Join us for our session “Re(De)-Constructing Sustainability in Socioecological Systems: From “Slumber to Just Lumber?” at the Science for Sustainability 2025 conference, taking place on 1.-2.10.2025 in Helsinki.
Session organizers Ayonghe Akonwi (University of Helsinki), Corinna Casi (University of Helsinki), and Alizée Ville (University of Helsinki) will host this session, dealing with forest futures and potential policy solutions.
Synopsis: In today’s polycrisis, a pressing challenge is how best to incorporate sustainability solutions towards more resilient, just, and healthy futures. This session addresses inequities plaguing forest areas in the Global North and South. This includes tensions that challenge businesses' ability to meet sustainability demands, such as carbon reductions versus profitability; conflicts where local people's access rights overlap with forest preservation efforts; and anthropogenic pressures that disrupt biodiversity. While the imperative has been for a sustainability transition to future pathways that ensure fairness in distributing benefits among diverse forest users, taking a more active role in this transition necessitates decisive actions from researchers and business practitioners to challenge the 'slumbering' conditions that currently weaken sustainability potential. Social-ecological systems offer opportunities for both social and ecological components to influence 'deep sustainability' through policy and everyday practices. For instance, the UN SDGs urge member states to adopt best practices in climate mitigation, wellbeing, and equality. In the Nordic region, an ambition is to transition towards a forest-based circular bioeconomy. COP29 calls for financing climate adaptation and fostering green growth in Africa. While there is hope for a deeper framing of sustainability which could bring about justice, inevitable tensions persist— from colonial legacies of imperialism to forest movements advocating against extensive logging.
Find the conference website