Programme

The focus of the days is on the usefulness of sustainability science for decision making on various arenas – the political sphere, companies, and institutions of higher education.

The thematic focus of the days is on sustainable consumption and production, which is the Sustainable Development Goal # 12 (SDG) where Finland’s performance according to the SDG needs to be considerably improved. The Sustainability Science Days will address the questions of science-based decision-making and the practical uses of insights from sustainability science in consumption and production. The Sustainability Science Days consist of several events.

Program overview

Preliminary program

Thursday 9.5.2019 at Aalto University, Otaniemi, Espoo

The Sustainable Science Days 2019 will start at Aalto Campus in Otaniemi, Espoo with scientific parallel sessions and keynote presentations by international guest speakers. The sessions include presentations from researchers, commentaries from extra-academic stakeholder, as representatives of practice. Scholarly debate with the audience is invited. The sessions are convened by pairs of scientific leaders, with one from Aalto University, and one from the University of Helsinki with an invited commentator.

Thursday May 9th 18:45 – 20.45, MEP panelThinkCorner stage, Yliopistonkatu 4

Making use of sustainability science in the European Parliament?

In anticipation of the elections for the European Parliament (May 26th, 2019) and of the Finnish chairmanship of the European Union starting in summer 2019, the Sustainability Science Days will address the questions of science-based decision making and the practical uses of insights from sustainability science in consumption and production especially in the European contexts on Thursday evening of the conference. In this session, candidates for the European Parliament´s elections will be challenged by Aalto and UH students with burning urgency to see change happening. How is scientific knowledge taken into use within political spheres? How can we facilitate the dialogue between different sectors of the society? Considering the poor performance of European countries in regard to SDG # 12, how will the next EP speed up the transition towards more sustainable patterns of consumption?

The participants in the panel will be confirmed later.

Friday 10.5.2019 at University of Helsinki, city center campus

8.30 Coffee (Festive Hall of the Language Center, Fabianinkatu 26, 3rd floor)

9.00 – 12.00 Sustainability in university strategies - Towards a new era

Higher education is among the most influential sectors when we are to face the contemporary grand challenges. Mankind has already entered into the anthropocene, and climate change, population growth and inequalities are elevating the pressure to find societal and technological solutions. Universities need to be powerful change agents towards this new era. This is indicated by the fact that sustainability is becoming a criteria for global university rankings. In Finland, higher education sector has taken some soft steps to steer the focus and hence to aid the society towards sustainability. While institutions like the Ministry of Education and Culture has been responding to these challenges, further action is needed.

University of Helsinki and Aalto University are in the midst of renewing their strategies for the next decade. The aim of this session is to take a holistic approach to universities´ strategies, explore financial and other steering mechanisms and management systems to support the transition towards more sustainable and impactful operations. Focus of the session is on strengthening universities’ role as drivers of sustainability. In addition to addresses by the Rector’s of the respective Finnish Universities, in the session, UN´s Sustainable Development Goals will be further explored by Times Higher Education (THE) explaining their recently launched THE Impact, a ranking measuring universities delivering SDGs. Also examples from forerunner universities in Sweden/UK will further spark the discussion on universities’ responsibility to take action.

Introductory addresses

• Implementing the OKM Agenda 2030 action plan with universities
• Sustainability strategy of the University of Helsinki, President Jari Niemelä, University of Helsinki
• Exploring Aalto 2020-35 – how sustainability in strategy can deliver impact Aalto University
• THE Impact Ranking - SDG’s in Universities as basis for ranking
• Integrating SDGs’ into University strategies: An international example

The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion.

12 – 13 Lunch (at own cost)

Friday May 10th 13:00 – 16.00, Discussion event (in Finnish)ThinkCorner (Yliopistonkatu 4)

Lentomatkustamisen vähentäminen ja ilmastokompensaatiot: ostettu omatunto vai suunta kohti hiilineutraaliutta?

Globaaleista kasvihuonekaasupäästöistä yli 2 % muodostuu lentoliikenteestä, joka on kasvanut rajusti maailmantalouden kriisivuotta 2009 lukuun ottamatta yhtämittaisesti jo vuosikymmeniä. IAET:n tilastojen mukaan vuonna 2017 lennettiin maailmanlaajuisesti yli 35 miljoonaa lentoa tuottaen 859 miljoonaa tonnia CO2-päästöjä. Kasvihuonekaasujen valtavan määrän lisäksi lentoliikenteen päästöt ovat erityisen ongelmallisia, koska yläilmakehässä ne vaikuttavat maanläheisiä päästöjä voimakkaammin. Lentomatkustamisen ilmastovaikutusten aiempaa laajemman tiedostamisen seurauksena henkilökohtaista ilmastopolitiikkaansa pohtivien yksittäisten ihmisten lisäksi kestävyysstrategioitaan hiovat organisaatiot, ml. yliopistot, joutuvat enenevässä määrin tarkastelemaan lentomatkustamisen käytäntöjään kriittisesti. Lentopäästöt ovat erittäin merkittävä osa yliopistojen hiilijalanjälkeä, ja sen pienentämiseksi halutaan tarkastella keinovalikoimaa liikkumistapojen kehittämiseksi.

Helsingin yliopiston Kestävyystieteen instituutti ja Aalto-yliopiston Sustainability Hub järjestävät yleisötilaisuuden, jossa tarkastellaan lentomatkustamista, sen vähentämistä, keinoja vähentää sen negatiivisia ympäristövaikutuksia ja jäljellejäävän ilmastovaikutuksen kompensaatiota. Asiantuntijoiden ja lentomatkustamisen toimijoiden paneelikeskustelun lisäksi tilaisuudessa yleisöllä on mahdollisuus osallistua keskusteluun lentokompensaatioiden etiikasta, taloudesta ja ekologisesta vaikuttavuudesta.

Tilaisuus järjestetään Helsingin yliopiston Tiedekulmassa osana kaksipäiväistä Sustainability Science Days -konferenssia.
Paneelikeskustelun osallistujat vahvistetaan myöhemmin

16.00-17.30 Meeting of Sustainable Development forum of Finnish Universities (Language center, Fabianinkatu 26, Room 203)

Finnish SD-forum in higher education (“yliopistojen Keke-foorumi”) connects Finnish universities´ sustainability managers and persons responsible for advancing sustainable development in higher education. The meeting is open to stakeholder representatives and staff and faculty members of Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences interested in SD.bup.fi/index.php/keke-foorum/about-keke-forum