The two-year FinCEAL pilot project aimed to enhance cooperation between research and science policy communities in Finland, Europe, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean by networking the Finnish research community and by supporting their participation in bi-regional research projects and science policy processes. FinCEAL was an initiative funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and implemented by UniPID, the Finnish University Partnership for International Development. FinCEAL activities were focused on the following thematic areas, derived from the European Union's bi-regional science, technology and innovation policy processes: Africa – Food Security, Information Society, Health, Climate Change and Renewable Energy; LAC – ICT for Societal Challenges, Bioeconomy, Biodiversity and Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Health.

Team

Eva Kagiri, Kajsa Ekroos, Melissa Plath

The EXTREME project will be analysing and comparing the sensitivity of ecosystem functioning in desert shrubs or steppes and managed boreal forest ecosystems to the foreseen climate change, climatic variability and weather extremes, with implications for carbon sequestration and biomass production of ecosystems. The project will carry out both experimental and model-based analyses at various temporal and spatial scales. The project is expected to generate new knowledge of how carbon sequestration and biomass production of the most sensitive ecosystems response to climate change scenarios.

Team

Peltola Heli, Kellomäki Seppo, Tianshan Zha

The main focus of the project has been in Institutional Capacity Building in the area of Meteorological Network Design and Development, Hydrometeorological Data Management, Data Quality Control Procedures, Early Warning Systems and New Services Development.

Team

Comparative legal research on climate change mitigation legislation and policy, specially energy efficiency legislation.

Team

Ari Ekroos, Sara Kymenvaara, Jenny Rontu

Exchange of knowhow, training and dissemination of good practices and solutions are central to building capacity in sustainable natural and agricultural resources management. CAFEIN aims to integrate new and innovative methods of skills development and training to build the agricultural science capacity, and support and advance agricultural education to ensure a safe, secure, nutritive and sustainable food supply under conditions of global climate change.

Team

Liisa Nurminen UEF, Salla Ruuska UEF, Heimo Mikkola UEF, Jannina Viljakainen UEF, Ardita Jahja-Hoxha Savonia UAS, Bermet Tazhibaeva Kyrgyz National Agrarian University

RECLAIM project analyses the opportunities and challenges that emerge when climate change initiatives are introduced in the least developed countries, specifically herein Laos and Cambodia. The research examines whether it is possible to simultaneously pursue development, mitigation and adaptation and how this will affect to poor and vulnerable groups. The aim is to identify and analyse the drivers, actors and institutions that influence climate compatible development. The research addresses these questions through quantitative analysis of energy-economic systems and development pathways as well as qualitative research on the actors and forces shaping climate policies. The aim of the quantitative analysis is to provide useful information for future planning through defining a framework within which the future energy needs and related climate policies can be assessed.

Team

Jyrki Luukkanen (FFRC), Visa Tuominen (FFRC), Mira Käkönen (FFRC), Jarmo Vehmas (FFRC), Louis Lebel (USER), Dany Va (RUPP), Try Thuon (RUPP), Ponlok Tin (MoE), Khampone Nathavong (NUOL), Saykham Voladet (NERI), Noora Stenholm (FFRC)

The primary aim of the project is climate change mitigation and reduced deforestation through the provision of low cost water purification technologies to the rural poor. At the same time, the project will sustainably scale up, through carbon finance, the production and dissemination of low-cost clean water treatment solutions to poor households in Cambodia and Lao PDR. The local supply chains of the two carbon projects by Hydrologic Social Enterprise and Terra Clear will be strengthened and the projects will be developed into Gold Standard projects for voluntary carbon markets (VCM). Targeted customers are rural households who currently have no or only a partial access to clean water. Ceramic water purifiers are able to provide a number of co benefits to end users (including the adaptive capacity of end users to climate change) and throughout the supply chain. The project aims to ensure these co-benefits are also realised. The scaling up and sustainable mass dissemination activities will be complemented by a research report prepared by Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC).

Team

FFRC-Jyrki Luukkanen, Kamilla Karhunmaa, Visa Tuominen, Outi Pitkänen Nexus- Jo Hazelwood Hydrologic- Rachel Pringle TerraClear- Nathan Cole

SUCCEED is a capacity building project which seeks to enhance and promote climate change, environmental and renewable energy education, research, and development. The overall objective of SUCCEED is that the partner countries are able to train and educate national experts capable of advocating national and international climate change policy and renewable energy promotion from the perspective of the least developed countries, especially with regards to: climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, climate finance, energy policy and renewable energy technology. Other objectives include improved skills of teaching staff to ensure successful implementation of climate change and renewable energy education in energy, and environmental degree programmes, improved research and pedagogical skills, improved facilities at ITC, NUOL, RUPP & YTU and promotion of networking and cooperation with national and international institutions and stakeholders.

Team

Jyrki Luukkanen, Mika Korkeakoski, Visa Tuominen

This project will identify the properties of soil, symbiotic microorganisms and agroforestry practices which improve the production of ecosystem services (BNF, AM, C sequestration) for food security in a changing climate. It will also identify the socio-economic feasibility of the management practices, including inoculation of legumes, and the knowledge networks required for their implementation.

Team

Kristina Lindström, Aregu Amsalu Aserse , Mila Sell, MarkkuYli-Halla, Helena Kahiluoto, Asefa Fassil, MauritzVestberg, Zebene Asfaw, Mesel Negash

The project will aim to enhance the capacity of partner HEIs to be more responsive to labour market needs and increase the capability of partner HEIs to contribute to the respective national plans and regional co-operation in energy efficiency, access and sustainability. The project will employ a “training of trainers” approach, targeting academic staff, PhD Students and administrative staff in management and finance in order to facilitate increased capacities in curricula development particularly for the BSc and MSc programmes offered by the partner HEIs. Trainings will focus on i) energy efficiency (modelling, renewable energy technical efficiency, system level efficiency) and ii) energy access (pricing in the Caribbean context and governance issues).

Team

Jyrki Luukkanen, Mika Korkeakoski, Timo Nurmi