In November, researchers from various disciplines will gather at the University of Eastern Finland to share research insights and discuss the complex global and local challenges on sustainability transitions, the use of natural resources, environmental and climate change, and circular economy themes from a broad perspective. The theme for 2023 is the water cycle in the environment and society. The conference is jointly organized by five research communities of the University of Eastern Finland: RESOURCE, FOBI, WATER, CLEHE, and PHOTONICS. The two-day event will bring together 200 researchers from Finland and abroad.
Water is essential to life on Earth and connects the Earth’s climate system. Humans use water in various ways for drinking and agriculture, for hydropower, traffic, waste disposal, and recreation. Watersheds are also impacted heavily by human actions such industry, mining, forestry, fisheries, and consumption, etc. Water is also crucially a social and cultural element in our societies. In this way, water brings together topical sustainability questions concerning climate change, biodiversity loss and nature restoration, and use of natural resources and energy.
– The theme of the conference is very important, so it has been great to see how environmental challenges and sustainable solutions are of broad interest to the research community, says conference chairman Professor Rauno Sairinen. He is pleased that a wide range of researchers from different fields are coming to the event to present their research results.
– This conference is a good example of multidisciplinary international cooperation and will enable researchers from different disciplines to meet each other, Sairinen says.
The University of Eastern Finland has been successful in strengthening cooperation between different fields of research. The transition to a sustainable society and the challenges of climate change requires solutions developed jointly by different scientific disciplines. This also applies to different Water-related themes in the sustainability transition. The aim of the conference is to share current views and research results between researchers from different disciplines.
One step closer to a sustainable future
The conference's keynote speaker is Professor Dave Huitema from Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. His research focuses on the role of governments in accomplishing transformations in the sustainability domain. At the Sustainable Resource Society Science Conference, he will discuss public policy in the sustainability transition.
The event will feature various presentations related to the 2023 theme of the water cycle in the environment. The topics of the presentations are about sustainable forest bioeconomy, social, societal, and business aspects of sustainability, circular economy, sustainable energy transition and resource use, water systems, and ecosystem restoration.
The presentations at the conference cover a wide range of topics related to sustainable development, offering interesting and topical perspectives from researchers in different disciplines, confirms Ville-Veikko Piispanen, Research Manager in charge of the organization of the conference.
University of Eastern Finland has strong research expertise in sustainability transition
The University of Eastern Finland has invested in multidisciplinary research on responsible sustainability transition and sustainable use of natural resources. The University has several areas of strength in the field of sustainability transition. Research is carried out from the perspectives of social sciences, law, economics, forestry, environmental sciences, and water research. These include the forests and bioeconomy, water system, mining and critical materials, energy, and climate.
The Sustainable Resource Society Science Conference is held annually in November.
Find the conference programme here.
For further information:
Ville-Veikko Piispanen, ville-veikko.piispanen(at)uef.fi
Kristina Leppälä, kristina.leppala(at)uef.fi
Event website:
https://www.uef.fi/en/event/3rd-international-conference-for-sustainable-resource-society-ics23