Digital Geography Lab blog

Authors: Janika Raun with all Digital Geography Lab members

In 2015, all United Nations member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), each with their own set of associated targets (169 in total). The goals address social, economic, and environmental development aspects and call for urgent action, e.g., to end poverty, reduce inequalities and tackle climate change (Fig. 1). The SDGs are increasingly used by different actors of the society to structure and communicate their actions around sustainability.Figure 1. 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Source: https://sdgs.un.org/goals

Why the SDGs matter for us in DGL?

Universities play a crucial role in the achievement of SDGs as knowledge, innovation, evidence-based solutions, and good quality education are the basis for reaching the targets. As an interdisciplinary research group focusing on spatial Big Data analytics for fair and sustainable societies, we have always worked towards advancing sustainability. As SDGs, despite critique towards them (Arora-Jonsson, 2023), are increasingly used to communicate the sustainability actions in the society, we decided to map also our research activities at the Digital Geography Lab against the SDGs.

Continue reading “How is our research related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?”

How well-connected is the Helsinki region for drivers, cyclists or public transport users? Does greenery support health and wellbeing during travel? How to plan for equal travel access and environmental sustainability? How are equal travel access and environmental sustainability related?

If you want to hear and discuss more about these topics, join us on 17 May in Think Corner (9.30-11.00) and Porthania Urbarium (11.30-13.00). The event is organized by the University of Helsinki’s Digital Geography Lab.

The event consists of two sessions. In the first morning session  ( 9.30-11.00), we will launch the new Travel Time Matrix 2023 for Helsinki region. The matrix is an interactive open access dataset that allows investigation of travel times for different travel modes in the Helsinki region. This widely used dataset has been published since 2013. It is now published for the fourth time, allowing for examining  changes in accessibility structures over an even longer period of time. During this session, there will be a presentation of the purpose and development of the matrix by the researchers. The stakeholders from the cities will also tell about their uses and experiences with the Matrix.

After launching the matrix, we will present our next big project GREENTRAVEL (2023 –2028). The goal of the project is to better understand the importance of urban greenery during people’s travel, its impacts on human well-being and health, and the equality of green travel environments. The event will be both in Finnish and English.

The second session of the event (11.30-13.00) is the GREENTRAVEL project workshop. The workshop aims to encourage cross-sectional discussion on how greenery is understood from a travel perspective, what wellbeing benefits it is expected to produce and how it can be better incorporated in current green infrastructure and travel and mobility planning.

Coffee will be served after the first part of the event. We also offer coffee and snacks for those who participate in the workshop.

Please register to participate by 12 May by filling the registration form.

Welcome!

 

Miten saavutettava pääkaupunkiseutu on autoilijalle, pyöräilijälle tai joukkoliikenteen matkustajalle? Tukeeko kaupunkiympäristön vihreys miellyttävää ja terveellistä liikkumista? Miten on liikkumismahdollisuuksien tasa-arvon ja ympäristöllisen kestävyyden laita? 

 Tervetuloa kuulemaan ja keskustelemaan näistä teemoista Helsingin yliopiston 17.5 Tiedekulmaan (9.30-11.00) ja Porthanian Urbariumiin (11.30-13.00). Digital Geography Lab-tutkimusryhmän järjestämään tilaisuuteen.

Tilaisuuden ensimmäisessä osassa (klo 9.30-11.00) julkaistaan pääkaupunkiseudun uusi matka-aikamatriisi 2023. Matka-aikamatriisi on avoin paikkatietoaineisto, joka mahdollistaa matka-aikojen vertailun eri kulkutavoilla pääkaupunkiseudulla. Paljon käytetty tietoaineisto on ollut saatavilla vuodesta 2013 lähtien. Se julkaistaan nyt neljättä kertaa, mikä sallii saavutettavuudessa tapahtuneiden muutosten tarkastelun entistä pidemmältä ajalta. Tilaisuudessa esitellään Matka-aikamatriisin tuottamisen taustaa, käyttömahdollisuuksia sekä kuullaan kommentteja käyttäjiltä.

Matka-aikamatriisin julkaisun jälkeen suuntaamme katseen tulevaan. Esittelemme Digital Geography Labissa juuri käynnistetyn viisivuotisen GREENTRAVEL-tutkimushankkeen, jossa selvitetään matkustusympäristöjen laatuun ja vihreyteen liittyviä mieltymyksiä sekä niihin kytkeytyviä hyvinvointivaikutuksia ja näiden alueellista, vuodenaikaista ja yhdenvertaista saatavuutta.

