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Leadership for Change

Category: Lectures

Niklas Kaskeala: "The climate crisis is also a leadership crisis"

Who’s responsible for solving the climate crisis? That was the question in the first slide and the opening of Niklas Kaskeala’s LFC Lecture, organized by the first-year students of the Master's Degree Programme in Leadership for Change. Quite a shocker, but that was precisely the point – to incite debate as well as to provoke communication and critical thinking among the participants. In his talk, Niklas Kaskeala discussed the role of leadership – and lack of it – in the climate crisis. He also told about the initiative of Compensate, which aims to offset carbon emissions by compensating for unavoidable emissions and directing funds to high-impact carbon projects. Previously, Niklas Kaskeala has worked as Funding Coordinator for the Crisis Management Initiative and Executive Director of the Finnish Foundation for Media and Development. He is also a Founding Board Member of a non-profit organization Protect Our Winters Finland.

Marja-Riitta Ketola: “More than any crisis of the last decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has redefined childhood on a global scale”

We had the pleasure of hosting Marja-Riitta Ketola, executive director of UNICEF Finland, at Tampere University as she delivered a lecture titled 'Challenges Facing Children’s Rights Following the COVID-19 Pandemic'. In addition to the lecture topic, Ketola further incorporated information and insights about other recent challenges, such as the war in Ukraine. Sharing her thoughts, Ketola delivered an authentic and passionate lecture and encouraged the audience to engage and contribute with thoughts and questions.

Ismo Ulvila: "Climate, energy, and security politics go hand in hand"

The Master's Degree Programme in Leadership for Change had the honor of welcoming Ismo Ulvila as one of the guest lecturers of the LFC Lectures series. His background is admirable: he has worked globally in diverse negotiating tasks and issues connected to climate and trade policies. Currently, he is the Head of Communications at the European Commission's Representation in Finland. It is fair to say that our speaker had many valuable insights on the UN climate process, global climate finance and the EU's energy security issues, from which we got to learn during the LFC Lecture. 

Lea Rankinen: "Sustainability is always a moving target"

We were utmost delighted to pilot this year’s the Leadership for Change Lecture series with our first guest speaker Lea Rankinen, Director in Sustainability and Public Affairs at Paulig Group. In her lecture, Lea Rankinen focused on sharing valuable practical learnings that she has gained over her impressive 20-year career in sustainability within the food, retail, and service sectors, as well as introducing practical tools that support her while managing sustainable business strategies and overseeing their successful execution.

Video: LFC Lecture with Venla Roth, Anti-trafficking Coordinator

Click on the blog post to watch the third Leadership for Change Lecture in 2021 hosting Anti-trafficking Coordinator Venla Roth. The LFC Lecture was titled 'Human Trafficking and Anti-trafficking'. Trafficking in human beings has become a major international concern in the last two decades. It has been subjected to intense political debate and ambitious legal regulation on international, regional and national levels.

Mai Kivelä: “By building a just world for animals, we are building a better world for ourselves too”

In the fourth and the last Leadership for Change Lecture of this academic year, we had the pleasure to host Mai Kivelä – first-term Member of Finnish Parliament, Helsinki City Counsellor, former Executive Director of Animalia, and active spokesperson for animal rights. Her LFC Lecture was titled ‘Animal Rights in a Sustainable Society’ and it presented a deep analysis of the issue, followed by a thought-provoking discussion. The event took place on Zoom on 26 April 2021 and it was later broadcasted by Radio Moreeni.

Anne Larilahti: “Never let a good crisis go to waste, learn from it and put it to use"

We were glad to host Anne Larilahti, Vice President of Corporate Sustainability at Finnair, as our Leadership for Change Lectures guest speaker in February. Anne Larilahti discussed whether flying can be sustainable and what has been the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Finnair’s sustainability strategies. The LFC Lecture illustrated how Finnair, being one of Finland's major national companies, perceived and approached sustainability challenges in today's world. We also discussed the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation industry.

Jyrki Katainen: "Megatrends can be seen as a driving force of change"

The 2021 Leadership for Change Lectures series were kicked off by the President of Sitra Jyrki Katainen. Before his career in Sitra, Katainen has served as the European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness in Juncker Commission 2014–2019, as well as the Prime Minister of Finland in 2011–2014 and the Minister of Finance 2007–2011. The LFC Lecture was titled as "Megatrends of our future". Katainen commented on current affairs in the EU, the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of Sitra as the “future house of Finland”.