Media Release 1/2/2012 Koli Forum making an impressive appearance at Delhi Sustainable Development Summit
The Koli Forum and its theses will have a visible presence at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit starting on Thursday. Professor Liisa Tahvanainen, Secretary General of the Koli Forum; Doctor Perttu Vartiainen, Rector of the University of Eastern Finland; Professor Paavo Pelkonen; and Doctor Petteri Taalas, Director General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute have been invited to the event. Both Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, and Heidi Hautala, Finnish Minister for International Development, will give speeches in Delhi. President Halonen was keynote speaker at the Koli Forum and will take on the same role at the summit.
The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit was first held in 2001 and the event has become one of the most important venues for steering the world towards sustainable development. DSDS is organised by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), an Indian organisation with a global presence. The World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF), established in 2005, has expanded its activities and the Delhi summit is supplemented by regional forums, which have also been held in Europe. Doctor Rajendra K. Pachauri, Director General of TERI and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is responsible for DSDS.
It was agreed at the Koli Forum in September 2011 that TERI will establish a unit at the Joensuu campus of the University of Eastern Finland. Doctor Pachauri was one of the keynote speakers at the forum. TERI’s research unit in Joensuu will focus on sustainable forest management and bioenergy at global level. Doctor Pachauri is also adjunct professor at University of Eastern Finland, specializing in strategies for the development of biomass resources.
The Koli Theses, the main messages of the forum, have already been presented at the World Resources Forum in Davos and will be presented in China in the autumn. The Koli Theses underline the role of bioeconomy as a driver for sustainable development – it is high time to make the transition to an economy incorporating the sustainable use of natural resources. Koli Forum is of the view that without strong inputs in bioeconomy, Europe is not in a position to succeed. The theses list concret¬¬e global measures for promoting bioeconomy and they also underline the role of education as a factor in raising awareness of bioeconomy opportunities. Bioeconomy, education and an understanding of the needs of humankind will help to bring about the necessary innovations. Koli Forum also strongly emphasises that well-established economic indicators will no longer be sufficient for describing and measuring the wellbeing of nations and peoples in the future.
The Koli Theses and the measures for implementing them have been published as Koli Forum 2011 Theses.
More:
Koli Forum Secretary General
Liisa Tahvanainen + 358 50 541 7337
liisa.tahvanainen@koliforum.fi
Koli Forum media
Katri Vuorjoki
+ 358 50 3626779
katri.vuorjoki@pkmedia.fi
Koli Forum coordinator
Pauliina Korhonen
pauliina.korhonen@uef.fi
+ 358 50 361 1470
KOLI FORUM IN NUTSHELL
The Koli Forum brings together top European and global opinion leaders from the spheres of business, politics, science and culture, to search out the best policies for a future that takes into consideration both the potential and the limitations of natural resources.
The Forum provides the know-how to enable us to cope with future challenges affecting a wide public, as well as long-term perspectives for a constructive public discussion.
The Koli Forum influences the decision-makers who shape our common future. In order to make sound decisions, decision-makers must have access to reliable information, varied perspectives and a different rationale.
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