Today GLASE (Multilayered Borders of Global Security) organised a Science cafe event, where Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen took part representing Winland project. The talk was on energy and information management in times of hybridization by Professor of the Russian Environment Studies Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen and Janne “Rysky” Riiheläinen, communications expert of the GLASE research project.
Picture by @TeemuOivo.
Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen appeared in “Venäläinen sähköisku” (Russian energy shock), MOT (Mikä oli tutkittava) TV-programme episode on Yle TV1 on Monday, 19 of February 2018. In his interview Tynkkynen spoke about Russia’s energy policy. You can watch the full programme here.
An article by Sanna Kopra was published in Turun Sanomat. The article titled “Kiina haluaa varmistaa paikkansa Arktiksella” (China Wants to Secure Its Place in the Arctic). The article is available for the TS subscribers here.
Sanna Kopra’s article “Kiinan Arktinen diplomatia pyrkii vähentämään uhkakuvia” (China’s Arctic Diplomacy Seeks to Reduce Threats) was published on Politiikasta. The article observes how China’s recent and anticipated Arctic strategy seeks to increase the transparency of the policy by reducing the mistrust that China’s growing interest in the region has created among the Arctic states.
On 25th of January Hanna Lempinen gave a presentation “Local resources, international climate policies and salvaging the welfare state: Peat production at the symbolical core of Finnish energy-economy-society interface” at the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Norway.
While much of the debates over the Arctic energyscape are dominated by the pros, cons and prospects of northern oil and gas extraction, this presentation takes a focus on another Arctic non-renewable energy resource that sits uncomfortably between regional economic development and international climate policy priorities: peat. While at the official level the national climate and energy policies have shifted from “peat promotion” to gradually phasing out its use in favor of more climate-friendly energy alternatives, local and industry efforts to define peat as a “slowly renewable biomass fuel” continue.
Although the share of peat in Finland’s national energy mix has gradually decreased to around five percent, the importance it still has in terms of supply security and regional economics and employment, the adverse environmental and climate impacts of peat production, and the colorful lobbying campaigns of peat producer associations make sure that the attention that peat receives in political and popular agendas remains larger than its size. This presentation takes an empirical focus on the most recent public peat promotion campaign in Finland with an aim to highlight the fundamental intertwinements of “the idea of peat” and the Finnish society. As such, it provides a case study approach to the often complex discursive interplay of northern local “realities” and shifting international policy priorities in the era of accelerating global warming.
On 12th of January 2018 a conference Communicatio Academica 2018 in Lappeenranta was organised by the Finnish Union of University Professors and the Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers. Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen participated in the panel “Energiaa ihmiskunnan parhaaksi” (Energy for the good of the humankind) at the conference. Programme of the conference can be found here.
Read Sakari Höysniemi’s new post “Mikä on valtion rooli energiamurroksessa?” (What is the role of the state in the energy transition?) on Winland blog page.
A long article “Korkeajännite idästä” (High Voltage From the East) was published on Yle on 6th of January. The article includes an interview with Professor Tynkkynen where he speaks about the risks concerning the Hanhikivi nuclear power plant projects. The full article can be read here.
A report “Energia, huoltovarmuus ja geopoliittiset siirtymät” (Energy, Supply Security and Geopolitical Shifts) by Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen and Sakari Höysniemi from the research group on Russian environment and others was published. The report is a part of Energy and Supply Security project financed by the Prime Minister’s Office and can be accessed from here.
Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen was interviewed by German radio SWR2 in programme “Finnland und sein Nachbar Russland” (Finland and its neighbour Russia), dedicated to the centennial of Finnish Independence. Professor Tynkkynen spoke on energy issues. Listen to the programme here.
University of Helsinki