News

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Article with commentary by Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen on Nord Stream 2 project and its realisation published in Lännen media

A new article citing Professor Tynkkynen “EU ostaa liian lepsusti energiaa Venäjältä – Tutkija: EU-maiden pitäisi käyttää enemmän valtaansa ja asettaa tiukemmat ehdot energian hankkimiseksi” (The EU is buying energy carelessly from Russia – Researcher: EU countries should use more power and impose stricter terms for energy acquisition) was published in Lännen media newsroom.

The United States have once again announced their intention to put the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project on its sanction list. According to the criticism, Germany and Europe are becoming “prisoners” of Russia, as countries’ dependence on energy imported from Russia increases.

– Trump’s attention is in the right direction, but the means to reduce the dependency are wrong. The answer should be a stronger EU common energy policy, but Trump cannot propose that, says Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, Associate Professor in Russian Environmental Studies at the University of Helsinki.

The article is written by Mina Akimo and can be read in Turun Sanomat, Kaleva, Satakunnan Kansa, and other newspapers of the production company.

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Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen is giving a talk “Hydrocarbon Culture in the making in Russia” today

Today Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen is giving a talk “Hydrocarbon Culture in the making in Russia” at Kielikeskus (Language Center) sh.204 (Fabianinkatu 26) from 16:15 to 17:45. The talk is part of the Environmental Humanities Forum and is open for everyone to attend.


 

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Hydrocarbon culture in the making – Energy, culture & identity in Russia

Today Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen is giving a talk ” Hydrocarbon culture in the making  Energy, culture & identity in Russia” at the faculty’s seminar: Impact of the Humanities on Science and Society at University of Helsinki, Language Centre, room 115,  14:00-14:20.
The seminar is part of the Scientific Advisory Board visit to the Faculty. The theme of the seminar gathers together approaches such as reaching out of the academia, engaging with natural and technical sciences as well as other sciences, mutual impacts on one another, and so on. The seminar is open to the whole Faculty.

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Professor Tynkkynen interviewed for the new article published in Kaleva

Professor Tynkkynen was interviewed for the new article “Kaleva-gallup: Enemmistö pitää Fennovoiman ve­nä­läi­so­mis­tus­ta tur­val­li­suusuh­ka­na – Tutkija: “Määrä on suuri, jopa huomattava” (Kaleva-Gallup: The majority considers Fennovoima’s Russian ownership as a security threat – Scientist: “The amount is large, even remarkable”) published in Kaleva newspaper this Monday, 6th of May.

The article shares results of the recent Kaleva Gallup, according to which 62 per cent of respondents living in Northern Finland believe that the Russians’ share in Finnish Fennovoima nuclear power plant project is a certain security threat. Professor Tynkkynen commented on the results of the poll and the meaning of Fennovoima project and nuclear power for Finland. Read his opinion on the issue in the full version of the article.

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Winland Policy Brief VIII

Winland consortium published Policy Brief VIII, written by Sanna Syri, Jaakko Jääskeläinen, Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, and Sakari Höysniemi. In the brief titled “Turvallisuus on enemmän kuin huoltovarmuutta – Kohti kokonaisvaltaisempaa energiaturvallisuuden kehittämistä ja arviointia” (Security is more than security of supply – Towards more comprehensive development and evaluation of energy security).

Energian tuotantoa, hankintaa ja kulutusta ei voi kytkeä irti aajemmasta yhteiskuntapolitiikasta ja turvallisuuskäsityksestä. Energiaan liittyvät muutospaineet kytkeytyvät laajempiin yhteiskunnallisiin tulevaisuuskuviin: Mitkä kauppakumppanit
ovat luotettavia? Mikä on kohtuullinen hintataso? Millaisten energiamuotojen käyttöä pidetään hyväksyttävänä? Mikä on riittävä omavaraisuuden aste?

Full brief is available online.

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Workshop on Climate Change in the Soviet Union and Russia organised in Moscow

On 25-26th of April “Climate Change in the Soviet Union and Russia: Approaches and Debates in Science, Society, and Politics, 1960s-2010s” workshop is organised in Moscow by the German Historical Institute Moscow. Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen is taking part in it, presenting his and Dmitry Yagodin’s paper “Regionalization of climate policies in Russia – local reality meets the national climate-denial narrative”.

Despite the Soviet Union’s role as a Super Power during the Cold War period and Russia ́s size
and geopolitical importance today, still relatively little is known about how the country’s
government, scientists and people have dealt with and responded to natural/anthropogenic
climate change. This interdisciplinary workshop thus aims to understand how attitudes towards
climate change in the Soviet Union/Russia have evolved over time and simultaneously been
shaped by various actors.

More information is available online.

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Science Media International Forum

Tomorrow our postdoctoral researcher Dmitry Yagodin will be taking part in a round table discussion “Арктика в фокусе медиа” (Arctic in the media focus) at St. Petersburg State University, Russia. Event is a part of Science Media International Forum “Media in Today’s World. St. Petersburg readings”.

At the round table the questions of “Arctic as a sphere of interest of many states: cooperation and conflicts” and “Representation of the topic of Arctic territories exploration” in the world mass media” will be discussed. More information about the round table can be found here.

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Jussi Huotari moved to a new position as project manager at the “Barents Region Transportation and Logistics, BRTL” project

A member of our research group, PhD candidate Jussi Huotari was selected as project manager to Kolarctic CBC funded “Barents Region Transportation and Logistics, BRTL” project. The BRTL project focuses on producing and analysing timely information on the development of transportation corridors and logistical solutions from the regional perspective. It ponders around questions such as what is regional preparedness to adapt state-level climate targets and development of intelligent transport systems (ITS).

Source: Kainuun liitto

This is challenging but yet highly interesting project” says Huotari, “since we have 13 partner organizations from all four Barents region countries involved in the project, interests are multiple and diversified. On the other hand, the BRTL is a good test for Barents cooperation, particularly now when several states have announced ambitious climate policy goals, but the capacity and willingness to implement national climate targets in the regions varies a lot. As a project manager my goal is also to increase cooperation and dialogue between academia and public policy institutions since there is a strong demand for information in the regions. I also believe that fostering this kind of dialogue would benefit both regional authorities and universities. The project brings added value to my own research as it brings me closer to political processes at the practical level.

More information about the BRTL project.