A WORD FROM THE SECRETARY GENERAL

A NEW VIEW ON NATURAL RESOURCES FOR EUROPE

We are only a few months away from the first Koli Forum, which takes place in Finland from 22-24 October 2009. This top-level meeting brings European leaders together in a non-official atmosphere to discuss the use of natural resources.

What makes the Koli Forum different from any other seminar? To put it simply - the Koli Forum offers participants an opportunity to be a part of a new top-level initiative on natural resources. The organisers of the Koli Forum have an ambitious objective: we are striving to build the Koli Forum into a concept familiar to world leaders who deal with natural resource issues. The Koli Forum is an exclusive event, with no more than one hundred invited participants. By gathering together only a small number of top leaders, we aim to create an informal atmosphere that promotes the free exchange of ideas and information among participants.

The results of the Forum will be published as the so-called Theses of Koli. These recommendations will serve to steer discussion and to influence the decision-makers who shape our common future.

The first Forum will be hosted by the Nobel Prize-winning former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari and the President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland Pekka Hallberg who also chairs the Koli Forum Advisory Board. This site aims to give you more information about the contents of the first Koli Forum and also about the practical arrangements.

I would like to thank you warmly for your participation in the creation of this new Forum on natural resources!

With best regards,

Timo Karjalainen
Secretary General, Koli Forum 2009
Professor, Finnish Forest Research Institute METLA