Lappeenranta is a municipality located in south-eastern Finland with its urban centre situated on the shores of Lake Saimaa This location makes it the region’s main centre for tourism The municipality has 72,690 inhabitants and covers an area of 1,724 km2 of which 290 km2 is water The municipality has four district centres of which the largest is its central urban settlement Lappeenranta is known as the International University City in Finland with approximately 6,000 students attending LUT (Lappeenranta University of Technology) The University with the City provides a world-class research and innovation environment for companies in areas such as clean energy research Lappeenranta is one of the main growth centres in Finland and a strong centre of bio-based industries with 12% of the workforce employed in the environmental and cleantech sectors The city is known as the Commercial Centre of South-East Finland and as the meeting point of the EU and Russia being approximately 200 km away from both Helsinki and St The municipality is also a key centre for the pulp and paper industry The municipality is involved in a large variety of national and international projects and the discharge of nutrient loads to Lake Saimaa as Earth Hour Capital of Finland by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities awarded the city for its long-time campaign and actions against climate change Lappeenranta was also the world’s first city to start using only EKOenergy certified electricity with zero emissions the municipality launched its Lappeenranta 2033 Strategy which guides the city’s operations This includes the key strategic goal for the city which aims to develop Lappeenranta into a model city for environmentally friendly actions in which business growth is based on a clean-living environment and a waste-free world places emphasis on real actions and results It is a shared brand with regional public actors and runs the Greenreality Lappeenranta Network which is a business-driven coalition of regional enterprises EGLA Technical Assessment Report Award Cycle 2021 Video of Awards Ceremony Photos from Awards Ceremony Lappeenranta - Final Report  The 3 winners stood out for their exceptional heat decarbonisation strategies serving as inspiration for other cities and towns across Europe (UPM, Helsinki, April 28, 2025 at 13:00 EEST) – UPM Biofuels celebrates ten years of successful operations at its Lappeenranta Biorefinery the world’s first commercial-scale facility producing advanced biofuels from wood-based residues the refinery has been at the forefront of developing renewable alternatives to fossil-based fuels and materials driving the decarbonization of the transport and petrochemical industries our team has delivered exceptional performance and reliability at Lappeenranta,” said Robert Marx Vice President of UPM Biofuels and Biorefining Commercial Development “Their operational excellence and professionalism have set the benchmark for the industry The biorefinery has also played a pivotal role in advancing UPM’s business in renewable fuels and chemicals—building technical know-how and laying the foundation for future developments and investments.” The UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery produces approximately 130,000 tonnes per year of UPM BioVerno™ renewable diesel and naphtha CTO stands out as a superior feedstock for renewable diesel production due to its fully traceable origin integration in UPM’s existing value chain All products are backed by globally recognized sustainability certifications UPM BioVerno™ diesel cuts lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by over 80%[1] compared to fossil diesel and is suitable for all diesel engines offers a sustainable alternative to fossil-based raw materials in the plastics value chain UPM continues to invest in technology development to broaden its feedstock base beyond CTO exploring new forest-industry residues and side streams within its ecosystem The company is also progressing in the technical qualification of tall oil–based fuels for use in aviation with ongoing testing under ASTM standards showing a positive track record While a second biorefinery investment remains under consideration UPM is prioritizing platform advancements and feedstock versatility to enable scalable and impactful decarbonization solutions [1] Over the lifecycle of the fuel The methodology for calculating life cycle emissions and emissions reduction complies with the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive II (2018/2001/EU) In 2016, Finland became the first nation to design a circular economy roadmap, and has set specific goals to reach “maximum circularity” by 2035. While the nation has made great progress, significant challenges remain For this second episode of a new series of the Mongabay Explores podcast all about the circular economy — the effort to design goods to be less resource-intensive, from their manufacture to disposal and recycling — Tim Forslund from the Finnish Innovation Fund (SITRA) discusses Finland’s circular economy roadmap While Finland has been attempting circularity the longest, over 50 nations have launched their own roadmaps since 2016 Forslund stresses that rather than treating a circular economy as a one-size-fits-all solution each nation will have to tailor and continuously update its own “If you look at Spain’s circular economy strategy one of their key areas is water because it’s the most water-scarce area in Europe,” Forslund says One aspect unique to a small number of nations’ circular economy roadmaps is absolute resource reduction targets which Forslund says is critical: “I think these really set the course for a more ambitious direction [and] clear goals for what needs to be done A task as monumental as achieving circularity requires policy directed at businesses to ensure they reuse resources for products designed to more effectively meet people’s needs “It’s not about relying on people making sacrifices it’s really about making sure that we target policymakers and businesses But I think that we need to make sure that the product we design makes sense for people,” Forslund says He further stresses the taxing of waste and ensuring corporations pay for it: “At the end of the day that’s the strongest signal we can send [is using] the ‘polluter pays’ principle.” Listen to the first episode of Mongabay Explores the Circular Economy here, and read more on Finland’s circular economy roadmap here Banner image: Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology’s Lappeenranta campus is key to driving forward the circular economy Image courtesy of Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology Mike DiGirolamo is a host & associate producer for Mongabay based in Sydney. He co-hosts and edits the Mongabay Newscast. Find him on LinkedIn and Bluesky Editor’s note: This episode initially stated that 75 national roadmaps exist, per a UN/Chatham House report but it’s unclear how many countries they cover since some nations have multiple plans that cover various aspects of circularity The audio and transcript have been amended to reflect that the number is at least 50 Lessons from Finland’s attempt to transition to a circular economy Mike DiGirolamo (narration): A circular economy is defined as an economic system based on the reuse and regeneration of materials and products If human society is to make progress on mitigating the unsustainable impacts market driven forces have on the environment experts say transitioning to circular economies is a must Tim Forslund: It’s not about like relying on people making sacrifices it’s really about making sure that we target policy makers and businesses But I think that we need to make sure that the products we design makes sense for people a podcast series diving deep into some of the biggest environmental issues of our time You’re listening to the second episode of our fifth season I speak directly with an architect of the very first nation to implement a circular economy roadmap This was a process that brought together more than a thousand different stakeholders from across Finland to work on how we can transform the economy in a more circular direction Mike (narration): Tim Forslund is a nature and circular economy specialist for the organization SITRA Initially funded by grants from the Finnish parliament they’ve worked with the government to help design what was indeed the first circular economy roadmap for any nation in the world Forslund tells me what went into the design of this roadmap and why circular economy roadmaps are not a static continuously updated document tailored specifically to the nation they are for we’re going to discuss what a circular economy model looks like when it’s actually implemented at a national scale we have a nation that is actually trying to do this right now And it’s the country you’re in can you give our listeners a quick history and some context on when and why Finland decided to adopt a circular economy model that today we have more than 50 countries in the world that have a circular economy roadmap or strategy Finland was the first country in the world to have a national circular economy roadmap It took quite a while to carry out this whole process but it’s also something that we have worked on ever since what were some of the biggest challenges to getting that implemented if you present an idea that is as radical in a way as the full transition to a circular economy is that you’ve got to start somewhere is both a challenge and an opportunity that we it was really about getting as many people on board as possible to convince them that this is something that makes business sense this was quite a new concept when it came to Finland in 2016 I think there was also a bit of “crossing the river as you touch the bottom of the river floor.” So finding your way across the river and what Finland did was under the leadership of SITRA to really drive change through a set of different pilots in the food sector logistics and the technology industries as well to really see what’s possible and what we can get started with already now can you detail for me what’s in the framework I would say it’s as much a process as a kind of document that outlines exactly what to do it sets the direction for Finland to be a leader in the circular economy by 2025 And it also sets out a set of different actions for different sectors It looks at who can drive change across these different sectors it’s as much a document that looks at the direction and who needs to do what to deliver change as the roadmap spells out I would say it’s a kind of transformation document as much as it just sounds like it’s a policy document Mike: And there’s I believe there’s four key sectors that you mention that really need to be revamped And we can talk about other things that are in this roadmap but can you go ahead and detail what about those sectors needs to change Tim: I think this is always really important when you look at the circular economy that you need to be geography or place specific if you look at Spain’s circular economy strategy because it’s the most water scarce area in Europe so we have a look at what sectors do we have that are highly relevant for Finland about 75 percent of Finland’s area consists of forests So this is really a key sector for the country the policy recommendations here focus on using them sustainably the roadmap says the goal is to make the main target of the National Forest Strategy maximizing the overall value of Finnish forest-based products and services rather than the amount of wood prioritizes and tries to find ways to incentivize reusing materials at every step of the process rather than continually using and throwing them away it’s quite an important sector as well for Finland Mike (narration): The sustainable food systems recommendations say the aim is to create a market for organic recycled nutrients minimize food waste by eliminating barriers and creating incentives support biogas systems and renewable energy solutions to replace fossil fuels in agriculture Important to note here that biogas in this context means things like methane that is released from the decomposition of organic matter This is something that might normally be spewed into the atmosphere from a landfill Tim: We have a lot of companies in the technology industry we have also a sector here is referred to as technical loops it’s really a key part of the Finnish the focus is on minimizing waste by using secondary raw materials or byproducts from refining These are also known as ‘sidestreams.’ Instead of having these materials become waste The roadmap describes creating a market for these sidestreams to be used in things like construction which accounts for 37 percent of Finland’s industrial energy use and mentions that 4 terawatt hours of this heat could be reused Another interesting part of this equation is reusing existing building stock 2 million square meters of unused office space that isn’t zoned for residential use it would save 700 million euros compared to the cost of building new housing This is a lesson I could not help but think that tons of cities could really learn from when addressing their housing shortages can be a massive barrier to solving housing supply but the place I’m thinking of rhymes with “Alifornia.” the fourth sector is transport and logistics It’s just a very sparsely populated country compared to many others in Europe I think this is also something that you need to make sure that the connections between different parts of the country work because we are highly also dependent on trade or both on imports and exports So that’s why we have these four sectors to reflect the specific conditions of the Finnish economy Mike (narration): Finland is obviously not the only sparsely populated country in the world Transportation and logistics is going to be a huge consideration pretty much everywhere But this roadmap has some insights that could probably apply to many other nations the roadmap here includes the following suggestions “Develop incentives and policy instruments to accelerate a radical change towards a more service-based transport system Promote alternative forms of transport to replace private cars reduce subsidies that favor private cars” and “promote personal incentives to enhance the choice of alternative transport methods.” Again these are all complicated sections and my elaborations here only scratch the surface of what is a very complex roadmap Tim: What was started back in 2016 was to run a set of a series of pilots to see how circular change can look like there were new restaurant business models that were piloted And there were also other pilots that look at how we can make use of food waste so that this can also benefit socially vulnerable groups in Finland there were a set of different pilots to see how can we make the materials of these different sectors stay in the economy to let us gain as much value from these resources as possible and to find tangible ways of actually benefiting Finns as well this was something that we looked at to really see what’s possible in these sectors and then this has been followed up also in 2021 in the circular economy strategic program where you have a more specific process looking at scenarios and scenario models and also commitments from companies to deliver on the 2035 targets that have been established since Mike (narration): More on that in just a moment Mike: And it seems like since the implementation of this model material consumption has actually increased Mike (narration): This is only partially true and I don’t want to mislead anyone here Domestic material consumption did increase in Finland between 2015 and 2018 according to the Statistics Finland database it is largely at the same level as it was in 2018 Can you tell us what can be done to turn that around and actually have this create the effect of reducing material consumption so I think we really have a lot of work ahead of us still I wouldn’t say that we have moved backwards I’d say that we have just not moved ahead fast enough the first one is that it takes time for policies to generate the change that is intended we’re seeing a lot of these policies being implemented but it will take more and more time to see the change The second part is that it’s really down to how we measure or if we just look about the absolute use of resources it’s similar if you look at the European level And there’s a big issue still that we’re not moving fast enough Mike (narration): Tim’s concerns are echoed by other experts Mongabay has contacted Annukka Berg with the Finnish Environment Institute says that Finland has room to be much more ambitious and that sustainable resource use might actually be one third of what 2015 levels were You can check the link in the show notes for more on the story from Sean Mowbray and it’s also the third part here is that this Finnish economy is very resource intensive that we have a lot of mining industries and a lot of this is also exported but it’s one thing that’s really a foundation for our economy We’re dependent on extractives from mining we’re probably never going to be as circular as some other countries that have a very different economic structure just in terms of transporting waste from the built environment it’s very difficult to reuse while building materials from one part of the country to another that’s being urbanized at a higher degree today this is something that’s also comes into play here that we need to look at what’s the specific economic structure of the country but there’s also a lot that we could do can you get into what’s behind the delay Because you mentioned that it does take time I think the policy was first implemented eight years ago Mike: And I think that the baseline or the deadline is that enough time for us to meet that deadline Tim: I think we are moving ahead at a good pace I would challenge the notion that this started in 2016 this was the roadmap that was a visionary document to set out what’s needed to change a direction and different pilots that helped us steer course and then the real change in a way really started with a circular economy strategic program where you have these 2035 targets So they were only actually a product that came out of the 2021 strategic circular economy program And there you have these absolute resource targets We should double our circular material use rate by 2035 and also double our resource productivity Mike (narration): We could do an entire podcast just on the concept of resource productivity it’s the monetary yield of a product per unit of resource used The idea here is to increase that yield while keeping the actual resource use low or reduce the amount of resources used to create that product Another nation with targets for resource reduction and resource productivity in their circular economy strategy is Austria I think these really set the course for a more ambitious because I think what gets measured gets done I think this is really something that has a lot of promise and is a unique process for There are other countries that have resource targets 50 countries that I mentioned that have circular economy or roadmaps or strategies I only know that in Austria and the Netherlands they also have these absolute resource reduction targets to make sure the resource growth doesn’t continue to grow And we’re not necessarily growing our material footprint that much but it’s also not moving in the right direction where we’re seeing reductions needed I think this is something that is moving in the right direction And we have a lot of companies that have submitted voluntary commitments but we need to do a lot more if we’re to be not just like we were in 2015 let’s go ahead and get into what some of that work would be And you mentioned that there’s been voluntary commitments Is there space for compelled commitments in this conversation One thing that we could look at is market-based instruments there are very few market-based instruments because this is not mandatory and we see that of environmental taxes in general they only account for about 6 percent of tax revenues in EU member states And if you look at materials and pollution 2 percent of tax revenues in member states Mike (narration): Information I found from the European Commission as of 2021 stated that total environment tax revenue was only 2 Well over three quarters of it was taxes on energy and only 18 percent was a tax on transportation 6 percent was a tax on pollution and resources that’s the strongest signal we can send to consumers So we’re looking at the impact from that waste and that’s just not something that has been done at a European level It’s largely based on voluntary commitments And I think this could drive innovation towards the circular economy in a much stronger way it’s just a lot of everything that governments purchase If they were to favour circular products and service offerings instead of continuing to rely on a linear economy that could really drive a lot of innovation towards the circular economy when you’re saying “market-based mechanisms,” you are including in that compelled commitments such as taxation you could have market-based instruments based on voluntary schemes as well It could even be a combination of both if you have a bonus malice system rely on taxing certain materials or pollutants And then you use the tax revenues to make cheaper secondary raw materials you’re saying right now it appears mostly to be voluntary many people may point out that if something is voluntary how do we continue forward with this current deal under that basis Could we get further if we relied more on mandates and well And I think this is just reflective of the current operating environment There’s been talk of a “greenlash” in Europe There’s been a bit of a pushback against the wave of green policies that has come towards member states Mike (narration): There’s a laundry list of events and sentiments that have occurred in the European nations that give credence to the notion of a green backlash or fatigue French President Emmanuel Macron called for a regulatory break on green legislation columnists have pointed out that right wing populist movements could be latching on to this fatigue and running their campaigns appealing to the grievances of some people with climate and environmental policies it doesn’t appear to have given them a majority at least in the French elections which just occurred where Marine Le Pen’s National Rally finished in third I think this is something that is maybe a reaction that there’s a bit of a fear to have even more policies I wouldn’t underestimate the power of voluntary schemes because I think this is something that a lot of companies understand that it makes business sense to transition towards a circular economy And you cut up waste from your supply chain I think this is something that a lot of companies see the benefits by working together with them on a science based approach where you rely on different scenarios for these different sectors that are part of this it really shows that what’s possible in the transition what can you do as a company and then working towards what are the easiest ways of implementing change but of course you could have a faster progress if you had stronger mandatory schemes at a European level but we’re just not seeing that at the moment I think this is a promising model as we can’t really seem to get that going at the moment In terms of like the current linear economic model there’s like sort of this ‘take the plastics industry has relied heavily on single use plastics making something that isn’t really truly designed to be recycled and profiting off that how can a voluntary approach work with that you could also reframe it as an inefficiency that everything that is wasted is a lost value creation opportunity And we’re seeing a lot of companies in Finland that see that they can actually make more money they can have more consistent customer relations by having business models that let them rely Mike: I think it’s important to point out here that Tim is actually referring to products you do not own Not a consumable in the sense that we know of in the current global linear economy there are companies in Finland that have relied on this for basically a century: a company like Lindström that offers both workwear and textiles as a service if we don’t have to take care of carpets it lets us focus on our work as an innovation fund And then they make sure the thing can optimize when the carpet needs to be And they have an incentive to produce carpets that last for as long as possible and to make sure that it’s taken And to just retain the material value for as long as possible Mike (narration): How this would work with plastics is something I didn’t get into with Tim here and he admittedly informed me that it’s not totally his area of expertise But one potential tool I’ve come across in my past reporting on this subject is something called ‘extended producer responsibilities.’ It’s not the same thing as a product-as-a-service but it’s a tool that makes the producer responsible for what happens to the product after it enters the market And it could incentivize more recycling of that product and potentially hold the producer legally liable for its environmental impacts I think we’re seeing a lot of companies that are making business profitable business in this operating environment If price mechanisms show that secondary raw materials were more competitive I’ve read that 60 billion garments get thrown away each year some clothing brands are taking action on that it’s also incredibly damaging to the environment and using water to make those garments that seems like a rather large issue to tackle in a voluntary manner what’s your thoughts on the garment industry fast fashion from a circular economy standpoint Tim: I’m actually a bit of an optimist if we talk about textiles and fiber specifically we’re seeing quite a powerful drive from the European policymakers Not only do we have the circular economy action plan and the sustainable product eco design for sustainable products regulation I think that really pushes or drives change in EU countries we were seeing a lot of promising initiatives it’s mandatory to collect household textile waste since last year already this is two years earlier than what we’re seeing at the European level to provide collection for household textile waste Mike (narration): And Tim’s right on this front The EU is taking a less voluntary approach and in 2025 will require all member states to remove textiles from their waste And some fashion brands are looking more to secondary or used textiles to make their products because if we don’t have to rely on importing fibers We don’t have to rely as much on imports provides textiles as a service and they have this what they have done is to team up with a textiles recycling company through their mechanical recycling process they can make sure that they get a bit higher quality out of this process because they have teamed up And this means that Lindström can also get a renewable feedstock back into their products that is not from virgin resources It’s a secondary resource that they have they have ensured a higher quality feedstock and basically closing the loop at a local level in Finland I think companies are already seeing the potential we’re also seeing in the city of Turku building a recycling plant that will have the capacity to recycle all the textiles in Finland next year I think a lot of companies are capturing this opportunity There are some bottlenecks in the textiles industry but we’re seeing tremendous progress as well I think this is a real opportunity that we’re seeing in Finland and the Nordic countries I want to go back to recycling because it’s a big topic of conversation obviously and it heavily depends on the sector the material and our listeners are aware of that of course but there’s some pretty important implications depending on the sector So I wanted to ask you about plastics recycling because many listeners will probably be remember that globally about only 9 percent of the plastic that is produced and thrown away actually gets back on the shelf what is your view on the plastics recycling situation in Finland What has Finland done to address that situation Tim: I think we’re not moving ahead as fast as we could with plastics And I think this is largely a design problem at the moment so we’re seeing that recycling capacity can deal with some of this There are some plastics that are just very difficult to deal with today I think in the next few years will be pivotal And if we can really make sure that we get a that we can close the loop on the largest share of plastics We need to have higher collection rates and just some of the recycling technology is not just must pay a sizable but not crazy deposit when you buy a product in a plastic bottle You get the deposit back when you return the bottle this means that over 90 percent of all bottles get returned It’s hailed as a leader in bottle collection schemes and it doesn’t solve the inherent problems with plastic recycling technology which render the process not technically viable at scale since there’s thousands of different types of plastic that can’t be efficiently sorted and recycled together and experts also note that the material can only be reused a handful of times or less The EU has banned some single use plastics beginning in 2021 and introduced a levy for each state based on the amount of plastic packaging waste that state produces you have mentioned that a big piece of the puzzle to implementing circular economies is education Which I believe you were implying here that it would like higher education training a workforce to teach them the tools and implement the things necessary to develop the infrastructure for a circular economy I think this is really one of the areas where Finland has excelled and lived up to its reputation with education because this really starts at a kindergarten level children in Finland are exposed to learning about the circular economy to try to understand what are products and materials and what are these resource loops that we’re talking about So to already develop an understanding there but this is also at the back of the roadmap back in 2016 really big outcomes from that process that we have while in 2018-19 there was research that looks at circular economy learning offerings and Finland had the highest number of circular economy learning offerings in higher education in the world and not just per capita So I think If you want to call it systems change or not it’s just one part of one transition but it’s such an instrumental piece and I think it goes to show at least that if you have the right people at universities of applied sciences working together and trying to mainstream circular economy learning most students in Finland are exposed to learning about the circular economy and we’re also one of the things we followed up on at SITRA specifically is to target lifelong learning because it’s just not enough if we just target people under 25 to drive the whole transition We also need to make sure that some of the people that might not benefit from the transition are part of it So that we can provide lifelong learning and to retrain people in specific industries looked at specifically and we need to do a lot more of this in the years to come Mike (narration): Before I got off the call with Tim we shared a few more reflections on efficient design and the ways in which different nations adopt a shift in mindsets towards this we often talk about public private partnerships But I think we should also talk about public private person partnerships cause I think it’s really important that we design solutions for people that they can really unlock a lot of change about some polls that SITRA has conducted shows that about want Finland to transition toward a circular economy even if other countries are not doing the same And this is also something that we worked on with lifestyle specifically 5 degree lifestyle test that’s been taken 1 And it’s been scaled to other countries it points at what can you do as a citizen to drive change I think this is something that gets overlooked quite a lot What can you do as a person and how do you weave in this kind of cultural if focusing on what the individual can do sort of lets the producer off the hook a bit from actually designing it 80 percent of the waste is designed into it It seems like to me the majority of the onus is on the people designing and producing the product to make it efficient There’s so many products you can’t even repair so many products you have to throw them away and buy a new one it seems like that’s like a huge part of the puzzle I think that’s been one of the things in the circular economy that’s been quite effective It’s not about like relying on people making sacrifices it’s really about making sure that we target policy makers and businesses but I think we need to make sure that the product we design makes sense for people I think this is not about appealing to consumers to be more sustainable but it’s like Greta Thunberg said at some point it’s an all hands on deck situation and we need to work with everything that we can basically Mike (narration): I wasn’t able to find this precise quote but in a response to a question from actor Maisie Williams what can people reading this do today to make an impact but I believe you cannot have system change without individual change.” thank you so much for joining us today and talking about the circular economy Mike (narration): Thank you for listening to Mongabay Explores the Circular Economy Editorial support for this episode was provided by Erik Hoffner If you enjoyed this episode of Mongabay Explores and you want to support us please tell a friend about this podcast series and also our award-winning flagship podcast series Word of Mouth really does help us expand our reach but you can also support us by becoming a monthly sponsor by heading to patreon.com/slash Mongabay that’s patreon.com forward slash Mongabay You can donate there to help us cover production costs and hosting fees for all of our podcast content And if you want to stay up to date on all things and Blue Sky where our handle is at Mongabay This concludes episode two in our circular economy series for Mongabay Explores Office of the President of the Republic of FinlandPress release 6/202522 January 2025 President of the Republic of Finland Alexander Stubb will make a visit to Lappeenranta on Wednesday 29 January 2025 The day will begin at the LUT University (Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology) campus in Lappeenranta President Stubb will meet students in the JHC prototyping laboratory where various course assignments can be carried out the President will visit the laboratories of steel structures and welding technology President Stubb will meet citizens in the Viipuri Hall of the LUT University campus at about 13.35 President Stubb will visit the Estradi Art School a company that develops and manufactures weather shelters for defence The section on a visit to Nuijamaa Border Guard Station has been deleted due to the postponement of the visit More news Office of the President of the Republic of FinlandMariankatu 2FI-00170 HelsinkiFinland Tel. +358 (0)29 522 6000kirjaamo@tpk.fi © Office of the President of the Republic of Finland 2024 Accessibility statement of Presidentti.fi Lappeenranta Regional Public Transport has operated as the regional public transport authority since the beginning of 2024 but the general travel conditions of Lappeenranta public transport and the travel conditions applied in practice in Imatra have not yet been uniform.  