, and material experimentation, the demonstrates how circular food systems can move from theory into practice.

The pilot is supported by EU funded projects Food SystemiCity and CIRCULANDIA.