Tilaisuuden toinen osa (klo 11.30-13.00) koostuu GREENTRAVEL-hanketyöpajasta. Työpajan tavoitteena on kerätä näkemyksiä kaupunki- ja liikennesuunnittelun tietotarpeista liikkumisympäristöjen laadun osalta, pohtia liikkumisympäristön laadun hyvinvointivaikutuksia, oppia kaupunkien käynnissä olevista strategia- tai suunnitteluprosesseista sekä pyrkiä edistämään kaupunkien ja tutkijoiden yhteistyötä hankkeen aikana.

Tilaisuuden ensimmäisen osan jälkeen on kahvitarjoilu. Työpajaan osallistuville tarjoamme myös pientä purtavaa.

Rekisteröidy mukaan 12.5. mennessä täyttämällä ilmoittautumislomake.

Tervetuloa!

 

Title: Cyclists’ exposure to air pollution, noise, and greenery: a population-level spatial analysis approach

Published in International Journal of Health Geographics

Authors: Elias Willberg, Age Poom, Joose Helle, Tuuli Toivonen

[press release]

Exposure to environmental pollutants, such as particulate matter and noise, can significantly contribute to the prevalence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, pleasant and green environments have shown to reduce the harm of negative exposures and support health through various pathways. Reducing negative exposures and increasing positive ones is recognized as effective ways to promote public health and people’s well-being.

Continue reading “New study on cyclists’ environmental exposure in Helsinki”

Title: The 15-minute city for all? – Measuring individual and temporal variations in walking accessibility

Published in Journal of Transport Geography

Authors: Elias Willberg, Christoph Fink, Tuuli Toivonen

The share of walking in cities should increase, but challenges remain. A recent study by the Digital Geography Lab group reveals what effect age, winter conditions and the service network have on the 15-minute city.

Continue reading “New study on 15-minute cities and walking accessibility”

The year 2022 has been difficult for us Europeans. Therefore, it seems particularly important to search for good things from close by. From the perspective of Digital Geography Lab, it’s a pleasure to wrap up the successful year 2022.

Our group members: present, previous and future

We’ve had 15-17 researchers working in the Lab during the year 2022 . The team has been relatively stable, but of course changes take place. Tatu Leppämäki joined as a PhD researcher in MOBICON project and Oleksandr Karasov as a post-doc in BORDERSPACE project. Håvard Aagesen officially moved to Norway, but for real remains in close collaboration with us. At the end of the year, Charlotte van der Lijn, Emil Ehnström, and Marisofia Nurmi will move forward as YLLI project ends at the end of the year. They all have exciting workplaces waiting for them from January onward! While some are moving on, the recruitment for future positions has started, and at least four new researchers will joint the Lab early next year. We are already able to welcome Silviya Korpilo as a postdoctoral researcher in GREENTRAVEL and Aina Brias Guinart for MOBICON project!

On top of the researchers, we’ve had many wonderful MSc students working in our projects. Out of the earlier students, MSc Jussi Torkko won the price of the best thesis by the City of Helsinki with his work in our Lab!

Also the connections have been tight with many of the former lab members, and we have been happy to work together with our lovely collaborators close and further away.

Our first lab meeting after summer holidays. From left Tuomas Väisänen, Elias Willberg, Tatu Leppämäki, Janika Raun, Christoph Fink, Kerli Müürisepp, Olle Järv and Johanna Eklund celebrating the summer and the start of the new academic year. All of these lovely peeps continue in DGL also in 2023!

Scientific successes: new projects and plenty of papers

We have been productive scientifically by many measures. We’ve made scientific contributions in advancing knowledge and methods on using big spatial data for advancing environmental sustainability, wellbeing and socio-spatial equities. The results have been published in  more than 20 refereed empirical or review papers in respected scientific journals. We started a new, long-term project MOBICON and smaller project MATRIX. We received positive funding results for Tuuli Toivonen‘s ERC Consolidator Grant project GREENTRAVEL and H2020 project MOBITWIN. Johanna Eklund continued successfully with her Sustainable conservation outcomes project, Tuomo Hiippala with MAPHEL and Olle Järv with BORDERSPACE and its sister projects. Tuuli’s URBANAGE advanced well with the efforts of Christoph Fink and Elias Willberg. YLLI and MOPA projects were successfully finished. Also academic careers were advanced: Johanna Eklund and Henrikki Tenkanen received the Title of Docent linked to our Lab.