Imatra's local transport will be transferred to the Waltti ticket and payment system from June 2.6.2025 so updating the travel conditions to be uniform was necessary says the public transport manager Terhi Koski − The general travel conditions for Lappeenranta public transport have been renamed the general travel conditions for Lappeenranta region public transport incorrect and missing information in them has been updated The most significant changes and updates to the travel conditions concern discount groups entitled to free travel which was previously subject to a fee in Imatra which was previously subject to a fee in Lappeenranta Passengers travelling with prams or strollers in the local transport area and passengers using a rollator/wheelchair are also entitled to free travel on public transport in the Lappeenranta region. In local children under 7 years of age accompanied by an adult and passengers presenting a military service order travel free of charge Other groups entitled to free travel and more detailed travel conditions are listed in the detailed travel conditions in the accompanying material. General travel conditions can also be found on the city's website at www.lappeenranta.fi/joukoThey are also available from the Lappeenranta customer service center Wink and the Imatra city customer service point Single-use and value-added products in the Lappeenranta region currently have a 60-minute exchange period School cards include two school trips per school day and already have a 90-minute exchange period When Imatra's local traffic switches to the Waltti ticket and payment system on June 2.6nd the transfer time for all ticket products and zone intervals will change from 60 minutes to 90 minutes “The implementation of a travel chain with longer transfer times will improve and facilitate regional travel especially when traveling across multiple zones,” says Koski terhi.koskilappeenranta.fi (terhi[dot]koski[at]lappeenranta[dot]fi) General travel conditions for public transport in the Lappeenranta region (pdf) More information and feedback on the Joukko website Jouko - Public transport in the Lappeenranta region HELSINKI FINLAND A student organisation from Oulu was barred from a national technology student competition in Lappeenranta after one of its members made a Nazi salute during the event The incident occurred in mid-March during the annual TiTeenien taistot event which brought together over 400 computer science students from across Finland performed the gesture while attempting to rally audience support during a quiz segment held at LUT University’s Lappeenranta campus but organisers allowed the quiz to proceed as planned A notice posted later on the event’s Telegram channel stated that Oulun Tietoteekkarit would be excluded from the final competition round due to misconduct Khabbal said the salute may have been an imitation of a controversial gesture made by Elon Musk earlier in the year but criticised the action and the organisers’ initial handling of the situation "Flirting with neo-Nazism is not acceptable," Khabbal said chair of Cluster ry—the student association from LUT University that organised the event—confirmed the group was disqualified due to the Nazi salute She said the student involved later apologised and the team offered a public apology to other participants Oulun Tietoteekkarit’s chair Salla Rissanen said the gesture was an ill-judged attempt at humour by a member of the guild and did not reflect the values of the organisation or the individual She said disciplinary actions were taken internally Khabbal said participants were not adequately informed about the consequences The controversy continued into the official afterparty said some attendees—including members of the organising association—used racial slurs and repeated the Nazi salute One of those involved was reportedly on Cluster ry’s board Aaltonen said such behaviour undermines safe space policies that student organisations are expected to uphold during events in student union venues The afterparty took place in facilities owned by the LUT University student union Timoskainen said Cluster ry had addressed the matter within its board and taken “necessary measures,” but added that individuals are ultimately responsible for their actions “Inappropriate conduct is never acceptable and we do not tolerate it at our events,” she wrote in a statement Advertisement inquiries and other after-sales issues: info@helsinkitimes.fi Helsinki Times is the first and only English language newspaper providing news about Finland in English A weekly print edition of Helsinki Times was published from March 2007 up until Feb Helsinki Times is an online-only publication and other groups and individuals interested in Finland from all around the world © Helsinki Times All rights reserved.  Terms of Use | Privacy Policy President of the Republic of Finland Alexander Stubb visited the town of Lappeenranta in South-Eastern Finland on Wednesday 29 January 2025 the President was given an insight into local educational opportunities and the manufacture of products for the defence and security industry The programme started at the campus of LUT University (Lappeenranta–Lahti University of Technology) President Stubb was introduced to the laboratories for steel structures and welding technology and met students at the J a laboratory for both building and testing prototypes an international community and a positive attitude to the future are the hallmarks of this entire university,” said the President Next on the programme was a public event during which the President was interviewed by Katja Immonen Chair of the Student Union of LUT University climate change and the role of education in society the President visited the Estradi Art Scool where he was presented with the school and its curriculum by students performing various forms of music The President emphasised to the students the importance of having dreams for the future: “No dream is wrong.” a provider of mobile shelter solutions for the defence and security industries “Finland’s expertise in the defence and security sector is increasingly in demand” The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices.. Lappeenranta is a “big small international university city with 72,400 smiling residents,” located in Karelia in Southeastern Finland After achieving a 21% reduction of GHG emissions in 2011 from a 1990 baseline the city is on track to reach its goal of a 30% emissions reduction by 2020 for government operations via its Climate Program and ten action plans Lappeenranta has integrated sustainable development in all its work and promotes green energy in a number of ways The city has: retrofitted its own buildings and launched an energy-saving campaign in the wider community; equipped several schools with environmental programs; built a waste management system with an 80% recycling rate; implemented clean air and water programs; and made its own operations more energy efficient through taking part in WWF´s Green Office Challenge The government of Lappeenranta has managed to implement sustainability goals in the wider community by taking ownership of public services Lappeenranta re-assumed responsibility for organizing the city's public transport after listening to feedback from users and jumpstarted the new organization by lowering prices announcing “the new prices will move you!” The use of public transport is now growing and the city is cooperating with the university in developing the CamBus a hybrid bus with higher energy efficiency that can reduce bus traffic emissions by 50% Through the government-owned utility Lappeenrannan Energia Oy the city has managed to make major investments in energy efficiency and renewables it built Finland’s largest and most modern bioenergy unit which ensures that 40% of the city’s electricity and more than 50% of its district heating are carbon free It has also developed a hybrid energy unit for the Lappeenranta Holiday Housing Fair in Rauha supplying the fair’s buildings with 80% of their energy demand using local sources Lappeenranta has Finland’s largest single solar power unit of 220 kW Another solar plant of similar size is planned jointly by the City of Lappeenranta and the utility which has also become one of the first energy companies in Finland to start bi-directional electricity sales – enabling owners of solar PVs to sell the surplus energy to the public grid more and more residents in recent years have started to install rooftop solar water heaters and solar panels Lappeenranta has also started to receive wind-produced electricity to its grid from TuuliMuukko one of Finland's first major inland wind parks with 21 megawatts of capacity from seven large wind turbines in a project whose development involved the university and several local companies LUT is Finland's largest research and education organization in the energy sector and is a major contributor to the city’s green development It is internationally renowned for its expertise in energy and environmental technology as well as for the unique Green Campus which won the international Sustainable Campus Excellence Award in 2013 the Green Campus features: a small wind turbine; a smart grid comprising energy storage batteries and electric vehicles; and several measures for saving energy and reducing waste such as car sharing Green Campus is a test bed not only for potential business ventures Green solutions are meant to spread into the city and turn it into a bigger “green campus.” The Green Marina harbor development is the best example of this joint ambition in the city It originated as a design competition held in 2012 for local university students organized by the city in cooperation with the university and other stakeholders The result is one of the world’s first green leisure-boat harbors with eco-friendly pilot projects to provide water and energy to the site alongside innovative services and leisure activities LUT has created more than 20 spin-off companies some of which have joined Lappeenranta’s growing clean-tech cluster of green companies – such as The Switch an international company producing applications for power generation and energy efficiency Many of these companies are actively engaged in the green development of the city Lappeenranta’s strategic goal for 2028 is to become a model city for eco action in which a clean living environment and a zero-waste world are sources of innovative business growth Working to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and nature WWF® and ©1986 Panda Symbol are owned by WWF You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience is dedicated to the theme "Accelerating the Green Transition." This conference is going to be a platform for industry experts and business leaders to gather and discuss the advancements and the role of EVs in reducing carbon emissions Tokmanni Group Corporation     29 August 2024 at 2:15 p.m Miny store closed its doors for the last time earlier this month The Click Shoes store opening is estimated to be celebrated at the end of October this year The Click Shoes shoe store chain will take over the store premises of approximately 225 square metres located on the first floor of the IsoKristiina shopping centre In accordance with the Click Shoes concept, the new store will sell footwear from many international brands, such as Skechers, Rieker, Musse&Cloud, Bugatti, Tamaris, and Jana. The store will also have a wide range of products from 2Moons as well as shoe care and maintenance products from Springyard The new store to be opened in the IsoKristiina shopping centre in Lappeenranta will be a welcome addition to Click Shoes’ store network which already consists of more than 30 shoe stores – We are very happy to be able to bring our footwear offering to South Karelia and Lappeenranta The IsoKristiina shopping centre has a prime location in the Lappeenranta city centre and the retail and service