5th Sustainability Conference

11. apríl 2025
Hin árlega sjálfbærniráðstefna

Join us for a day of exploration and collaboration on sustainability!

The environmental council of the University of Akureyri invites everybody to the 5th Sustainability Conference at the University of Akureyri. Participation is free of charge. The conference will be held in a hybrid format, to accommodate both on-site interaction but also online, environmentally friendly participation of international speakers and guests. The conference's language is English.

Co-Hosting with Stefansson Arctic Institute

For the first time, the conference is co-hosted by the Stefansson Arctic Institute. This year, we focus on human-environment relations in the Circumpolar Arctic, but global sustainability topics are also part of the program. Traditional themes of the conference include:

  • Climate change effects, mitigation, and adaptation
  • Waste management
  • Marine conservation

Keynote Lecture

We are pleased to announce our keynote lecture "Transformative Innovation for better Climate Change Adaptation: Enabling Conditions and Future Perspectives"
held by Claire Nauwelaers & Richard Harding.

ABSTRACT 

Transformative Innovation for better Climate Change Adaptation: Enabling Conditions and Future Perspectives

Lessons from empirical studies on five European territories 

There is a growing scientific consensus that Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) – the process of adjustment to climate-induced impacts, underway or expected - is not being implemented at anything like the scale, depth and speed needed to avoid dangerous climate-related risks. Moreover, due to the complex impacts of climate change, their strong interrelatedness and profound societal implications, solutions adopted in the past to address weather-induced disasters are unlikely to work well in the future.

The thesis of an analysis on this subject undertaken for the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), between December 2022 and April 2024, was that transformative - even radical - adaptation solutions are now needed to avoid much worse climate-related damage and higher costs in the future. The key question investigated was: ‘How to harness the potential of the emerging “Transformative Innovation” paradigm to bring about more effective CCA strategies and actions?’ The two independent experts who carried out this study developed a conceptual framework, which postulates that eight key features of ‘Transformative Innovation’ can act as enabling conditions for the design and implementation of CCA strategies of the necessary high transformative ambition.

The experts went on to deploy this framework on empirical studies for JRC based on field research in five European territories: the region of Gorenjska, in Slovenia; the whole of Iceland; the Northern Netherlands; the City of Turku, in Southwest Finland; and the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, in France. Their present paper, which is not itself funded by JRC, compares the strengths and weaknesses of these five territories’ progress towards fulfilment of the eight enabling conditions. The paper details the considerable variation between these territories’ respective performance in this regard, and concludes that none of them can be said to be fully successful. For each enabling condition, the authors then suggest numerous practical ways forward, which could potentially be followed by any territory seeking to move decisively towards genuinely ‘Transformative CCA’.

Registration & Participation

  • You can still register to attend the conference!
  • Registration is not mandatory, but it helps us plan for coffee and snacks.
  • Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting? We welcome sponsors and exhibitors, both online and on-site. Exhibition spaces will be available next to our break buffet in the university’s main entrance hallway (with the option to keep exhibitions there for the week before and after the conference).

Register here

Stefansson Student Sustainability Award

We are excited to introduce the Stefansson Student Sustainability Award to recognize outstanding student contributions to sustainability research and action.

Published Abstracts

All abstracts from the conference have been published in Nordicum Mediterraneum, volume 20

Programme

09:00 - 10:15 | Opening and Keynote session

Moderator: Conference Chair Yvonne Höller
 
9:00 - 9:15 | Opening
 
9:15 - 9:45 | Keynote Address
Transformative Innovation for better Climate Change Adaptation: Enabling Conditions and Future Perspectives - Lessons from empirical studies on five European territories
Claire Nauwelaers, Independent expert, Belgium, and Richard Harding, Independent expert, UK
 
9:45 - 10:00 | Presentation
Climate change adaptation, socio-ecological challenges and agricultural development in Greenland
Jón Haukur Ingimundarson, Stefansson Arctic Institute, University of Akureyri, Iceland
 
10:00 - 10:15 | Discussion Session
 

110:15 - 10:45 | Coffee & Poster Session

Moderator: Conference Chair Yvonne Höller
 
10:15 - 10:25 | Poster 1
Navigating the Climate Communication Landscape: Challenges Faced by Environmental NGOs in Competing with Media to Influence Public Understanding of Climate Change
Eva Karen Guðrúnardóttir, University of Akureyri, Iceland
 
10:25 - 10:35 | Poster 2
Sociopolitical Barriers to Offshore Wind Energy Adoption in Texas
Lauren Bothwell and April Garza, Texas A&M University Galveston Campus, United States
 
