Category: Event

In June Karoliina Hurri attended UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany as part of the University of Helsinki delegation. She wrote a blog entry for Voices for Sustainability platform about her experience.

The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Ms. Patricia Espinosa presented this quote in the intersessional meeting, which took place in Bonn, Germany from 17-27 June in 2019. I attended the meeting in Bonn as a non-governmental observer as part of the delegation for University of Helsinki. Ms. Espinosa’s idea summarizes the atmosphere of the conference: we are in a hurry and we need to do more. We have a crisis called climate change that is influencing our own life, yet our response is not fast enough. If there would be a fire in the kitchen, how many of us would wait and watch our house burn? I have to believe that many would step up and take action.

Read full version of Hurri’s piece online.

Our doctoral student Karoliina Hurri is participating in the UN Climate Change conference in Bonn, Germany, on the 1^st week (17-22^nd June) of it. She will be part of the University of Helsinki delegation as an Observer-NGO and will be observing the conference and collecting data for her first article about climate leadership.

After the Paris rulebook came out in COP24 in Katowice, Poland, SB50 meeting is more technical conference for building up the ambition and the action. It is an important step before the Climate Summit meeting in New York in September 2019  and before the COP25 conference in Chile in December 2019. One important theme is enhancing the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by 2020 in a way that they would be in line with reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent over the next decade and to net zero emissions by 2050. The ambition of climate action and NDCs is the key to ensure that Paris Agreement is not meaningless.

It is possible to follow the conference online and through social media, more information is available here.

Today starts ASEEES Summer Convention, organised at the University of Zagreb
in Croatia and our postdoctoral researcher Alla Bolotova takes part in it. First, Alla will be participating in the “Social Anthropology of Siberia and the North” roundtable.

The long-respected culture of Russian (and post-SU in general) traditional Siberian ethnography is today in some sense at war with the no-less respected culture of current social anthropology of Siberia. The purpose of the proposed Round Table is to discuss the issue. For this, we plan to present several recent projects in Siberian (“Northern”, Arctic) anthropology in order to show the potential of the region as an anthropological field, and the potential of social anthropology as a key to contemporary life in the region. Participants of the round table will present several case studies based on their current and completed projects in order to stimulate discussion of theoretical and practical relations between the two disciplines.

After that, Alla Bolotova will be a discussant at the “Informal Economics and Social Relations in Siberia” panel, where the researchers from the European University of St. Petersburg will be discussing the following issue:

The transition currently under way in Russia in general and in Siberia/Far North in particular can be described as a slow and difficult transition from a society based on discipline, guilt, and punishment to one based on initiative, law, and responsibility (Alain Ehrenberg). Informal aspects of human relations become extremely important: from ‘informal economics’, including poaching and other semi-legal and illegal activities that helps to compensate for inadequacies of the legal system, to personal relations that play a very important role in compensating for the inadequacies of foods and goods supplies. The panel will explore and discuss the issue on the basis of three social anthropological case studies from different regions of Siberia/Far North.

More information on the conference can be found online.

Today from 14:15 to 15:45 Dr. Ellie Martus will present her work at the Aleksanteri Institute Visiting Fellows Research Seminar  in the Aleksanteri Institute 2nd floor meeting room, Unioninkatu 33, Helsinki). The event is chaired by Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen. The seminar is titled “Build­ing Green States? En­vir­on­mental Ca­pa­city in the Former So­viet Union” and will be of interest to researchers of Environmental and Post-Soviet studies.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union,  all newly independent states have had to address a legacy of serious environmental degradation and undertake significant reforms, including designing and building new environmental institutions, or re-building existing ones. This research examines the concept of a state’s environmental capacity in the context of the former Soviet Union and the ability of states in the region to design, implement, and enforce effective environmental policy. Drawing on a series of interviews with NGOs, policymakers, experts, and industry representatives from across the region, and analysis of a range of original policy materials, my research focuses on four case studies: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia. It investigates the obstacles that undermine a state’s ability to protect its environment and evaluates the opportunities for reform. More broadly, this research seeks to identify the variation and synergies that exist in environmental capacity across the post-Soviet space.

Yesterday, Professor Tynkkynen gave a lecture “Energy and security” at the National Defenсe University in Helsinki. The lecture was given in the framework of his docentship at the University.

On 23-25 of May “5th Eastern Platform – Tartu Seminar, #BerlinWall30 –What future for the post-cold war liberal order?” was organised in Tartu, Estonia. Professor Tynkkynen participated in it and presented his forthcoming book “The Energy of Russia. Energy Power, Hydrocarbon Culture and Climate Change” at the panel “The Multifarious Biopolitics at Europe’s Eastern Margins”.

More information on the seminar can be found online.

Our researcher Sanna Kopra took part in the panel discussion at Maailma kylässä (World Village) Festival, that was held on 26th of May, Sunday. The theme of the discussion was “Miten Suomi on pärjännyt Agenda 2030 -tavoitteiden toteuttamisessa?” (How has Finland succeeded in implementing Agenda 2030?). Sanna and other experts discussed how education, reducing inequalities, and peace and justice are linked to climate change and how Finland has succeeded in achieving these and other Agenda 2030 goals.

Miten Suomi on onnistunut #Agenda2030 tavoitteiden saavuttamisessa? Seurantaraportin julkaisu juuri nyt Taiga-lavalla. Mukana @Ulkomaanapu @plansuomi @SYL_FIN @SitraFund @Sadankomitea #kestäväkehitys #fingotalks #maailmakylässä pic.twitter.com/DBlPdabh0b

— Fingo (@FingoFi) 26 мая 2019 г.

On 24-25th of May in Oulu event “Energinen rannikkoseutu 2050, Vaihtoehtoja ydinvoimalle, energiantuotantoon liittyvälle päätöksenteolle ja teollisuuskohteiden ennallistamiselle” (Energy Coastal Region 2050, Alternatives to nuclear power, energy-related decision-making and industrial site restoration) was organised. Our PhD researcher Sohvi Kangasluoma took part in the “Energiantuotanto, sosiaaliset innovaatiot ja koettu historia. Vaihtoehtoiset energiantuotantomuodot” (Energy production, social innovation and experienced history.
Alternative forms of energy production) workshop through video presentation – Sohvi was not able to join the workshop herself due to the visit to Novy Urengoy our group members had same time.

Sohvi’s presentation was titled “Feministisen näkökulman tarjoamia tapoja tarkastella energia- ja ympäristöpolitiikkaa Suomessa” (Offered by a feminist perspective ways to look at energy and environmental policies in Finland). More information about the event can be found online.