The Vanhankaupunginlahti Bay, the naturally and historically layered area in Helsinki, is chosen as a collaborative site for research exchange. The area is the location where Helsinki was first founded in 1550. It is archaeologically, historically, ecologically, and culturally diversified area, with already rich data of natural and cultural history. It includes Natura 2000 reserve, archaeological remains and knowledge of the first urban settlement in Helsinki, contemporary urban housing, public art, manor house, cultivated land, old industrial buildings, allotment lots, waste lands, and has a special value for citizens as recreational area.

The research includes cross-disciplinary site analysis and sharing the research approaches which provides both new research perspectives and knowledge of the formation of this unique area and the ways in which nature and culture are interlinked in urban life and planning. As an interface between built space, urban nature and wilderness, the area is an excellent laboratory to sharpen analytical tools and methods, build upon the shared knowledge, and work together with different components of landscape and test concepts such as biocultural diversity, hybrid space and inhabited, experienced landscape.