Climate-positive industrial areas and value chains for cities
The aim of the Climate Positive Industrial Areas and Value Chains (ILPO, 2020–2022) is to support cities in achieving their ambitious climate goals. The ILPO project involves the value chains and circular economy clusters of companies in the climate efforts, which require all operators within society.
The aim is to help companies find new low-emission and carbon-absorbing solutions and cooperation models, prepare carbon roadmaps for circular economy clusters and create internationally enticing reference cases of climate-positive industrial areas. The carbon roadmaps can be used to verify emissions, find solutions to minimise climate impacts, and achieve climate-positive operations and processes. As regards value chains, the project will examine energy, raw material and material flows between companies.
Tampere University’s research group studies the economic sustainability of solutions seeking climate-positive synergies, and focuses on the value potential of cooperation between ecosystem operators and the financial assumptions and preconditions of individual ecosystem operators.
The ILPO project also contributes to the following SDGs: 9, 11, 12.
Read more about the ILPO project.
Giving young people a voice in mitigating climate change
CCC-CATAPULT is a multidisciplinary research project that studies the climate agency of young people and utilises inclusive methods in the research efforts. The research project involves a group of young people who received an STUE action grant to organise a climate panel. The panel was organised at Tampere Hall in October 2022 with the purpose of discussing the opportunities of young people to make a difference with regard to mitigating climate change. The young people wrote a blog post on the event. 30 people took part in the panel on location and 50 people followed the event online.
The young people involved in the CCC-CATAPULT project have also provided teachers with ideas on climate education materials based on the information generated by the project. The teachers have read about the experiences of climate education received by British, Irish, Italian and Finnish young people and considered how the education should be developed to encourage more action.
The CCC-CATAPULT project also contributes to the following SDGs: 4.
Engaging the elderly residents of cities in the sustainable transition
Architectural researchers of Tampere University’s Faculty of Built Environment are involved in the GreenerAge: Climate-Change and Environmental Literacy for Urban Citizens 55+ consortium study which supports the environmental literacy and changing behaviour of city residents aged 55 and over, with the simultaneous aim of strengthening their digital skills and competence development by means of a gamified, playful and literacy-developing tool. The game platform teaches older adults to reduce their carbon footprint, make more sustainable food and mobility choices, reduce their energy consumption and produce less waste, for example.
The GreenerAge project also contributes to the following SDGs: 10, 11, 12.
Using games to promote public engagement with climate change
The Our Planet at Play project aims to improve our understanding of the potential of games to promote public engagement with climate change. The ultimate goal is to develop, test and release a new digital game to promote citizen engagement with climate change and its causes, present and future impacts and climate actions. The project participants are committed to driving deep and lasting change by supporting cognitive, affective, and behavioural citizen engagement.
The Our Planet at Play also contributes to the following SDGs: 10, 17.
Read more about the Our Planet at Play project.
RoboCivics explores interactions between young people and social robots
RoboCivics is a project funded by the Academy of Finland. The main goal of the project is to create new scientific knowledge about the interaction models of persuasive social robots that can encourage civic participation among young people.
The RoboCivics project investigates how social robots can support and facilitate young people’s civic participation in the context of sustainable development. The project participants will co-design social robots in collaboration with young people aged 15 to 24 to gain an understanding of their preferred forms of interacting with social robots – with sustainable development as the application domain.
The RoboCivics project also contributes to the following SDGs: 10, 11, 16.
Flagship project helps businesses meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement
The Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center (ACCC) is a Finnish Flagship working to address two of the most urgent global challenges: climate change and deteriorating air quality.
ACCC’s mission is to help Finland, EU and the world reach the goals of the Paris Agreement and adapt to climate change by developing sustainable, cost-effective and research-informed solutions and mitigating air pollution to sustain a healthy atmosphere.
ACCC is funded by the Academy of Finland and comprises researchers from the University of Helsinki, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the University of Eastern Finland and Tampere University.
ACCC also contributes to the following SDGs: 17.
Staabi integrates sustainability into its operations
Sustainable development at Staabi, the student association for students of administrative science at Tampere University, is guided by a sustainable development plan, which was fully implemented in 2022. Staabi’s Board now has an environmental officer who tasks include documenting sustainable development matters at Staabi, help the various sectors with implementing the sustainable development plan and drive sustainable development within the student association.
Sustainable development activities are documented by means of monthly operator surveys that examine the activities of the sectors from the perspective of sustainable development. This enables monitoring the fulfilment of the sustainable development plan and identifying development needs to ensure that the operations are as sustainable as possible.
Staabi strives to take sustainable development into account in event catering, procurements and general operations, for example. The Kirppisrundi flea market event was also organised in cooperation with Salus in the autumn of 2022.
Staabi’s actions also contribute to the following SDGs: 12, 17.
Read more about Staabi’s sustainable development plan (PDF, in Finnish).
A month for sustainable development from a cultural perspective
Complex, i.e. the student association for the Leadership for Change Master’s Degree Programme organised the Sustainability Month event for the first time in April 2021. The event involved a wealth of events and activities exploring the cultural dimension of sustainability in order to consider the nature of current and future sustainable development culture. Over the course of the month, Complex shared information about sustainable development on social media. This was also done by means of memes, which helped spark the attention of those who not normally engage in the discussion about sustainable development. At the end of the month, the Sustainability Meme Festival was held in cooperation with the Youth4Nature organisation.
The event also contributes to the following SDGs: 17.
TREY’s Sustainable Development Days
On 28 and 29 September 2022, the environmental working group of the Student Union of Tampere University (TREY) organised a two-day event called the Sustainable Development Days. During the event, participants had the opportunity learn more about sustainability through a variety of speakers and workshops. The themes for the event were sustainable construction, the challenges of sustainable lifestyles and the responsibility of Finnish companies. The first day was held at the Hervanta campus and the second was held at the city centre campus. The Sustainable Development Days culminated with a sustainability-themed pub quiz, which also involved prizes for the participants.
The Sustainable Development Days event also contributes to the following SDGs: 9, 11, 12.
Clothing exchange event to promote responsible consumption
ESN FINT organised a clothing exchanged event at Tampere University on 8 November 2022, which enabled students and staff members to bring articles of clothing they were no longer using and pick new ones to replace them. The unclaimed garments were donated to the Salvation Army, which served as a partner for the event. Tampere University provided the premises and vegan catering for the event. The event also involved screening documentaries about sustainability and sustainable fashion.
The event also contributes to the following SDGs: 12.
The Sustainable Design course makes information technology sustainable
The Sustainable Design course explores the social, environmental and economic perspectives around information technology, building on the concepts of sustainability and IT-related ethics. The course students aim to become designers of IT software and services or other experts who can shape the utilisation of new technologies.
The Sustainable Design course also contributes to the following SDGs: 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17.
Space for Science and Hope promotes the cultural change required to tackle the ecological crisis
Puistokatu 4, A Space for Science and Hope, champions the rapid cultural change needed in our current ecological crisis and provides a safe space for research, work and discussion about the crisis. Puistokatu 4 is a joint project of the Tiina and Antti Herlin Foundation and Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation. The Puistokatu 4 building is an old villa which was purchased and renovated by the Tiina and Antti Herlin Foundation in the Kaivopuisto area of Helsinki. Tampere University’s PhD candicate Annina Lattu has been a member of Puistokatu 4’s steering group since April 2022.