Plant cultivation and plant breeding have a key role in both climate change mitigation and adaptation. In the future, new disruptive technologies such as vertical farming may reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food production and free up some of the surface area used to produce food for other uses, including restoration or afforestation.

Plant breeding, in turn, enables to increase crop yields and develop new varieties that are adapted to the changing environmental conditions. Expanding the breeding potential of sustainably produced arable crops opens up new opportunities and markets for producers and helps to replace products that are problematic from the perspective of the climate and other aspects of sustainable development.

As part of the package of climate measures under the Government Programme, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland will organise a morning webinar that will focus on new plant production technologies and opportunities for further processing. The key aim of the event is to showcase both the latest research knowledge and practical applications.

The webinar will be held in Finnish and in English. 

Warm welcome!

Date & Time: Thu 12th of May 8.30–10.30 a.m. (Helsinki time)

Place: Teams event - the webinar link will be send to the participants on the 11th of May. 

Programme: New products from fields

8.30    Opening remarks, Hanna Mattila, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland

8.35    Keynote speech: Danish success story of making new sustainable products from grass, Erik C. Wormslev, Business Development Director for Innovation, Climate Change and Energy, NIRAS, Denmark

9.00    Comment: Prospects of Green Biorefineries in Finland, Marketta Rinne, Research Professor, Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE)

9.10    New materials for fibre fabrics (in Finnish), Markku Koivisto, Director, Suominen Oy

9.25    From Farm to Shirt (in Finnish), Pirjo Kääriäinen, Associate Professor in Design and Materialities, Aalto University

9.40     Rich nutrition from carbon sink – increasingly diverse palette of plant proteins (in Finnish), Satu Pura, Marketing Manager, Trans Farm

9.55    Sustainable opportunities through paludiculture (in Finnish), Hanna Kekkonen, Research Scientist, Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE)

10.10    Opportunities for sustainable products in solving the climate and nature crisis (in Finnish), Tuuli Kaskinen, CEO, Climate Leadership Coalition

10.25    Closing remarks, Anna Salminen, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

10.30    Webinar ends

Register to the event on the link below by 10th of May 2022 at the latest.

Welcome!