On a bright July morning, on the backyard of the greenhouses of Viikki campus, five students move quietly among rows of lush greens and herbs. These aren’t ordinary students on their summer break - they’re part of a new experiment in sustainable food production and micro-entrepreneurship: the Urban Farmers Pilot.
Launched by Viikki Food Design Factory in collaboration with the University of Helsinki’s faculty of agriculture and forestry, Blokgarden and Ylva’s Unicafe Viikuna, and enabled by the Food SystemiCity programme, the Urban Farmers pilot is a hands-on learning experience that combines urban agriculture with real-world business skills.
Over summer 2025, five students took on the challenge of running their own micro-farming company, the Viikki Urban Farmers, taking care of business from hydroponic plant cultivation to marketing and sales.
At its heart, the project is about re-imagining how food can be grown, shared and valued in the city. And along the way, it’s also reshaping how these young entrepreneurs see their future.
Cultivating a new model
Set on Viikki campus next to the university's greenhouses, the Urban Farmers Pilot offers students a unique chance to farm sustainably within city limits. The team commits around ten hours per week to their business - planting, maintaining crops, troubleshooting hydroponic systems, organizing deliveries, marketing and sales.
The Viikki Urban Farmers begin each week with a team meeting to divide responsibilities, followed by daily hands-on tasks like nutrient checks, irrigation adjustments, and crop harvesting. Produce is sold directly to consumers via local food circles (REKO), student groups and events. These sales channels Viikki Urban Farmers have opened themselves. To help the pilot find its footing, Viikki Food Design Factory arranged Unicafé as a key customer for the students. Starting in August, their leafy greens and cucumbers will be served to customers at the Unicafé Viikuna restaurant on campus.
Profits are shared among the students, and their work counts toward academic credit. It's a new kind of classroom, one filled with seedlings, spreadsheets and social media strategy.
Beyond the campus - community events
One of the most rewarding parts of the summer came through local events, where the students stepped out of the farm grounds and into the community.
At the Viikki Local Food Fair in June 2025, the Viikki Urban Farmers had their first real sales experience. “We had worked for weeks nurturing those plants, and suddenly we were face to face with people who wanted to buy them.”
These events didn’t just provide income, they helped spread the message of local, sustainable food and sparked valuable conversations with customers about taste, freshness, and value. The team also took part in community flea markets to reach even broader audiences.
Events became essential not only for selling products, but for building trust and visibility in a world where urban farming is still something of a novelty.
Meet the Viikki Urban Farmers
The five students for the pilot were selected by Viikki Food Design Factory and Blokgarden based on applications in a call looking for skilled and motivated people interested in urban farming and entrepreneurship among the faculty of Agriculture and Forestry’s student population. Each of the team members brings a unique background and energy to the group, but what unites them is a shared curiosity about food systems and a desire to make a real-world impact.
Loviisa, with a background in biology and experience interning at Jalotus, was drawn to the hands-on nature of the pilot. “I wanted something concrete,” she says. “Urban farming felt like a way to do something meaningful.” She gravitated toward cultivation tasks and became the group’s go-to grower. Her favorite plant? The cheerful wild pansy, or keto-orvokki, for its color and resilience.
Kalle, a fifth-generation entrepreneur studying environmental and natural resource economics, saw the pilot as a way to put theory into practice. “We have studies estimating that localized food production could result in up to thirty percent reduction in carbon footprint of produce, through eliminating transport and storage emissions,” he explains. In the project, Kalle specializes in business planning, bookkeeping, and managing the group’s financial flow. Outside of work, he enjoys using their produce in dishes like pickles with smetana and honey.
Iikka, raised on a traditional mixed farm, brought a systems-level perspective to the group. With experience in cereal and forage farming, he quickly adapted to the new world of hydroponics. His favorite herb? Basil, although he admits eating dill even more.
Jenni, with five years of agricultural and plant production studies, pairs academic knowledge with hands-on experience from farm work and landscaping. Drawn by a curiosity for urban farming and a love of growing her own food, she saw the project as a fun way to explore both. In the team, she’s been tending plants and handling direct customer sales through Reko food circles. Her favorites? Cucumbers, “I’m a cucumber girl and eat loads of them”, and coriander, which she happily admits she could eat by the bush.
Xin, a master’s student in Agricultural Sciences with a focus on plant production and agroecology, brings an international background to the team, her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science took her from Scotland’s University of Aberdeen to hands-on roles as a seed potato inspector and intercropping research intern. Passionate about urban farming and sustainable food production, she joined the project to deepen her knowledge of growing crops in tight, resource-limited spaces. Alongside advising on plant health, Cindy runs the team’s social media, keeping followers updated on fresh produce and farm news. Her favorite harvest? Cucumbers, plentiful and praised by customers.
Sowing solutions together
The team divided tasks based on individual strengths but kept things fair by tracking hours and maintaining open communication. "We made sure everyone’s input counted,” they said. “No one's just watering cucumbers forever.”
Still, it wasn’t always easy. Hydroponics came with a learning curve, overflowing pipes, fluctuating nutrient levels, and even a bout of mold on the basil kept them on their toes. And while growing was relatively smooth, selling wasn’t. “The salad grows faster than we can sell it,” one student joked.
The team experimented with pricing strategies, scouted restaurant partnerships, and learned to adapt on the fly. Every mistake was a lesson; every success, a shared win.
Harvesting insight and income
In addition to crops like cucumber, basil, chives, coriander, and lettuces, the Viikki Urban Farmers grew edible flowers like marigold and wild pansy as a “wildcard” to test market interest. They marketed through REKO food circles, Telegram student groups, and Instagram, where a single photo could spark multiple sales.
They discovered that running a food business isn’t just about produce - it’s about trust, timing and taste. Setting fair prices, understanding food legislation, and managing customer relationships pushed them beyond their comfort zones. But it also gave them a sense of ownership.
“When someone eats something you grew, it connects you,” said one student.
Looking Ahead
As the pilot winds down, none of the students want it to end. Plans for the autumn include preserving herbs as seasoning salts. They have also become very interested in in the hydroponic technology and hope to work with and develop it further one way or another. Some are even considering continuing the company or mentoring future students in similar pilots or courses.
Entrepreneurship, once a vague concept, now feels tangible. “I used to think of entrepreneurship as lonely,” one student reflected. “But with a team, it’s energizing. We built something real, together.”
This pilot is part of the Food SystemiCity programme, co-funded by the European Union.