Innovate3X - 7
Improving Resilience of Multifunctional Neighbourhoods Within 15-Minutes City Concept: Workplaces Perspective
Initiator: PARE (Estonian HR Association), Tallinn, Estonia
Estonian HR Association PARE is a non-profit union of human resource management professionals established in 1993. PARE is Estonia’s national community of HR professionals, advancing evidence-based people practices, strategic HRM, and healthy work ecosystems through advocacy, capability building, and research-practice partnerships. Website: https://pare.ee/
​
Research Group / Company Department:
​
PARE convenes employers, municipalities, and researchers to co-produce actionable evidence on the future of work, including built-environment determinants of HR outcomes.
Desired Outcome:
SMAR3TS project partner - PARE is looking for innovative solutions to improve the Resilience of Multifunctional Neighborhoods within the 15-minutes City Concept: Workplaces Perspective.
PARE (Estonian HR Association) is at concept stage for a program on workplace-neighborhoods—how the immediate public realm around worksites (5–15-minute catchments) relates to HR outcomes (well-being, engagement, absenteeism/presenteeism, retention). PARE does not have an internal R&D unit; our role is to convene employers, broker academic–city partnerships, and translate evidence into HR practice.
In the current stage of ideation, the goal is to identify perspective partners to form a consortium (PARE + university methods lead + municipal/landlord partners). Potential areas of research, innovation, and engagement work that can be achieved within the secondment include the following:
​
-
Evidence & Theory: scoping review; theory of change (neighborhood → exposures/behaviors → HR outcomes).
-
Measurement Design: WNQI v0.1 (objective GIS/remote-sensing candidates; short perception scales; HR-relevant outcomes); data protection plan.
-
Stakeholder engagement: interviews/workshops with employers, city units, and landlords; site selection and MoUs.
-
Pilot readiness: pre-analysis plans (DiD/event-study templates), instrument list (steps/usage, short affect scales), feasibility testing of data flows.
This I3X is Looking for Skills and Capabilities across Disciplines for:
-
HR analytics and quasi-experimental causal inference (DiD, synthetic controls, event studies).
-
Urban design & public-health expertise (walkability/greenness/food environment measurement; GIS, remote sensing).
-
Environmental sensing (portable noise and air-quality monitors) and digital phenotyping (privacy-by-design).
-
Economic evaluation (productivity, absenteeism/presenteeism, turnover) and business-case modelling.
-
Stakeholder engagement & co-creation with employers, commercial landlords, and municipalities.
-
Implementation science and impact evaluation (process + outcome metrics).
​
Important:
​​
-
SMAR3TS Secondments are open only to SMAR3TS Consortium Partners.
​​
-
Secondments aligned to any I3X can be undertaken at either the Initiating Parter premises and/or other SMAR3TS Consortium Partner premises.
​​
-
Regardless of where you are undertaking work on an I3X, you are obligated to ensure the aligned I3X Initiator Project Contact, Lead / Responsible aligned Work Package Leader, as well as the SMAR3TS Project Management Team are kept fully up-to-date with the progress of your contribution to your secondment aligned I3X - Refer to the detailed information 'About Secondments - What are Secondments'.
Examples of Challenges that Need to be Addresses
.png)
-
Causality & internal validity: Separatingneighbourhood effects from selection (e.g., high-performing firms choosing premium districts). Use natural experiments (streetscape upgrades), phased rollouts, or instrumental variables; triangulate survey, HRIS, and sensor data.
-
Measurement: Standardizing WNQI across contexts; integrating objective GIS/sensor measures (walkability, greenness, noise, PMâ‚‚.â‚…) with perceived quality and usage patterns. Existing studies emphasize activity and well-being but rarely tie to core HR metrics.
-
Equity & inclusion: Ensure interventions benefit lower-income workers, shift workers, and SMEs with limited on-site amenities; avoid displacement.
-
Data governance & privacy: GDPR-compliant handling of fine-grained mobility/sensor data; differential privacy for HR analytics.
-
Adoption & scaling: Align incentives among employers, landlords, and cities; quantify ROI (absenteeism reduction, retention, engagement, productivity) vs. capital/operating costs.
-
Environmental externalities: Coordinating with city policy on air/noise mitigation where evidence shows productivity penalties.
Initiator Institution (PARE) Contact for this I3X
​Link to the website: https://pare.ee/
Contact: Managing Director Kai Saard, kai@pare.ee. Current project initiator is the Vice Chairman of the Board Maria Kütt, mariakytt@gmail.com
Alignment to Work-Package/s
SMAR3TS domains that are relevant to the work of PARE organization:
​
Within the domain of HOUSING (Lead Work Package) - SMAR3TS Housing Work Package Lead Contact: Assoc. Prof. Liis Ojamäe, TalTech, liis.ojamae@taltech.ee
​
1) Sustainable cities and communities: the multifunctional or workplace-neighborhood as a micro-district (5–15-minute catchment) where public-realm quality (shade/green, crossings, seating, noise/air) influences workers’ daily exposures and community vitality.​
Example questions:
-
Which neighborhood attributes around worksites are associated with healthier daily routines and equitable access to restorative spaces?
-
How can employer–city micro-investments upgrade these attributes?
-
How can different functionalities (e.g, housing, workplaces, services) be best integrated to support resilience of urban space?
2) Healthy work and mobility: links between immediate surroundings of the workplace and employee well-being, micro-restoration during breaks, and active travel at/around work hours.​
Example questions:​
-
Do walkability and proximate green/blue spaces shift sedentary time and affect during the workday?
-
Do local food environments around worksites nudge healthier choices?
​
3) Data-driven decision-making and urban governance: translating neighborhood features into HR-salient indicators for employers and simple, governance-ready signals for city partners.​
Example question:
-
What minimal, privacy-preserving metrics allow employers to benchmark workplace-neighborhood quality and co-prioritize upgrades with cities?
Alignment to Resilience, Restoration, Regeneration (R3)
Resilience: Active-travel-supportive and amenity-rich worksite areas reduce sedentary time and promote everyday activity—protective against stress and chronic disease; organizational resilience via higher attendance and performance (Adlakha et al., 2015; Cantley et al., 2024).
​
Restoration: Nearby greenspace and restorative micro-break options are associated with better affect and well-being at work; nature-based interventions around worksites show benefits for creativity and mental health (Gilchrist et al., 2015; Lygum et al., 2023).
​
Regeneration: Employer–city partnerships can co-invest in public-realm upgrades (shade, seating, pocket parks, safe crossings), improving urban equity and environmental quality (air/noise), with productivity co-benefits. Evidence links air pollution and noise to lower worker productivity and cognitive performance, building a case for environmental regeneration near worksites (Dechezleprêtre & Vienne, 2025; Jafari et al., 2019).
NOTE:
Click here for instructions on how to plan for a secondment.
Related Keywords
Protecting Man and Environment; Sustainability; Housing, Social Innovation.