Background
REBOUND is a six-year project examining the impacts of the green transition in Northern Finland. The project explores how climate targets, the use of natural resources, changes in land use, and the changing geopolitical situation are reflected in Arctic regions, and how these developments affect local communities, livelihoods, and decision-making.
Objectives
The project aims to increase understanding of what a just green transition means in Northern Finland and how its impacts are distributed among different actors. At the same time, the project produces knowledge on how decision-making, land-use planning, and regulation can be developed so that the transition strengthens ecological sustainability, social justice, and the capacity of regions to adapt to change.
Implementation
The project is carried out through eight work packages. The work of the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) focuses in particular on work packages 3 and 7. In work package 3, Syke contributes to questions related to land-use planning, environmental governance, sustainable mining, the assessment of environmental harm, the circular economy, and geospatial information. In work package 7, Syke’s leading researcher Minna Pappila serves as the work package leader, and the work package examines and compiles practices and regulatory approaches for addressing experiences of injustice and inequality in Arctic communities. The themes under Syke’s responsibility particularly support the fair governance of the green transition, the coordination of land use, and the development of environmental regulation.
Impact
The project produces knowledge and perspectives on how the green transition can be advanced in Northern Finland in a sustainable and just way. From Syke’s perspective, a key objective is to strengthen the knowledge base for land-use planning, permitting processes, and regulatory development, and to support solutions that make it possible to identify the impacts of the transition on different communities better than before.