The Faculty of Law at the University of Lapland is organizing a series of seminars and workshops focusing on the role of law in sustainability transitions. Two seminars will be held in Rovaniemi in March and in November. In addition, workshops will be held in the context of the Sustainability Research and Innovation 2024 conference in Helsinki and of the Nordic Environmental Social Science conference in Turku in June.

"To cope with climate change, planetary extinction and other persistent and interlinked problems confronting contemporary societies, a radical transition is necessary from current economic system towards a more sustainable one. Although science has long demonstrated the need for change, it has been only under EU Commission's President von der Leyen's leadership that the European Union has developed a systematic policy and legislative agenda to bring about change," notes Jukka Similä, Research Professor in Natural Resources Law from the University of Lapland.

"Indeed, the current European Commission has produced an avalanche of legislative proposals. Most of them are now, after political debate, approved," Research Professor Similä tells.

"In addition, independent legal developments have taken place in the EU member states, which affect the progress of the sustainability transition. Now it is a good time to assess the development, strengths and weaknesses of politics and law, and to look to the future. These four seminars and workshops take part in this broad discussion," says Rosa Ballardini, Professor of Intellectual Property Law from the University of Lapland.

"The Faculty of Law of the University of Lapland has diverse expertise on legal issues relevant to sustainability transitions. A strength, and novelty, of our approach relates to studying the interrelations between law, technology and innovation to better understand the existing obstacles and untap potentials of law as an enabler to promote both digital and green transitions," Professor Ballardini emphasizes.

The causes and consequences of the sustainability transition; sustainability aspects of the digital circular economy and the platform economy

The first of the seminars, Understanding Transformations: The Role of Political Economy and Law, will be held at the University of Lapland on March 19, 2024. It focuses on the causes and consequences of the sustainability transition, especially from the perspectives of law, politics and economics. The keynote speaker is Professor Poul Kjaer from the Copenhagen Business School. Professor Kjaer will especially discuss the role of law as a creator, maintainer and changer of social structures. Other speakers of the seminar are Professor of International Relations Julian Reid, University Researcher of Sustainability Transition Beata Mäihäniemi, PhD Researcher Kukka Ranta and University Lecturer Tomi Tuominen from the University of Lapland. The seminar is open to everyone.

The themes of sustainability transition and law will also be presented at the international Sustainability Research and Innovation 2024 congress in Helsinki in June. In connection with this conference, University Researcher Beata Mäihäniemi will lead a panel discussion on Regulatory framework for digital circular economy. Other speakers of the panel will come from the University of Lapland, Sitra, VTT, and Futurice. The panel will focus on the digital circular economy, related regulatory problems and the role of digital companies as enablers of the circular economy. It is open to persons registered for the congress.

In addition, Research Professor Jukka Similä and Professor Rosa Ballardini will lead a scientific workshop entitled Transformative law for sustainability transitions as part of the Nordic Environmental Social Science conference organized in Turku in the beginning of June. In the workshop, researchers from several different countries discuss the role of law in sustainability transition. This workshop is open only to the participants of the NESS2024 conference.

One seminar will still be held in Rovaniemi on November 20–21, 2024. The topic of this seminar is the green transition in the platform economy. This interdisciplinary seminar will focus on the anthropocene and the role of online platforms in recent advancement of it. In particular, the role of online platforms in the recent progress of the anthropocene is examined. Can society be put before the individuals and their rights when the state of the environment deteriorates? How can the law meet this challenge? More detailed information about the seminar will be available on the website of the University of Lapland in early autumn.

Further information:

Jukka Similä, Research Professor in Natural Resources Law, tel. 040 484 4161
Rosa Ballardini, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, tel. 040 484 4308
Tomi Tuominen, University Lecturer, tel. 040 484 4023
Beata Mäihäniemi, University Researcher, tel. 040 617 3758
e-mails: firstname.lastname (at) ulapland.fi