Expert panel welcomes two new faces

The Expert Panel on Sustainable Development hosted by Sitra has welcomed two new expert members. Post-doctoral Researcher Tuuli Hirvilammi from the University of Jyväskylä (Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius) and Professor Anne Birgitta Pessi from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki have been appointed as members of the panel that was established in 2013. The panel’s previously appointed members continue to be involved in the activities. Among themselves, the panellists selected Professor Eeva Furman, Director of the Environmental Policy Centre, as the chair.

The expert panel highlights topical sustainable development issues in public discussion and provides independent scientific support for the Commission on Sustainable Development, led by the Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, which moved out of the Ministry of the Environment and under the Prime Minister’s Office at the turn of the year. The commission and the expert panel met on 1 February at a joint workshop, facilitated by the panel and with Sitra.

“We prepare, challenge and assess the work of the commission,” says the chair of the expert panel, Professor Eeva Furman from the Finnish Environment Institute. “We also bring our views forward in Finland in a wider context and take them to international arenas. Because we panellists come from very different backgrounds, we look at sustainable development from many different points of view. You can read about these views in the new blog series that started in February, among other places.”

The panel provides input that helps the commission to develop the society’s commitment to sustainable development in Finland: The Finland we want by 2050. With its work, the expert panel also promotes the adoption of the goals of the UN’s Agenda 2030 in decision-making in Finnish society.

In addition to the chair, Professor Eeva Furman, the other members of the expert panel are: Research Director Eva Heiskanen, Consumer Society Research Centre; Professor of Social and Public Policy Heikki Hiilamo, University of Helsinki; Post-doctoral Researcher Tuuli Hirvilammi, University of Jyväskylä; Professor of Environmental Policy Janne Hukkinen, University of Helsinki; Associate Professor of Economics, SVP Jaakko Kiander, Finance & Governance and Pension Policy, Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company; Professor Anne Birgitta Pessi, Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki; and Professor of Sociology Juho Saari, University of Eastern Finland.

At Sitra, the work of the panel is co-ordinated by Senior Lead Eeva Hellström and Tuula Sjöstedt, Lead, Communications and Public Affairs.

For further information, please contact
Chair of the expert panel Eeva Furman, tel. 029 5251 123, eeva.furman@ymparisto.fi
Senior Lead Eeva Hellström, Sitra, tel. 029 4618 276, eeva.hellstrom@sitra.fi
Tuula Sjöstedt, Lead, Communications and Public Affairs, Sitra, tel. +358 50 3738 601, tuula.sjostedt@sitra.fi