Finland - Jyvaskyla Region - Final Self-Evaluation Report.pdf

VI CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT6.1 Basis for societal contribution - sustainable developmentThe theme of sustainable development can be built on the recursive nature of economic, socio-cultural, andecological dimensions (Figure 6.1). The different dimensions of sustainable development can be definedthrough the measures and objectives at a macro-level, for example, the changing climate (ecologicalsustainability) and economic growth (economic sustainability 15 ), promoting the well-being of elderly peopleand other groups by paying special attention to employment, preventing social displacement (socialsustainability), and nourishing cultural diversity (cultural sustainability). In promoting sustainabledevelopment, attention must be paid to the fact that the socio-economic operating environment also createsthe basis for actions that concern the natural environment. Therefore, the different dimensions of sustainabledevelopment must be seen as entities that support each other, and which, in the long run, are preconditionsfor the successful realization of the others. Socially and economically sustainable development has effects onthe realization of ecologically sustainable development, which in turn advances the realization of the otherdimensions.ECOLOGICALDIMENSIONECONOMICDIMENSIONSOCIALDIMENSIONFigure 6.1 Sustainable development as a recursive process of mutually supportive dimensionsThe principles of sustainable development have been widely adopted in Finland as a basis for centralgovernment policies, local government administration, and commercial activity. Social, economic andecological responsibilities are recognized as principles to be striven for in decision-making. In autumn 2005,the national strategy working group started their work to prepare a proposal for the basis of a new nationalstrategy for sustainable development (the current strategy dates from 1998).In the Jyväskylä region, sustainable development is taken into account in the Jyväskylä Agenda 21, which isan operational programme for sustainable development that has been prepared with the cooperation ofregional actors. The University of Jyväskylä and Jyväskylä Polytechnic have not prepared separate strategiesfor sustainable development, but sustainable development is, instead, horizontally integrated in theiroperations. The HEIs contribute to local sustainability in different ways; for instance, through their owninternal processes, as sources of expertise and research, through the sustainability thinking brought about bythe curriculum, and as active participants in local partnerships. The HEIs will follow the national policyguidelines set in negotiations, currently underway, in regard to sustainable development.Channels for the societal effects of HEIsSustaining the economic, social and cultural development opportunities entails constant input into theproduction and large-scale utilization of knowledge. The Science and Technology Policy Council of Finlandhas noted that the key challenge in the circumstances of growing global competition is to keep Finlandsufficiently attractive to business and jobs and as a living environment in general. At the national level, it isnecessary to secure welfare services in the face of a rapidly ageing population and the ensuing pressures for15 This aspect is covered in preceding chapters (IV and V).83