The Finnish Expert Panel for Sustainable Development presented its new policy brief at two events in the second week of June at the world’s largest sustainability conference (Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress, SRI) held in Helsinki. This was the first time the SRI Congress was held in Europe.
On Tuesday 11.6. the Finnish Expert Panel for Sustainable Development organised its own session, for which it had invited members of the European Environmental Advisory Council (EEAC) Network from Ireland, Catalonia and Hungary. After the Finnish Expert Panel’s Chair Lassi Linnanen’s and and Vice-Chair Anna-Maria Teperi’s presentations of the new policy brief and its birth process, participants of the session discussed about sustainable wellbeing and how the activities and practices of the institutions could be made more sustainable.
Guest speakers also presented some best practices and experiences from their home countries and their own advisory councils. One of their key highlights was the role of local actors in promoting sustainable practices: the commitment of local actors and their expertise in local special features was pointed out as a central factor in adopting sustainable practices.
The citizen’s perspective has also been taken into account in the Finnish Expert Panel’s policy brief that proposes to government actors to better take citizens’ sustainability initiatives into account in decision-making through new means of participation.
On Wednesday 12.6. the Finnish Expert Panel’s policy brief was presented in Parliament at the State and Future of Sustainable Development event, which was organised by the Parliament Committee for the Future and the National Commission on Sustainable Development. The event was part of the SRI Congress’ Open Day program and attracted a large audience to live streaming, which can still be viewed on Parliament’s website (Lassi Linnanen’s presentation is in English in time 00:26:35)
At the event, Lassi Linnanen, Chair of the Finnish Expert Panel, presented the most important proposals for measures included in the policy recommendation and the panel’s proposal for key sustainability indicators to be introduced alongside GDP.
A comment for the presentation and the policy recommendations was given by Antti Herlin, Vice-Chair of the National Commission on Sustainable Development. He highlighted, in particular, motivating actors with the help of taxation and pricing, which could happen e.g. through developing a working ETS concept for harmful substances, as we already have a well-working CO2 emissions trading system. He also emphasized the proposal for developing leadership and skills of the working force to build culture of sustainability.
The presentation of the Finnish Expert Panel’s policy brief also attracted public questions and interest after the event.
