As local authorities and providers of services and infrastructures, cities can advance sustainability transformations through instruments like public procurement. However, a disconnect exists between broad (supra)national sustainability challenges and public procurers’ local needs. We examine innovation contests as a tool for articulating societal challenges as local demands for innovation. We study Helsinki Energy Challenge, where the city of Helsinki, Finland, sought solutions for decarbonizing its heating system, offering a million-euro reward. We explore how innovation contest-related activities contribute to articulating demand for system innovation locally and their influence on participants’ problem-solving approaches. The case demonstrates how innovation contests could localise demand for sustainable solutions and direct innovation processes toward a societal challenge, while supporting solutions’ broader scalability. We identify six demand articulation activities: expressing strategic intent, scoping, boundary-setting, user-producer interaction, evaluation, and embedding. We enhance understanding of demand articulation processes for system innovation and the potential of innovation contests for transformative innovation missions.

中文翻译：

---

创新竞赛在阐明系统级转型需求方面的潜力：赫尔辛基能源挑战赛的案例


作为地方当局以及服务和基础设施的提供者，城市可以通过公共采购等工具推进可持续发展转型。然而，广泛的（超）国家可持续发展挑战与公共采购者的当地需求之间存在脱节。我们将创新竞赛视为将社会挑战阐明为当地创新需求的工具。我们研究了赫尔辛基能源挑战赛，芬兰赫尔辛基市寻求供暖系统脱碳解决方案，并提供百万欧元奖励。我们探讨创新竞赛相关活动如何有助于阐明当地对系统创新的需求及其对参与者解决问题方法的影响。该案例展示了创新竞赛如何能够本地化对可持续解决方案的需求，并引导创新流程应对社会挑战，同时支持解决方案更广泛的可扩展性。我们确定了六项需求阐明活动：表达战略意图、范围界定、边界设定、用户与生产者交互、评估和嵌入。我们加深对系统创新的需求表达过程以及变革性创新任务创新竞赛潜力的理解。