JYY and Soihtu are assessing their biodiversity footprint in cooperation with the School of Resource Wisdom of the University of Jyväskylä
Release, available for publication on 15 September 2022
The Student Union of the University of Jyväskylä JYY and its Business Unit Soihtu are assessing their carbon and biodiversity footprints. The analysis is carried out by JYU.Wisdom, the School of Resource Wisdom of the University of Jyväskylä.
In the joint research project, JYU.Wisdom carries out the carbon and biodiversity footprint assessment of JYY’s most significant acquisitions, operations, JYY’s advocacy work and the Soihtu business unit. The know-how developed in JYU.Wisdom’s Sustainability for JYU project will now be applied to the operations of JYY and Soihtu.
The analysis is a continuation of JYY’s work started in 2019 to minimize the Student Union JYY’s climate impact. In this project, Soihtu and JYY will also receive tools that will allow them to independently calculate their carbon and natural footprints in the coming years. The calculation will be completed in December 2022, when the final report of the project will be published. Soihtu and JYY will communicate the results of the calculation after the report is completed.
The view of the international scientific community is that climate change and nature loss must be solved at the same time, which motivates JYY and Soihtu in the biodiversity footprint assessment work.
The calculation and reporting of climate impact, or carbon footprints, has already gained a foothold in organizations. Similar level of understanding and tools for biodiversity loss, or nature footprints, are still rare. Even when the environmental impacts are calculated, their utilization may remain underused and detached from decision-making.
“JYY wants to be involved in pioneering research, the effects of which can be seen in the daily work of Soihtu and JYY, and thus in the entire student community. The achieved research results can also be used internationally,” says the chair of the Student Union JYY’s Board of Executives, Aija Hokkanen.
The calculation model developed by JYU.Wisdom can be used both in Finland and internationally for evaluating the biodiversity footprint of organizations.
“JYY wants to be involved in pioneering research, the effects of which can be seen in the daily work of Soihtu and JYY, and thus in the entire student community.”
Aija Hokkanen, chair of JYY Board of Executives 2022
JYY & Soihtu x JYU.Wisdom carbon and biodiversity footprint calculation project:
- Main implementation: project researcher Krista Pokkinen, krista.j.pokkinen@jyu.fi
- Supervision: PhD researcher in environmental management Sami El Geneidy, and professor of ecology and director of JYU.Wisdom Janne Kotiaho
- Additional information: Timo Lahtinen, CEO, Soihtu timo.lahtinen@soihtu.fi and Aija Hokkanen, chair, JYY Board of Executives 2022 hpj@jyy.fi
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