Academy of Finland boosts system-level research on climate change mitigation and adaptation

The Academy of Finland today granted funding under the call ‘Special funding for system-level research into climate change mitigation and adaptation’, which was open in September 2020. Seven research consortia including a total of 25 subprojects secured funding. The total sum comes to 10 million euros, a one-off allocation to the Academy from the Finnish Government’s budget for 2021.

The funded consortia (PDF) will in a multifaceted way and using different methods explore the ability of various sectors of society to curb and adapt to climate change. The consortia focus on topics such as the feasibility, cost-effectiveness and sustainability of mitigation strategies and the policy measures required to implement such strategies. In addition, the consortia will focus on climate change and scenarios on Finland’s future socio-economic development as well as sustainable climate change mitigation strategies in energy, land use and material systems. The funded projects will also examine the climate impacts of ICT technology, a model for a sustainable food system in early childhood education and care as well as a civil dialogue that promotes a fair and knowledge-based climate transition. Research will also be conducted on how to learn and teach climate competencies needed to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.

Leena Paavilainen, vice chair of the Academy’s Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering, said: “These funded projects will take the system-level approach to climate change research as a real challenge and an opportunity to comprehensively and analytically understand the dynamic interactions between different sectors of society based on scientific research. The projects are multidisciplinary, combining natural and social sciences. What’s more, the projects’ research and impact plans effectively describe the various impact actions to be taken and the resulting paths of impact.” Paavilainen chaired the subcommittee that made the funding decisions.

Riitta Maijala, the Academy’s vice president for research, said: “Research plays a major role in solving the challenges posed by climate change. These projects bring together existing research knowledge and know-how in a way that opens up new dimensions to understanding climate change and its impacts. Excellent research can provide data to support decision-making on climate change mitigation and adaptation.”

In the call, the Academy of Finland received 51 consortium applications, comprising 180 subprojects. The applications were reviewed by two expert panels. In keeping with the objectives of the call, the reviewers paid attention to both the scientific quality and the societal impact of the proposed research.