10:35 – 10:45 | Poster 3
The Analysis of Particulate Matter in Akureyri, Iceland: Trends, Sources & Concerns
Audrey Louise Matthews and Ásta Margrét Ásmundsdóttir, University of Akureyri, Iceland
 

10:45 - 12:15 | Local Researchers Session

Moderator: Sean Scully
 
10:45 - 11:00 | Presentation
The Psychology of Climate Change Communication
Yvonne Höller, University of Akureyri, Iceland
 
11:00 - 11:15 | Presentation
The Effects of Sewage from Akureyri on the Waters of Eyjafjörður Bay in North Iceland
Ásta Margrét Ásmundsdóttir and Audrey Louise Matthews, University of Akureyri, Iceland
 
11:15 - 11:30 | Presentation
Towards sustainable seaweed utilization in the Nordic Region
Sean Scully, University of Akureyri, Iceland
 
11:30 - 11:45 | Presentation
Iceland’s Commitment to Clean Beaches: Legal and Policy Strategies for Marine Litter Reduction
Johanna Franke, University of Akureyri, Iceland
 
11:45 - 12:00 | Presentation
Hidden Pathogens and Biocontrol Limitations: Strengthening Integrated Pest Management Strategies
Natalia Ramirez, Agricultural University of Sweden, Sweden
 
12:00-12:15 | Discussion Session
 

12:15 - 13:00 | Lunch Break

The University of Akureyri Cafeteria offers soup, salad, sandwiches, and dairy products. It provides a welcoming space for students, staff, and guests to enjoy a meal or coffee together. On Fridays, the cafeteria is open from 8:00 to 14:00.

13:00 - 14:00 | International session

Moderator: Helga Guðrún Númadóttir

13:00-13:15 | Presentation
Food (Dis)Education: Are Regulatory Standards Encouraging Corporations to Shift the Blame Down the Food Supply Chain?
Giulia Petrachi, University of Oslo, Norway

13:15-13:30 | Presentation
Multidimensional Assessment of Sustainable Development Index and Human Development Index Using Topsis and Bilinear Ordering
Cihan Çalıkoğlu, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poland

13:30-13:45 | Presentation
The State of Offshore Wind Development in the Texas Gulf Coast
Jenna A. Lamphere with (co-presenters) Elizabeth Nyman, April Garza, and Lauren Bothwel, Texas A&M University, Galveston, United States

13:45-14:00 | Discussion Session

14:00 - 14:30 | Coffee & Poster Session 2

Moderator: Audrey Matthews

14:00 - 14:10 | Poster 4
NO2 Emissions Estimation Using OMI Satellite Data - A case study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Vo Thi Tam Minh, University of Science, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

14:10 - 14:20 | Poster 5
An overview of the role of green parks and forest for social-ecology wellbeing in South East Asia
Ariel Toh, Marcharh Initiative Centre for Sustainable Solutions, United Kingdom

14:20 – 14:30 | Poster 6
The growing impacts of climate change on the daily lives of the urban poor: A compelling case study of a vulnerable community in Delhi
Gulshan, Development Studies, Ignou New Delhi, India

14:30 - 15:45 | Student and Student award session

Moderator: Audrey Matthews

14:30 - 14:45 | Presentation
Valorization of food waste - Microwave-assisted pectin hydrolyses for biofuel production
Garðar Kári Garðarsson, University of Akureyri

14:45 - 15:00 | Presentation 
‘We Are Caribou People’: Gwich'in Rights and Responsibilities to the Porcupine Caribou Herd
Renata Colwell, University of Akureyri, Iceland

15:00 - 15:15 | Presentation 
Stefansson Student Sustainability Award Ceremony
Niels Einarsson, Stefansson Arctic Institute, Akureyri, Iceland

15:15 - 15:30 | Presentation 
Redirecting phosphorus from wastewater - Screening for phosphate accumulating bacteria from clam guts for potential wastewater remediation applications
Ísold Egla Guðjónsdóttir, University of Akureyri, Iceland

15:30 - 15:45 | Discussion Session

15:45 | Closing Remarks

Yvonne Höller, conference chair, University of Akureyri, Iceland

Thank you for joining us at the 5th Sustainability Conference. We appreciate your participation and valuable contributions, and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Contact

For additional inquiries, please contact the conference organization committee below:

Programmes from recent years

1st Sustainability Conference 
2nd Sustainability Conference and Recordings from the 2nd Sustainability Conference 
3rd Sustainability Conference and Recordings from the 3nd Sustainability Conference
4th Sustainability Conference and Recordings from the 4th Sustainability Conference