offerings are already versatile from the customer’s point of view many of the customers of the Tokmanni store located in the same shopping centre will also visit us at Click Shoes Ahola and her team will start furnishing the new Click Shoes store for the grand opening recruiting of three or four service-oriented employees who are interested in selling footwear The Miny store that had been serving its customers in the store premises of the upcoming Click Shoes store was closed earlier this month the closest Miny store to Lappeenranta is located in the Trio shopping centre in Lahti and the closest Miny shop-in-shop department is located in the Tokmanni store in Katajaharju in Kouvola we are investing heavily in our Miny shop-in-shop departments This shop-in-shop concept already serves our customers in more than 40 Tokmanni stores and has already shown its strength at this stage Public transport in the Lappeenranta region has started at the beginning of 2024 as the competent regional authority for road transport Public transport in the Lappeenranta region includes public transport within Lappeenranta and Imatra public transport between cities and school transport in Lappeenranta Lappeenranta and Imatra currently have different ticket products and prices There are also differences in payment methods Lappeenranta region's public transportation together with a consultant and in cooperation with the city of Imatra has made a report on Lappeenranta region's public transportation ticket products The work has analyzed the current travel numbers of Lappeenranta and Imatra and the generation of ticket revenues alternatives with new ticket products and zoning have been examined the public transport board of the Lappeenranta region approved the area's new ticket products The decision cancels all previous decisions of the cities of Lappeenranta and Imatra regarding public transport ticket products and prices Uniform ticket products and prices for public transport in the Lappeenranta region will be introduced in stages Imatra will use the ticket product selection familiar from Lappeenranta - The ticket prices on Imatra will rise slightly from the current prices but the low-time pricing makes traveling during the low-time even more affordable says the public transport manager of the Lappeenranta region Terhi Koski Ticket prices will rise by only two percent from the 2023 Lappeenranta ticket price level Quiet time when traveling with all value tickets is on weekends public holidays and also on weekdays after 17.30:9 p.m Seniors also have quiet time on weekdays from 14 a.m Travel zones will be reduced from four to three the C-zone of Upland merges with the B-zone Imatra local transport area D and other regional area B This clarifies travel and ticket products in the regional area the rest of the regional area will still consist of zones B and C until the system enables the unification of the zones into zone B The zone boundaries are visible In the Jouko route guide. from Lappeenranta to Imatra with a 3-zone ticket and with a 2-zone ticket from Lappeenranta to Joutseno or Ylämaa Contactless payment will be the new payment method and pricing Local payment means that you can buy a travel ticket by showing your bank card to a travel card reader you can buy a one-time ticket with a contactless payment the ceiling price of which is a day ticket 7-day or 30-day tickets with contactless payment the local payment feature will initially only be available on Imatra contactless payment products will be introduced at a separately announced time when introduction is possible for the system A ticket bought with local payment is always cheaper than a ticket bought from the driver Only one person's trip can be paid for by local payment The exchange time for single and value tickets and contactless payment products is 60 minutes the iLippu system will still be in use in Imatra and the Waltti system in Lappeenranta The possible unification of ticket and payment systems will be announced separately later Travel cards can still be loaded with value as well as 30-day seasonal products or The value added tax rate for the charging fee will change from 1.9.2024 percent to 24 percent on September 25,5 and the updated prices for travel cards will be EUR 5 from August 4,50 and the charging fee on buses will be EUR XNUMX Ticket products can still be downloaded at customer service points and in the online store without a service fee Imatra residents can buy seasonal products from the Imatra public transport area and Lappeenranta residents can buy seasonal products from the Lappeenranta public transport area Both municipalities can buy seasonal products between Lappeenranta and Imatra As far as the student's seasonal product is concerned The prices of seasonal products are uniform in the regional public transport area with the exception of children's seasonal products which are cheaper in Imatra than in Lappeenranta Imatra's children's seasonal product is gradually being unified towards a uniform price level so that the one-time increase does not become too large a one-zone day ticket for zones A and D and a two-zone day ticket for Lappeenranta area AB will be used Other day tickets will be introduced at a time to be announced separately The customer groups for the ticket products are adults The key changes for Imatra ticket products are the unification of ticket products according to Lappeenranta ticket products the introduction of quiet time pricing for value tickets the introduction of an age-based senior 65+ customer group a separate value ticket for students and the introduction of a loading fee for buses and a paid travel card 14-day and 5-day ticket products are no longer on sale The key changes for the people of Lappeenranta are the introduction of contactless payment as a payment method ticket pricing and the age-independent customer group seniors which will be introduced at a separately announced time in Lappeenranta The attached file is the new ticket products and prices of the Lappeenranta region's public transport area from August 8.8.2024 More information about the public transport services of the Lappeenranta region and the city of Imatra can be found at: From the website of the city of Lappeenranta. City of Lappeenranta, terhi.koskilappeenranta.fi (terhi[dot]koski[at]lappeenranta[dot]fi) Price list (pdf) Route guide - Group Open image viewerFile photo of a Ryanair aircraft at Lappeenranta airport in August 2024 Image: Mikko Savolainen / YleYle News7.11.2024 18:02Three airports in the eastern part of Finland will bring back the use of old-style radio navigation equipment to facilitate aircraft landings when incidents of GPS disruption are detected The radio-based Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) was developed in the 1960s and was widely used in the aviation industry until the advent of GPS technology News agency Reuters reported that Finnish authorities believe Russia is jamming GPS signals in the eastern Finland and Baltic Sea regions as Moscow seeks to protect oil ports and other critical infrastructure from Ukrainian air strikes or drones GPS interference has increased significantly along Finland's eastern border since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 according to Finland's Transport and Communications Agency Traficom Finland's Coast Guard said last week that it has detected constant disturbances to satellite navigation signals in the Baltic Sea leading to it having to take action to ensure stray vessels do not run aground Joensuu and Savonlinna airports have already started using the radio navigation equipment while Lappeenranta Airport plans to begin using it as soon as possible SRV GROUP PLC     INVESTOR NEWS    30 JANUARY 2023  15:00 EEST mostly wooden multipurpose building to be constructed in Lappeenranta – construction planning phase for the Sammontalo Building due to begin in spring 2023 SRV and the City of Lappeenranta have signed an agreement to implement a new multipurpose building in Sammonlahti The project will be carried out under a cooperative project management contract with SRV’s contract valued at approximately EUR 41.6 million The construction planning phase will begin in spring 2023 Now that the implementation phase agreement has been signed the project will be entered into SRV’s order backlog for January 2023 SRV will take a lifecycle-wise approach to the construction of Sammontalo The Sammontalo Building in the Sammonlahti district of Lappeenranta will feature premises for primary education (grades one to nine) The multipurpose building will be completed in 2025 The project began with a development phase in November 2021 The implementation phase was originally expected to begin in May/June 2022 but the economic climate and need for design changes prolonged the development phase “The development phase has proceeded in a strong spirit of cooperation and we have listened attentively to the wishes of the client and tenant we have identified the optimal solutions to realise a lifecycle-wise building SRV has robust expertise in wood construction which we are happy to bring to the Sammontalo project We are currently working on a demanding wooden building project in Kotka Our other wood construction projects include the Finnish-Russian School and Finland’s largest wooden office building completed in the Wood City block in Jätkäsaari “We are transitioning to the implementation phase in high spirits This is the first project under the project management contract model for the City of Lappeenranta The development phase was longer than originally planned providing the flexibility to alter the designs as the general price level rose in 2022 We are happy to say that we will be able to construct the building in line with the original project plan without compromising on quality,” says Pekka Talonpoika Property Development Manager at Lappeenrannan Toimitilat Oy Sammontalo will embody a lifecycle-wise mindset The building will be constructed mostly of wood and the project will take into account the carbon dioxide emissions throughout the lifecycle including emissions due to the energy solutions the building will achieve an energy efficiency class 20 per cent better than the minimum threshold for class A The building will be cooled using entirely renewable energy from an air/water heat pump Sammontalo also includes provisions for installing solar panels dimensioned for a solar power capacity peaking at 100 kilowatts The building will also provide hundreds of bicycle spaces to encourage users to reduce their travel emissions The consideration of biodiversity on the plot is a further significant aspect of the lifecycle-wise approach The plot will contain a stormwater detention site and various plants and trees will be planted in the surrounding meadow area efforts will be made to preserve the existing trees The plot already contains an arboretum and an area that must be preserved in its natural state The two-storey Sammontalo school building will contain premises for 126 children in daycare The project will also include a sports hall measuring around 1,600 square metres The total area of the building will be approximately 12,000 square metres (gross) SRV is a Finnish developer and innovator in the construction industry We are building a more sustainable and responsible urban environment that fosters economic value and takes the wellbeing of both the environment and people into consideration Our genuine engagement and enthusiasm for our work comes across in every encounter – and listening is one of our most important ways of working We believe that the only way to change the world is through discussion In addition to approximately 1,000 in-house staff we have a network of around 3,600 partners Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information 2024 at 7:07 AM ESTBookmarkSaveLock This article is for subscribers only.Finnish border guards arrested a group of men who illegally crossed