SpacEconomy at the Strategic Research programmes conference
The biennial conference of Finland’s Strategic Research Council (SRC) programmes was held at Tampere University’s Main Building yesterday and today, 23–24 September 2026.
The conference brought together researchers from SRC-funded programmes and others interested in the programmes to discuss research, share results and outline more sustainable social, economic and environmental pathways.
The SRC’s aim is to strengthen the societal impact of research together with policymakers, business and civil society. The current backdrop includes polarisation, disinformation, geopolitical uncertainty, and climate and biodiversity crises.
The shared conference theme was Bridging societal and environmental fractures: creating futures. The event was organised by the SRC research programmes.
The conference was opened by Tampere University Vice-Rector Jarmo Takala, after which the first day’s joint keynote was given by Professor Lasse Peltonen of the University of Eastern Finland on “Cycles of conflict in the green/grim transition”. Thursday’s joint lecture was given by Adjunct Professor Meri Kulmala, who spoke on “Many Voices, Better Knowledge? Power, Participation, and Knowledge Democracy in Research”. The comment was delivered by SRC Chair, Professor Mikael Fogelholm.
Parallel sessions addressed topics including:
- different futures (artificial intelligence, data, disinformation)
- the fragility of democracy and polarisation
- security and resilience
- environmental and social sustainability transitions
- the future of the economy, work and expertise
- future generations and individual agency
The full programme is available on the conference website.
SpacEconomy was naturally also present, and the project’s researchers gave several presentations in the parallel sessions:
The series began on Wednesday afternoon with Helka Kalliomäki of the University of Vaasa: Governing Across Systems: Mission-Oriented Metagovernance in an Era of New Space Economy.
Next on stage was Iolanda Ialongo of the Finnish Meteorological Institute: Satellite monitoring of atmospheric pollution for security and critical infrastructure.
Wednesday closed with Mika Saajasto of the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute of the National Land Survey of Finland, who presented a review prepared with colleagues Zahidul Bhuiyan Liaquat, Sanna Kaasalainen and Toni Hammarberg on Increasing Societal Resilience Against GNSS Disruptions.
On Thursday morning, Tampere University’s Heidi Kuusniemi and Ia Hyttinen spoke on Driving Sustainable Growth and Resilience through Space-Based Data: Securing Critical Infrastructure and Societal Value.
Helka Kalliomäki
Iolanda Ialongo
Mika Saajasto
Heidi Kuusniemi and Ia Hyttinen appear in the article’s header image together with session chair Olli-Pekka Ruuskanen (who also participates in our project).