Invitation:
Environmental Resilience and Preparedness in the Baltic Sea's Changing Geopolitical Landscape
The Baltic Sea region is facing a rapidly evolving geopolitical environment with significant implications for environmental resilience, maritime safety and preparedness. Strengthening our capacity to anticipate and respond to emerging environmental risks is becoming increasingly important for policymakers, authorities and stakeholders across the Nordic and Baltic region.
The STN WAWE Programme warmly invites you to join a discussion on how geopolitical developments are reshaping environmental risks in the Baltic Sea region, and what knowledge, monitoring systems and governance approaches are needed to strengthen preparedness and resilience.
The event brings together experts, policymakers and practitioners working on environmental safety and security, water resilience and preparedness. It also provides an opportunity for Baltic Sea region authorities, ministries, researchers and other stakeholders to exchange experiences and perspectives on emerging challenges and collaborative responses in the region. We look forward to welcoming you to Helsinki for this timely discussion.
Programme
09:30 Coffee
10:00 Welcome and opening remarks Meri Kallasvuo, Research programme director, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
10:10 Expert presentations
- Current developments in shadow fleet tracking and monitoring - Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen, Senior Researcher, Finnish Meteorological Institute
- Geopolitical tensions shape oil and chemical spill risks in the Baltic Sea - Annukka Lehikoinen, Research Director, Kotka Maritime Research Centre
- Future scenarios for environmental preparedness and resilience - Aleksi Neuvonen, Foresight specialist and Founder, Demos Helsinki
11:00 Panel discussion - moderated by Johannes Jauhiainen, Political Scientist, Demos Helsinki
Panelists will reflect on geopolitical developments, environmental monitoring, regulatory perspectives and preparedness measures in the Baltic Sea region. Panelists include:
- Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, Professor in Russian Environmental Studies, University of Helsinki’s Aleksanteri Institute
- Laura Tuomi, Head of Unit Marine Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute
- Henrik Ringbom, Professor in Environmental Law and Law of the Sea, Åbo Akademi University
11:45 Commentaries and concluding reflections by invited national and international experts
- Agne Aruväli, Advisor of Water Department, Ministry of Climate of Estonia
- Mats Svensson, Senior Advisor, Swedish Agency for Marine and Water management
12:00 Closing
For more information about the event content, please contact
WAWE Programme Director
Meri Kallasvuo (meri.kallasvuo@luke.fi)
WATERWAYS Project Communications Lead
Annukka Lehikoinen (annukka.lehikoinen@merikotka.fi)
Water for Welfare, Security, and Peace (WAWE) program is funded by the Finnish Strategic Research Council 2024 - 2030. The CoWup and WATERWAYS projects within the program are developing sustainable and just science-based solutions for the management of water resources and the marine environment, and for strengthening water safety and security.
