Climate change and concerns about the sufficiency and sustainable use of natural resources are key drivers of ecological sustainability in Finland, and are opening up new horizons in the related sector. Such drivers are global.
Due to merged markets and converging regulation, it has been and will continue to be important to link Sitra’s projects to international development.
Our current projects are linked in this way – progressively; the players in Finland’s mining sector are international and the Network for Sustainable Mining makes use of practices already existing or being developed in countries around the world such as Australia, Chile and Canada. The network is integrating its activities with international development to the benefit of industry and society.
Although there is nothing new about making use of industrial sidestreams, kicking the process off in Finland required the launch and application of practices developed in Britain. By stepping up industrial symbiosis, industry can benefit from experiences abroad, while development continues to spur on the founding of the European Industrial Symbiosis Association. Sitra is playing a central role in this.
Regional resource wisdom is resulting in a unique operating model which, in terms of its scope, is unmatched anywhere else in the world. The related development activities are already arousing international interest. We are publicising this model in international forums in Europe, Asia and South America. Issues related to the use of natural resources in cities, and regionally, are also being placed on the agenda of the UN’s International Resource Panel. Such international dissemination of the model is important to its successful adoption in Finland.
The stage-by-stage progress of industry towards carbon neutrality is crucial to both the achievement of climate goals and the enhancement of industrial competitiveness.
By importing and exporting innovations, we can motivate people to adopt and disseminate them, while boosting our international competitiveness.
Sitra’s Resource-wise Area and Industrial Symbiosis is being presented at the EU’s Green Week in Brussels.