the closed Russian frontier through the forest suggesting worsening tension on the NATO’s newest demarcation with its key adversary It’s a worrying sign for the government in Helsinki to see asylum seekers arrive through the wilderness as checkpoints have mostly been closed since mid-November The border spans 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) and its length makes it hard to monitor though it’s enclosed by thick forest on both sides a small rural community is making waves for something else: a heavy metal legacy when a national search in Finland to find the heaviest of all heavy metal places brought the town of Lemi — population 3,076 — into the international spotlight it presented the small town with a unique economic opportunity like kick people’s asses,” said Antti “Hyrde” Hyyrynen singer and guitarist of Finnish metal band Stam1na “But in our culture this starts to be like a boring thing.” Stam1na’s past five albums have gone number one in Finland and they’ve won three EMMA Awards Hyyrynen certainly looks the metalhead part with long blond hair arms and hands covered in tattoos and a T-shirt of British death metal band Carcass Hyyrynen and other musicians in Finland’s punk and metal scenes gathered to record an anthem for a local hockey team at Astia Studio in Lappeenranta It’s the  same studio that’s produced some of Finland’s most popular and best-selling metal albums It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why technical Hyyrynen shrugs off cliches about how Finland’s long saying compulsory music education in Finland schools is probably more of an influence He acknowledges Finn’s have a reputation for having a reserved demeanor we’re probably shouting and our language is like clack clack clack,” Hyyrynen said Just like metal. Today, the scene’s still going strong — contributing to a national music industry worth over $1 billion ever expected that our small town Lemi would be in any way connected with this,” Hyyrynen said With metal as both an export and a way to attract tourists Mäkynen and some friends had an idea “Let’s list all the bands that we have in Finland,” Mäkynen said “Then we can say that it’s really the capital of metal and the most bands in the world.” Eeka Mäkynen is CEO of Finnish Metal Events He says Finnish bands take their music seriously More than that — could they find the city in the country with the highest concentration of heavy metal bands Could it be a contest where cities were ranked on how metal they are make merchandise and promote their national quest to find the city with most metal bands per capita emerged as that place because it had 13 metal bands where is Lemi – no one really knew about it,” Pappi said “So I sent an email to the mayor of Lemi like ‘Hi I’m not sure if you’re aware of this campaign that’s been going on but it looks like you may be winning.’ And as it turns out the mayor This June the rural community in east Finland was officially declared the Capital of Metal colorful houses dot the town and people sell vegetables in the town square “[It’s] peaceful and people are very nice here,” said Jussi Stoor Lemi Mayor Jussi Stoor proudly wears a T-shirt that says “Capital of Metal Lemi” on it The town erected a plaque saying the same thing in its town square Stoor proudly points out a new addition to the town In the middle of the town square stands a shiny stainless steel plaque It says “Capital of Metal — Lemi” in sharp It looks similar to the logo for heavy metal giants Metallica they have to have some place to take selfies,” Stoor explained Lemi’s happy to attract any tourism dollars usually spent in big cities so they’re taking their new title and hoping to capitalize on it The first test of that? They’re throwing a 10-band metal fest: Capital of Metal LIVE Sign up for the Marketplace newsletter to get the day’s biggest business stories straight to your inbox every weekday evening Finnish startup Nordic Bioproducts Group has opened its state-of-the-art production facility in Lappeenranta powered by the company’s proprietary AaltoCellTMTechnology is dedicated to the commercial-scale production of advanced cellulosic materials including its flagship Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) The factory is expected to create 40 million euros in revenue in the first full operating year a leader in biomaterial innovation and developer of proprietary AaltoCellTM Technology announces the opening of its commercial-scale production facility for microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and other cellulose derivatives in Lappeenranta This first-of-its-kind facility represents a significant leap in manufacturing enabling continuous and sustainable production at scale Featuring the world’s first continuous production line of up to 10,000 tons of MCC annually the facility was designed to ensure quality and purity in MCC production It also prioritizes environmental sustainability by producing zero solid waste and using only a fraction of the chemicals and electricity compared to traditional MCC production processes based on the findings of an independent third-party study the process achieves a significant 72% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional methods Microcrystalline cellulose and other cellulose derivatives are valuable ingredients utilized across diverse industries enriching product properties and performance the use of cellulosic materials fosters environmental sustainability by replacing non-sustainable and potentially harmful substances in a range of applications such as bioplastics “The world was changed when crude oil was discovered and now it is time to revolutionize the world with cellulose-based materials Our goal is to bring ground-breaking solutions to the market that don’t cause negative environmental impact This factory is a big investment in the green transition and we would like to invite all companies to join us in thinking about how can we ensure that the planet survives for the next generation but our mass production facility for cellulosic products CEO and co-founder of Nordic Bioproducts Group Lappeenranta was chosen as the location due to its closeness to six existing pulp manufacturing plants The factory has been built to meet modern standards being people-centric and enforcing employee satisfaction The first production phase started in March 2024 the factory is gearing up to its full production capacity of up to 10,000 tons of MCC produced annually aiming to triple the revenue in the following three years The new factory employs 20 people and intends to double that number in the near future Nordic Bioproducts Group already has ongoing partnerships globally including collaborations with Asian corporations Marubeni and Thailand’s PTT MCC With the full production capacity now operational the company is poised to welcome clients from various industries and countries “Our innovative product meets the future needs of the market and the most strict ExciPact certificate requirements Already today we have ongoing cooperation with leading pharmaceutical and nutraceutical companies and distributors We welcome all to test and try our MCC and other derived cellulose products to see the full potential,”concludes Kähkönen Nordic Bioproducts Group was founded in 2019 by Professor Olli Dahl and then Senior Commercial Officer Olli Kähkönen in cooperation with the Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering Please note: World Bio Market Insights is owned and operated by World Bio Markets Ltd Finland’s parliament has begun discussing report outlining implications and risks of Nato membership few places can feel as peaceful as Lappeenranta a small Finnish border city set on one of Europe’s biggest lakes Yet the scenic views are deceiving – for the city’s 70,000 inhabitants “I have always felt very safe growing up here but since the war that has somewhat changed,” said Noora Ikonen The war she refers to is being fought nearly 1,000 miles away in Ukraine. But Finland shares an 830-mile land border with Russia and Lappeenranta is only 19 miles from the frontier – closer to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s home city of St Petersburg than to the Finnish capital “Naturally, locals here are concerned and worried. We were all shocked when Russia invaded Ukraine We were used to working and living alongside Russians,” the city’s longtime mayor said on Wednesday from his office overlooking the frozen bay on the Saimaa lake Lappeenranta epitomised Finland’s pragmatic relationship with Russia which centred around developing business relations with Moscow while successive Finnish leaders maintained dialogue with Putin Jarva estimated that 1.5 million Russians visited the city every year pre-pandemic, bringing in millions of euros in revenue, with some shops specifically catering to them. Lappeenranta also established its own office in St Petersburg and marketed itself to tourists in the west as a “gateway” to Russia “We were always open to working with Russians But everything changed after the war,” Jarva said Very few cars now embark on the highway leading to the Finnish-Russian border as the two countries have practically banned all private and commercial traffic from entering each other’s territories After the Soviet Union’s fall which centred around developing business relations Photograph: Zoonar GmbH/Alamy“This city has now chosen a different path That path might soon lead to Finland, and neighbouring Sweden, joining the Nato military alliance in what would be a historic policy shift for the two northern European states especially as Ukraine’s possible future membership of Nato was used as a key reason by Moscow for the invasion On Wednesday, Finland’s parliament started discussing a government report outlining the implications and risks of Nato membership, marking the symbolic beginning of the official debate on a potential application to join the defensive block. Officials have already indicated that they do not expect a lengthy debate, with the Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, saying last week that her country would decide whether to apply “quite fast, in weeks not months”. Ikonen, the barista, said that she fully backed joining Nato, and her sentiment is echoed by others on the city’s streets. Just five years ago, Ikonen’s support would have placed her among the minority in Finland, with polls showing that only 21% of the population backed joining the alliance, a figure that did not fluctuate much for decades. However, the invasion of Ukraine has led to a tectonic shift in public opinion towards the bloc that could result in Nato forces being stationed on Russia’s extensive north-western border. “Finland decided it wanted to join Nato on 24 February at 5am when Russian forces went into Ukraine,” former Finnish prime minister Alexander Stubb said. Read moreIn polls taken after the invasion roughly 60% of Finns said they would favour applying to join Nato a figure Stubb expects to only grow in the coming weeks “If Russia is ready to slaughter their Slavic brothers in Ukraine why would it not do the same thing with Finland Now it is time to join Nato,’” Stubb added Stubb argued it was only natural that Finns had changed their stance in response to Russia’s actions They adjust their opinion as the circumstances change Now people have realised Russia is an unpredictable and isolated aggressor.” The speed with which views have changed has surprised even those watching Finnish politics closely “No one I know can think of anything remotely similar in Finnish history where public opinion has changed so quickly so radically,” said Charly Salonius-Pasternak a security expert at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs “We thought it would be the political elites that would push for Nato The Finns themselves have chosen this path,” he said Experts argue that Finland’s current sentiments are rooted in its own war with