in content lists or on the content page.
The Sustainable Economy forum invites Finns to discuss economic problems and solutions for the future.
The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra is currently preparing to adopt a new approach to its upcoming sustainable financial policy leadership seminar. A forum on the sustainable economy with around 30 wide-ranging financial specialists has been assembled to prepare the seminar.
Sitra is also encouraging the public to discuss the sustainable economy on the Sitra website and in social media. The forum will be an important source of content for the sustainable financial policy seminar. This method – crowdsourcing – is a decentralised model for problem solving and production, designed to use the know-how inherent in the community.
Climate change, scarce natural resources, the ageing population, increasing inequality, the global economic crisis – these all require a new approach to economics. As the economic and social problems are complex and cross society’s traditional boundaries, we must team up to find the right solutions. The Sustainable Economy forum brings together financial experts from the business world, politics, universities, various organisations and the media.
“Crowdsourcing can provide us with comprehensive information on economic phenomena,” says Sitra’s Senior Lead Eeva Hellström. “The voice of the general public must also be heard. This helps us achieve a genuine customer viewpoint when planning training events and ensures that the training truly meets real needs.”
The Sustainable Economy forum was launched at the beginning of October 2012. It aims to create the framework for a sustainable Finnish financial policy. To achieve a sustainable economy, well-being and growth must not be automatically connected with emissions and the consumption of natural resources.
“To turn the economy around and bring it onto solid environmental ground, ambitious and extensive political control is necessary,” says one of the forum’s participants, Jussi Nikula, Program Manager from WWF Finland. “This will dramatically change the structure and operation of the economy. Even though the vision of a sustainable economy is still unclear in areas other than the basic boundaries, it is certainly possible.”
The Sustainable Economy forum will continue its work until February 2013. The Sustainable Financial Policy seminar will start in spring 2013. The training will be conducted in cooperation with the Aalto Executive Education Oy.
Sitra organised financial policy seminars from 1977 to 2005. Interest in new seminars has now made Sitra renew the practice, with the content and methods updated to meet today’s requirements.
See a list of the participants of the forum and their blogs (in Finnish)
For discussion on sustainable economy, visit www.facebook.com/kestavatalous and Twitter at #kestävätalous.
More information
Eeva Hellström, Senior Lead, Societal Training and Education (eeva.hellstrom@sitra.fi, +358 50 351 2412
Hannele Sirkkanen, Specialist, Societal Training and Education (hannele.sirkkanen@sitra.fi, +358 40 836 7036)