The Institute

Of­fi­cially es­tab­lished in Janu­ary 2018, the institute gathers together the core expertise from the University of Helsinki in collaboration with other universities and research institutes in the Helsinki area. It also includes non-academic stakeholders in order to contribute to sustainability transformations in society.

The complexity of and urgency to solve the global grand challenges, climate change, loss of biodiversity, poverty, and urbanization are broadly recognized. Consequently, there is a call for a transition or rather, a transformation in all spheres of life requiring changes in technologies, values, behavior and governance, to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The urgency of transformations is emphasized by the Global Sustainable Development Report 2023 titled "Times of Crisis, Times of Change: Science for Accelerating Transformations to Sustainable Development". Traditional processes of producing, validating and disseminating scientific knowledge are not sufficient to enhance meaningful change. There is a call for universities and research institutions to develop "socially robust" science where the transformations to sustainable pathways can be rooted. 

VIS­ION

HELSUS is an interdisciplinary sustainability science community. As an internationally recognised centre it enables and empowers societies to transform towards sustainability.

MISSION

To contribute to sustainability transformations of the societies by means of inter- and transdisciplinary research and education. This will be carried out by increasing understanding of conditions, limits and processes of sustainability transformations and by producing transformative knowledge for national and international policy decision-making, private sector and civil society.

TASKS

1. CONDUCT HIGH QUALITY scientific research in the field of sustainability science via new tenure tracks and inter- and transdisciplinary research programs.
2. DEVELOP METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL EXCELLENCE in Sustainability Science in collaboration with the experts at the University of Helsinki and national and international partners.
3. CO-PRODUCE SOLUTIONS and PATHWAYS TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY together with non-academic partners, policy makers and businesses – emergence of novel entrepreneurships.
4. EDUCATE A NEW GENERATION OF RESEARCHERS AND EXPERTS in Sustainability Science both in master’s and doctorate levels.
5. PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS at the campus of University of Helsinki and in Helsinki district.

Director

Docent Susanna Lehvävirta started as the Director of HELSUS January 2022. The director is responsible for the development of the institute and enhancing the research and education in sustainability science in collaboration with stakeholders.

Susanna Lehvävirta’s background is in plant ecology, but during her career she has developed a more holistic understanding and a way of thinking, which is demonstrated in her research on a wide range of topics, including ecology, environmental aesthetics, user perspectives, recreational psychology, jurisprudential perspectives, life cycle analyses, economy, geography and philosophy. 

– To translate research results into practical solutions, multidisciplinary research approach is often needed. I’m as comfortable with theoretical and empirical thinking as I am with qualitative and quantitative methods. This of course doesn’t mean that I’m an expert with everything, but I try to combine things and raise questions that help to focus on the right things, Lehvävirta says. 

For Lehvävirta, it is also extremely important to translate scientific findings into solutions for the society and people’s everyday lives.