Moscow which has echoes of the invasion of Ukraine the gruelling Winter War resulted in Finland conceding a large part of its territory to the Soviet Union only a 30-minute train ride from Lappeenranta We are seeing a lot of comparison between Ukraine and the Winter War in the media in public debates,” said Arkady Moshes of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs many Finns “instinctively turn to stories” of the Winter War when they see Ukraine fighting a bigger “Finns aren’t very open about their emotions but what is happening in Ukraine has brought up sentiments that seemed to have been kept inside for decades,” Moshes said A recent poll showed that 84% of Finns now believe that Russia poses a significant military threat but my parents and grandparents were forced to flee to the west of the country during the war with the Soviets,” said Heli Pukki ‘This is the first time in my life that I started thinking about my safety’ Photograph: Pjotr Sauer/The Guardian“But we were brought up with their experiences Pukki said she did not feel any hate toward Russians and would always “happily welcome” them in her shop but the war in Ukraine changed something overnight “This is the first time in my life that I started thinking about my safety We always knew that we had this big country on our border but now it feels like something is really boiling there the country not moving in the right direction No one knows what will happen next,” she said Russia has warned Finland and Sweden against joining Nato former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev issued the country’s strongest threat yet warning that Russia would have to strengthen its land naval and air forces in the Baltic Sea if Finland and Sweden join Nato Medvedev also raised the nuclear threat by warning that there could be no more talk of a “nuclear-free” Baltic – where Russia has its Kaliningrad exclave between Poland and Lithuania But while locals expressed some concern about possible Russian reactions to the country’s plans to join Nato Finnish experts and officials have urged calm saying their country is prepared for any aggression “The nuclear threat is nothing new,” said Stubb, pointing to reports that Russia is already keeping nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad “We expect more Russian cyber-attacks and airspace violations But we have been preparing for this for a long time,” he said Stubb and other analysts dismissed the possibility that Russia would be able to threaten Finland militarily in the near future and they would be facing one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world We know what we are doing,” the former prime minister said Finland has maintained strong defence spending over the last 30 years while the rest of Europe has largely made cuts The Nordic state is also one of the few European countries to have retained military conscription and almost a third of its adult population are reservists similarly said he did not expect any military threats coming out of Moscow adding the border has “never been quieter” he said his city had thoroughly checked all its bomb shelters shortly after the start of Russia’s invasion The war just makes us a bit more motivated to do so.” Metso Outotec is opening a new laser welding unit customized for demanding production conditions at its filtration technology center in Lappeenranta The new laser welding unit will add to the center’s manufacturing capacity and enable the production of higher-quality welded structures in a safer The value of the investment is approximately one million euros “Investing in an efficient laser welding unit is one example of our desire to focus on being an industry leader also in filtration technology we produce several types of filters used in demanding industrial applications We have systematically developed our capabilities in Lappeenranta over the years the technology center for solid-liquid separation serves customers around the world,” says Markku Teräsvasara President of Metso Outotec’s Minerals business we provide filtration technology to customers worldwide from Turku and Suzhou in China All of them require reliable filtration to ensure high quality of their end products,” says Jussi Venäläinen Vice President of Metso Outotec’s Filtration Business Line Metso Outotec’s filtration technology center in Lappeenranta plays an important role in the development of industry innovations the center operates an internationally unique Dewatering Technology Center (DTC) which is focused on solid-liquid separation It also has continuous cooperation with the Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) among others and their high level of automation enables continuous optimization and remote support We also provide comprehensive filter maintenance including lifecycle services,” says Jussi Venäläinen Metso Outotec has carried out more than 14,000 filtration tests and delivered more than 5,000 filters for various applications worldwide Most of the filters are sold under the Larox® product name along with Metso Outotec corporate branding industrial filter production began in 1977 in Lappeenranta under Larox Oy after the Metso Minerals and Outotec merger the filtration technology center became a part of Metso Outotec The Lappeenranta site employs approximately 200 people Metso Outotec is a global frontrunner in sustainable technologies and end-to-end solutions and services for aggregates processing By improving our customers’ energy and water efficiency and reducing environmental risks with our product and process expertise Metso Outotec is committed to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees centigrade through climate targets certified by Science Based Targets we ranked eighth in the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable companies Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, The company has more than 15,000 employees in over 50 countries and had net sales of approximately EUR 3.9 billion in 2020. The company’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. mogroup.com, twitter.com/metsooutotec 27 Oct celebrated the first flight on its new twice weekly Lappeenranta service to Budapest Ryanair’s Lappeenranta winter 2019 schedule offers 3 routes in total to Berlin Summer destinations to Athens and Thessaloniki will also be operated from April 2020 This new Budapest route will continue past March as part of Ryanair’s Summer 2020 schedule so Lappeenranta customers and visitors can book their flights to Budapest as far out as October 2020 Ryanair’s Lappeenranta schedule will deliver: To celebrate the start of its Lappeenranta winter schedule Ryanair has released seats on sale from just €16.99 for travel between now and the end of January which are only available for booking on the Ryanair.com website until midnight Friday (1 Nov) “We’re delighted to launch our Lappeenranta Winter 2019 schedule with the start of our new route to Budapest This winter Ryanair will operate 3 routes to/from Lappeenranta to Berlin and two additional routes to Athens and Thessaloniki from April 2020  To celebrate, we are releasing seats for sale from just €16.99 for travel from now until the end of January 2020, which are available for booking until midnight, Friday 1st Nov. Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.” “This new route and starting yearround operation will take our excellent co-operation with Ryanair to yet another level Ryanair’s unbeatable low fares offer tempting opportunity to try somewhere new and explore beautiful Finnish Lakeland Nearest lake is only 2 kms from Lappeenranta Airport so starting your holiday without crowds could not be any easier Lappeenranta Airport offers an easy gateway to Finland and to exciting metropolis of St Petersburg are only 2 hours away from Lappeenranta Airport,” today (1st August) celebrated the first flight from Prague to Paphos while on Monday (3rd August) it will launch a twice weekly service to Kosice both as part of its extended Summer 2020 schedule Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares from 729 Kc for travel to Kosice and from 759 Kc to Paphos which must be booked by Wednesday (5th August) UPM's Biofore Base research centres in Lappeenranta China accelerate the development of new bio-based products and their launch to markets A third research centre is under construction in Leuna Germany in connection with the upcoming biochemicals refinery The centres unite UPM’s various technologies and globally accumulated experience and expertise in the new and existing businesses the Biofore Base research centres also focus on piloting and analytics They enable seamless collaboration with customers value chain partners and research organisations such as universities The research centres work closely with UPM businesses mills and the company's other research centres in various countries The Lappeenranta Biofore Base focuses especially on the growth businesses: biochemicals Lappeenranta research centre is UPM’s largest the work of the research centre focused on product development of the sulphite pulp mill and research into various paper technical properties Research on environmental protection has been carried out from the beginning and new ways to minimise environmental impacts are still being explored when a Biorefinery Development Centre was established next to the existing research centre to support the development and piloting of new research areas the research centre has expanded significantly the most recent expansion being the large pilot hall completed in 2019 the centre plays a significant role in UPM’s transformation as a frontrunner in bioeconomy The renewed Asian Biofore Base in Changshu Most recent additions have been additional piloting capabilities for speciality paper and biocomposite products the research centre complements the global network of UPM’s research centres The newest member in the network is the Leuna Biofore Base The research centre will be part of the upcoming biochemicals refinery and specialises in developing new biomolecular products ”Our strategic research accelerates the commercialisation of bio-based solutions into viable industrialprocesses Biofore Base is a platform that supports our various businesses with strong piloting and product development globally as well as develops renewable and recyclable products and materials,” notes Heikki Ilvespää “The Lappeenranta research centre has played an important role in the development of many products already for 60 years renewable diesel made from crude tall oil and packaging materials based on renewable raw materials to replace fossil-based plastic our biomedical products GrowDex and FibDex are manufactured and further developed in Lappeenranta,” he says For further information please contact:Heikki Ilvespää UPM, Media Relations Mon-Fri 9:00-16:00 EETtel. +358 40 588 3284 media@upm.com We use cookies on this website to ensure the best user experience and target personalised content and relevant advertising Some cookies are necessary to provide you with a trustworthy service and cannot be declined For more information, please see our Privacy Policy We and our business partners use cookies to collect information about you for various purposes: You may withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the Cookie settings in the footer of each page This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Services apply today (21 Nov) launched 1 new Lappeenranta route to Milan Bergamo which will run with once weekly as part of the summer 2018 schedule Lappeenranta consumers and visitors can enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including: The new Lappeenranta-Milan Bergamo route will go on sale on the Ryanair.com website from tomorrow (22 Nov) and to celebrate Ryanair has released seats from Lappeenranta from just €24.99 which are only available for booking on the Ryanair.com website until midnight Tuesday (28 Nov) “We