Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress

If you enjoyed your time at #SRISSD2024 in Helsinki and Espoo this week, we invite you to continue this journey with us. Next year’s Congress, #SRI2025, will be held in Chicago, Illinois from 16-20 June 2025 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk. Building on the momentum of our previous Congresses in Australia, South Africa, Panama, and now Finland, we're excited to bring the SRI community together once again in the vibrant city of Chicago to mobilize sustainability solutions in the US and beyond. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3VBh5SI Future Earth Belmont Forum University of Illinois System

And that’s a wrap! We celebrated the Congress week at our Closing Ceremony, enjoying traditional Finnish Zither music and witnessing an annual tradition: A hand-over message delivered to the host of next year’s Congress. SRI2025 will be hosted by the University of Illinois System. This year, the message was symbolized by a collaboratively woven Finnish rug replicating the "warming lines" visualization of global temperature rises. “Interdisciplinary collaboration is not just beneficial, but essential. We have seen cooperation among governments, business, researchers and individuals is key to developing sustainable solutions. No Individual alone has the power to change the future, but together we can support a healthier planet for all.” - Anne Portaankorva, Vice-rector, University of Helsinki A big thank you to all participants, speakers, and partners for making #SRISSD2024 such a success. Let’s keep the momentum going! 🌍 #SustainableAction

We asked attendees to reflect on their experience at #SRISSD2024 and share with us what makes this Congress so unique. 🎙️“I’ve been to a lot of scientific conferences, and what makes this one special is the bridge between cutting-edge research and real-world implementation. It’s unlike anything I’ve previously experienced.” - Jaana Roos, Senior Science Advisor, Research Council of Finland | Suomen Akatemia #SustainableAction

Did you see the #SRISSD2024 artwork displayed at both venues in Espoo and Helsinki? We spoke with Finnish-American artist and Aalto University student Gabriella Presnal, who created the piece especially for the Congress. #SustainableAction

🌍 Final Plenary Recap: Powering the World This morning's #SRISSD2024 plenary session provided a deep dive into global energy sustainability. Participants took part in a collaborative policy simulation, exploring future energy conflicts that might arise from a green transition and challenges such as energy poverty and environmental degradation due to mineral mining. Our Congress-goers worked together in groups to negotiate and co-create policies for climate neutrality, which our panel then talked through. Thought-provoking and immersive, our final plenary reminded us of the complexities of the energy transition and the need for shared action and inclusive policy-making processes to achieve a #just sustainability transformation that doesn’t leave anyone behind. A big thanks to our experts, Shonali Pachauri, James Mwangi, Pasi Rinne, Anu Partanen, and to Piotr Magnuszewski for walking us through this unique, experiential learning exercise. #SustainableAction

📢 The final day of #SRISSD2024 is here! 🌍 Over the past week, more than 1500 sustainability leaders from 100+ countries have gathered across the cities of Helsinki and Espoo and online to drive forward accelerated and equitable #sustainability progress. We have a great line-up of events for day 5. Here are some highlights: - Plenary 4: Powering the World: Questions about energy lie at the heart of efforts to achieve a sustainability transformation worldwide. Our final plenary beginning in a half hour at 9:00 will immerse participants in a policy simulation exercise, transporting them to a near-future energy conflict scenario. - Regenerative Futures – Science meets Business: This interactive session, organized by the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, features a keynote by biologist Daniel Christian Wahl and encourages business leaders to explore innovative, new approaches to sustainability in research and business. - SRISSD2024 Closing Ceremony: Celebrate the Congress with us at the Closing Ceremony, where you’ll hear traditional Finnish Zither music, have a chance to reflect on the week and the connections you've made here, and look toward next year’s Congress. #SustainableAction

“Passive studying is not enough, we need to actively engage people.” - Misuzu Asari, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Japan This quote from our interactive roundtable this morning, “Cultural Cues in Circularity (3Cs): Understanding socio-cultural contexts in sustainable consumption and production”, highlights the core purpose of #SRISSD2024. Researchers, innovators, industry representatives, policymakers and more have joined us from around the world to bridge the gap between thinking and #SustainableAction. We look forward to seeing how new and reinvigorated ways of thinking are implemented across sectors beyond the Congress.

Plenary 3 speakers from the Global Indigenous Youth Summit on Climate Change (GIYSCC) at #SRISSD2024 shared thought-provoking, moving dialogues on #Indigenous relationships with our Earth, knowledge, practices, and how Indigenous communities worldwide are being impacted by unsustainable practices and #ClimateChange. Coming from all parts of the world – Ecuador, Mauritius, Nigeria, India, the Congo, Singapore, Alaska – our speakers created an inspiring space, raising awareness of the vital role of Indigenous youth in sustainability dialogues. The GIYSCC serves as a bridge between knowledge systems that have existed since pre-industrial times to future generations, and will hold GIYSCC 2024 in August, hosted by Future Earth. 🔗Find out more: https://bit.ly/4bXhO7P

"….. You should tell stories more often." - a listener What's a greater remark than that to a storyteller? Thank you to all the wonderful listeners who joined and immersed themselves in the hues of our journey. Your presence and engagement illuminated the evening, proving once again that stories have the power to inspire change and unite us. Special thanks to Nicole Arbour and Maggie Dugan for organizing and hosting the event so wonderfully. Thanks Vincent Virat To the organizations who made this event possible: Belmont Forum, Inclusive Innovation, Cactus Communications, Elsevier, relax-group, Tiedekulma #Thinkcorner, your support is the canvas on which these stories come to life. Together, we paint a future rich with hope, resilience, and sustainability. Let's continue to embrace the transformative power of storytelling and the vibrant colors that shape our world. #TorVergataSostenibile University of Rome Tor Vergata, Scuola di Dottorato Tor Vergata https://lnkd.in/gPeAcF4Z #ThankYou #Storytelling #ColorfulJourney #HelsinkiUniversity #Sustainability #Philanthropy #Inspiration Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress

Welcome to Day 4 of #SRISSD2024! Today, we’re back to our normal programming and kicking off with Plenary 3 at 9:00 EET. In "Living on the Frontlines of Change," we'll hear from Indigenous youth on challenges and adaptation or resilience measures that Indigenous Peoples are adopting around the world. The speakers will also be part of the Future Earth-hosted Global Indigenous Youth Summit on Climate Change in August. Later in the day, dive into topics ranging from empowering resilient communities to the stabilization of our sea ice - and don't miss a special summit on urban development. Learn more in our program: https://bit.ly/3Winu7r #SustainableAction