Remote work pilots to cut commuting related emissions – Kokeileva kaupunkiseutu Joensuu project 2020–2021

Kokeileva kaupunkiseutu Joensuu -project run from 1 September 2020 to 31 May 2021. The project was funded by the Ministry of Environment (60%) and the city of Joensuu (40%), with a total funding of €50 000.

The project promoted and developed new climate friendly solutions for remote work. The project carried out remote work pilots for municipal employees in North Karelia to cut commuting related emissions and make use of empty office spaces in the region.

The pilots were designed based on individual interviews and a questionnaire carried out by the city of Joensuu in Spring 2020. The questionnaire examined municipal employees’ experiences in remote work and the challenges and benefits that came along with it.

The employees chosen for the pilots were able to use remote working office spaces set up in their home towns by the project. These remote workspaces were mainly within walking or biking distance from the employees' homes. In addition to emission reductions, being able to work close to home created various benefits for the employees, such as time savings, flexible working and health benefits.

During the project:

• commuting by car decreased by 11 000 kilometres 
• CO2 emissions decreased over 1800 kilograms
• the employees biked or walked to work 230 kilometres in total
• the employees saved 156 hours (6,5 days) in commuting in total.

Find out more in the final report of the project (only in Finnish).