The last scientific paper of the year was accepted just before holidays. It deals with accessibility and 15-minute city, considering also the slippery conditions – demonstrated here by the authors Willberg & Fink!

Reaching out through collaborations, conferences and keen teaching

Our lab has been taking part in teaching. We’ve been responsible for highly popular courses Introduction to Advanced Geoinformatics, Geopython, Automating GIS processes, Advanced Seminar in Geoinformatics and Analysing Accessibility and Mobility. Particular thanks to Tuomas Väisänen, Christoph Fink and Olle Järv for your contributions!  Tuuli acted as the Director of the Degree Programmes of Geography until August and lead the process of renewing the MSc curriculum. Petteri Muukkonen continues as the Director of the Urban Studies and Planning Programme.

Wrapping up the Analysing Accessibility and Mobility -course with a student seminar. Olle leads the way!

We reached out to the scientific community in many ways. We had a large representation in Mobile Tartu Conference in the summer and some participated the Conference of Location Based Services, ECCB, Monitoring and Management of Visitors and Urban Transitions 2022. We used Twitter actively (particularly Oleksandr during the #30DayMapChallenge!) and were actively blogging. We spent time productive with collaborators in Cambridge, Luxemburg, Munich, Tartu and Uppsala. Closer by, we were happy to work with collaborators e.g. at Aalto University, Elisa Oyj, SYKE, FMI, LUKE, the City of Helsinki and Metsähallitus.

We had many presentations in Mobile Tartu conference, e.g. by Kerli Müürisepp, Janika Raun, Olle Järv, Christoph Fink and Elias Willberg. Tuuli (in pic) chaired a panel discussion.

Enjoying life!

We’ve respected the principle of celebrating every step when preparing articles or submitting applications. Considering the amount of activities in 2022, this has been often. And, as some of the important parties (like Doctors2020/2021!) were not organised during covid times, we have been catching up even with these celebrations.

Joel Jalkanen‘s mega-karonkka, 1.5 years after the doctoral defense, was a clear festive highlight of the year! Here former and present Digital Geography Lab members pictured with the star of the day. Note also three other #doctors2020 in picture: Gonza Cortés Capano, Vuokko Heikinheimo and Christoph Fink, and the former or future  lab members Claudia Bergroth, Henna Fabritius and Anna Hausmann.

On top of festivities, we’ve spent time together by brainstorming together or after office hours climbing, boating, dining, and bathing in sauna. We have also been lucky for good things in people’s personal lives: We welcomed new  family members and celebrated new homes for many ❤️
Now it’s time to rest a bit and enjoy the holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy and Peaceful New Year to all! Looking forward to joint scientific adventures in 2023!

Are you interested in geoinformatics, big data and social media analytics? Are you curious about the phenomena of human mobility, tourism, transnationalism, regional planning and development?         I’m currently looking for a master’s student to work as a research assistant in my project BORDERSPACE at the Digital Geography Lab.

In short, the project studies cross-border mobility flows within the EU and daily practices of cross-border commuters (mobilities and activities across state borders). For this, we are using social media data such as Twitter data (Aagesen et al. 2022; Järv et al. 2022); smartphone tracking data (Järv et al. 2021), and questionnaire survey data. The project seeks to reveal functional cross-border regions based on cross-border practices of people, and how these are influenced by external factors (e.g., COVID-19, war in Ukraine). Also, the topics of transnationalism and multi-local living are in the focus of the project. Geographically, the project focuses preliminarily on the Nordic countries (incl. Finland-Estonia) and the Greater Region of Luxembourg.

The hired assistant would help with various tasks depending on skills and interests: processing and querying (social media) data, managing and developing the database, data analysis and report writing. In general, a successful candidate has fluency in programming (Python or R) and knowledge in automating (spatial) data analysis. Prior experience in handling databases (SQL, PostgreSQL + PostGIS), working with social media data and/or GPS tracking data is an asset.

For those interested, please send me (olle.jarv@helsinki.fi) an email including: 1) your CV; and 2) a one-page cover letter to introduce yourself, your skills and motivation, and whether you would potentially be interested to link this with your Master’s thesis study. The working period can be from January until the end of August 2023, so please indicate when you can start working, during what time period and at which workload (approximate work hours/week). Apply by 22.12.2022 at the latest.

Feel free to ask any further details, and to forward this email to potentially interested candidates at the University of Helsinki.

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The BORDERSPACE project is carried out at the Digital Geography Lab — an interdisciplinary research team focusing on spatial Big Data analytics for fair and sustainable societies at the Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki.