The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters has compiled a joint declaration with signatures from 12 universities, 4 foundations and 9 other scientific actors that seek to create a community of researchers and science supporters to act as pioneers of the sustainability transformation. The undersigned invite all scientific organisations and science funding agencies to work together.
Research creates new knowledge and enables innovations that solve global sustainability challenges. However, scientific actors must be able to better consider their activities’ impact on ecological sustainability than before.
“Our objective is to create a community of researchers and their supporters, to act as pioneers of the sustainability transformation and create solutions to global sustainability challenges, such as climate change, the loss of biodiversity and sustainable management of natural resources,” says Pekka Aula, Secretary General of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.
The University of Turku is one of the universities that signed the declaration. According to Marjo Kaartinen, Rector of the University of Turku, universities play a significant role in the sustainability transformation as producers of knowledge and education with great societal impact.
“At the University of Turku, we want to inspire through our example the members of our community, our partners, and all our stakeholders to be at the forefront of the sustainability transformation. We aim to strengthen the University's cooperation and dialogue with various societal actors, and provide knowledge, education, and concrete means to create a more sustainable future," says Kaartinen.
The undersigning organisations will strive to develop management practices that support sustainability skills and to create incentive systems that encourage sustainable action. It is also the organisations’ desire to focus on the societal impact of research so that the messages of science are passed on to other sectors of society. The organisations will also try to discover common methods to analyse and monitor the ecological impacts of research and education as well as the achievement of social justice.
It is the objective of this cooperation and joint declaration to reinforce the implementation of existing commitments. It is necessary for universities, foundations and other scientific actors to reinforce and bolster both their mutual cooperation and concrete action to retain a sustainable foundation for their operations, now and in the future. The organisations invite all scientific organisations and science funding agencies to work together.
Read more about the objectives of the declaration
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The undersigning organisations:
The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters
University of Vaasa
Aalto University
Tampere University
Young Academy Finland
Kone Foundation
Puistokatu 4
LUT University
University of Turku
The Council of Finnish Academies
University of Helsinki
Federation of Finnish Learned Societies
Sustainability Transformations -doctoral education pilot
TAH Foundation
University of Lapland
University of Eastern Finland
Nessling Foundation
National Defence University
The Council of Rectors of Finnish Universities
University of Oulu
University of Jyväskylä
Svenska tekniska vetenskapsakademien i Finland
The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters
UniPID, Finnish University Partnership for International Development
Hanken School of Economics
This joint declaration was prepared by the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. The declaration is based on a stakeholder event for the stakeholders of the Academy of Science and Letters in 2024 and a member survey conducted of its members.
