Academic contributions for better life

Academic researchers are studying the state of the environment and its development. They are finding out how consumption habits affect nature, how chemical substances proliferate and how they affect people’s health. The University of Helsinki offers a network of multidisciplinary environmental research and environmental education. It is also one of the partners organising the Helsinki Chemicals Forum.  Its chancellor, Ilkka Niiniluoto, explains how the academic community is contributing and will contribute to a better future.  

How has the academic world contributed to sustainability?

Since the 1990s, Finnish universities have established sustainability programmes to ascertain the environmental effects of their technical operations, including building, heating and laboratories. They have been looking, for example, at more efficient energy consumption, emissions and waste management. These programmes are known elsewhere as “ the sustainable campus”.

“The most important contribution of the universities to sustainable development relates to research and education. For example research into sustainable development is being conducted in all campuses of the University of Helsinki. The university has a network of multidisciplinary research and environmental educational entities available to students in every faculty. The university has established a professorship of environmental policy,” says Mr Niiniluoto.

What does the future hold for academic research in the field of chemistry?

“An important task for the chemist is to study how different industrial processes and people’s consumption habits transfer possibly harmful chemicals into nature. Biochemists have made great strides in studying how chemical substances turn up in the natural environment. For example, the University of Helsinki is a part of a CASCADE-network coordinated by Swedish Karolinska Institutet, that is a network that tracking the health effects of various chemicals,” notes Niiniluoto.

He points out that physicists and chemists can also cooperate in developing safe materials. “An interesting example is a project lead by Markku Leskelä which studies thin membranes. This is a basic nanotechnology study with significant practical applications”, says Niiniluoto.

Why is it crucial for the academic community to participate in a common dialogue?

From Niiniluoto’s perspective it is crucial to create a dialogue between political leaders, international companies, universities and non-governmental organisations. “Researchers are concerned about the state of our environment. They have an informed and enlightened view of the possibilities offered by new technologies that should be communicated to political decision makers and corporate management. The Helsinki Chemicals Forum will help by creating a relationship between chemistry researchers, the chemical industry, non-governmental stakeholder groups and the new European Chemicals Agency, ECHA, which is executing the REACH agreement.”