are pleased to launch our new route from Lappeenranta to Milan Bergamo which will start in March 2018 with a once-weekly service To celebrate, we are releasing seats for sale from just €24.99 for travel from March to May, which are available for booking until midnight Tuesday (28 Nov). Since these amazing low prices will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com now and avoid missing out.” Lappeenranta Airport’s CEO Eija Joro said: “We are very happy that Ryanair have added another new route from Lappeenranta to Bergamo – in addition to its Lappeenranta-Athens service This new route to Bergamo offers great possibilities for Finnish and Russian customers to fly directly from the border town Lappeenranta to this beautiful Italian area and beyond to multiple destinations served by Ryanair with tempting low fares ​This route enables direct connection for travellers arriving from Europe to enjoy the best of the Finnish Lakeland with lots of natural beauty to offer Lappeenranta Airport is also an easy gateway for travellers wishing to explore the exciting metropolis of St which will use hard-to-abate CO2 emissions from the factory’s limestone raw material will produce about 25,000 t/y synthetic methanol The methanol will be distributed directly through St1’s own network for use in maritime transport St1 said it has studied the production of synthetic methanol with the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) for years and it has been shown as a potential and feasible concept LUT will continue to be heavily involved in developing the project “The Nordic market for synthetic fuels will grow considerably in the coming years,” said St1’s head of energy transition Riitta Silvennoinen “The timetable of our pilot project would allow Finland access to the first wave of industrial applications and the establishment of the synthetic methanol market and solution scaling The project will also provide the involved parties with important expertise which will also be used in advancing other Power-to-X projects.” The project has been granted funding of €35.4 million from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment conditional on receiving approval from the European Commission In August 2021, St1 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Norwegian clean energy company Horisont Energi for the joint development of a green ammonia project in Finnmark, northern Norway. The aim is to produce green ammonia for a wide variety of renewable energy products for transport and industry. The partners will conduct pre-studies for producing green ammonia based upon electrolysis using wind power and hydrogen from various green feedstocks, as well as exploring other new and alternative technologies. Horisont Energi is already engaged in the Barents Blue project in Finnmark, Europe’s first large-scale blue ammonia production. Using natural gas from the Barents Sea, Barents Blue will have a daily capacity of 3,000 t once it becomes operational in 2025. Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist ProteiNext is an annual symposium that offers a platform for sharing insights on protein analysis CHEManager Innovation Pitch supports innovation in the chemistry and life sciences start-up scene. The platform allows founders, young entrepreneurs, and start-ups to present their companies to the industry. Do you have a positive or negative outlook for the biofuels industry in 2025 View Results We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. Learn more. You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience A new study by Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology and Wärtsilä explores the feasibility of a net-zero power system in India by 2050 It shows that an all-renewables system paired with flexible generation tech could improve the affordability of electricity while ensuring the reliability of system operations From pv magazine India India could cut its overall cost of electricity in half and reach net zero before 2050 by developing a 100% renewable energy power system according to a power system modeling study by Wärtsilä and the Finnish Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology The modeling shows that increasing the share of renewable energy in the overall installed power capacity from 25% today to 100% by 2050 could cut the cost of meeting electricity demand by 48% from INR 6,000 ($81)/MWh in 2020 to INR 3,120/MWh in 2050 includes the levelized cost of electricity generation and the costs of curtailing surplus renewable generation when paired with flexible generation technologies (thermal balancing power plants and energy storage) can improve the affordability of electricity while ensuring the reliability of system operations Power demand in India is expected to increase to 5,921 TWh (with 1,023 GW of peak demand) The modeling confirms that India can affordably meet this increased load through renewable energy the study states the total system capacity must be scaled up to an unprecedented degree to serve this increased load through mid-day peaks and to charge energy storage resources such as batteries to offset intermittent renewable energy generation It projects that 4,000 GW of installed capacity is needed for a 100% renewable system a 10-fold increase in the overall power capacity in 2020 Solar would make up 76% (3,076 GW) of this total installed capacity by 2050 This would also be supported by a total wind capacity of around 410 GW by 2050 combined with hydro and carbon-neutral gas rising to 79 GW a year between 2035 and 2050 Wärtsilä’s modeling shows that flexibility through energy storage is key to achieving the cost-optimal renewable baseload system – to shift generation when it is surplus to times when renewables are not available must also be deployed to manage sudden surges in demand or drops in renewable generation The modeling shows that India would need about 99 TWh of storage capacity and a total of 187 GW of fast-start load-following gas engines by 2050 to provide rapid grid balancing Storage capacity includes storage in the form of both batteries and gas storage mainly in the form of sustainable fuels (green hydrogen these technologies could form the backbone of a reliable “Increasing renewable energy could also generate major new revenues from hydrogen production creating a technology market worth $39.8 billion,” said Wärtsilä and the Finnish Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology More articles from Uma Gupta Something that may happen in 2050 is 100% dependent that things that MUST happen by 2030 happen Silly to talk about 2050 – focus on the short term or there will NOT be a long term showing how #SolarBoom will actually make $$ as we #EndFossil This is even clearer right Now as fossil fuels are literally 50%+ higher cost than just 1 year ago — #Fossil is a highly Cost Unstable Energy Source that we Cannot Afford to Continue Using without repeated disruptions to our collective GDP’s But the pace of Solar PV required for this energy system transition is challenging That is why we believe Extremely Fast Automated Assembly and Installation of Solar is necessary Once we get past the current jobs challenge due to COVID then we will again see the value of bringing Automation and Robotics to Utility-Scale Solar Installation Please be mindful of our community standards and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. View our privacy policy. × The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this Close and SOC security to respond quicker and stop breaches early AI agents boost business—but create risks and strategies from industry leaders – all for free Fazer responds to the wishes of the city's residents by opening a shop in a historic building located in Lappeenranta harbour in early summer The core of its selection will be locally made products with other Fazer products included to complement the offering Fazer celebrates the anniversary of confectionery production in Lappeenranta and the 375-year history of the city of Lappeenranta Fazer will open a shop in the old pair of buildings in the fortress located in the Lappeenranta harbour at Satamatie 15-17 The shop has been designed in close cooperation with the City of Lappeenranta and its operation will be tested in a pilot project which will in the first phase run until the beginning of 2025 "Lappeenranta has been one of our hometowns for over 30 years and residents have been hoping for a Fazer shop here for years Now is the time to respond to these wishes and to test the appeal of the store and the interest towards it," says Tom Lindblad In addition to confectionery and chocolate products the offering will include other Fazer products the heart of the shop will be the sweets made locally in Lappeenranta and their stories "We were really excited when the city suggested the historic building on Satamatie it is easy to see that the entity will certainly become attractive to both residents and tourists Locality will be visible in the shop in different ways and together with other operators in the area we will be able to create experiences for visitors," Lindblad continues The building itself is beautiful as candy and part of Lappeenranta's history The protected two-part building was completed in 1915 as a laundry room and sauna for the Lappeenranta fortress During the Winter War and the Continuation War the building housed the Finnish Army Engineering Workshop The ownership of the building was later transferred from the Finnish Defence Forces to the City of Lappeenranta Fazer has agreed to lease the building until the beginning of 2025 both on his own behalf and on that of the residents “Fazer is an important partner to the city as it produces both confectionery and bakery products here This much-desired shop will be an excellent addition to the appeal of the area around the harbour and the fortress” “I’m confident that the shop will become a new attraction for the city and that it will positively contribute to the vitality and atmosphere of Eastern Finland.” This year marks 90 years since industrial confectionery production began in Lappeenranta at what was then the Chymos factory Fazer's era began in 1993 when Fazer acquired Chymos have been well taken care of in Lappeenranta also produces sweets for export around the world The factory focuses on the production and packaging of fruit sweets The factory's largest products in terms of production volumes are Re-mix and Tutti Frutti Fazer has had a bakery in Lappeenranta since 2003 The bakery employs 90 people and bakes rice pies and frozen products https://www.fazergroup.com/fi/tietoa-fazerista/fazer-shop--tehtaanmyymalat/ enables people to enjoy the best moments of their day builds on our strong more than 130-year heritage consumer first approach and innovations to create the sustainable food solutions of the future With our dedicated team of approximately 5,000 professionals we focus on fast-moving consumer goods and our direct-to-consumer business in Northern Europe and beyond with exports to more than 40 countries Fazer’s operations comply with its Code of Conduct that is based on the Group’s values and the UN Global Compact Fazer Group had net sales of 1.200 million euros.  "Pekka Tiitinen has a lot of expertise in modern electrical drives and industrial automation He has many patents and scientific publications in his name in the area of frequency converters Tiitinen has had a crucial role in launching and developing the Carelian Drives and Motor Center research unit at the Lappeenranta University of Technology This collaboration has led to a significant number of Masters and Doctors of Science in Technology graduating from the University Tiitinen also has extensive experience in international management at ABB Group" Lappeenranta University of Technology principal Juha-Matti Saksa states as the reasons for awarding the honorary title Tiitinen started working at ABB directly after graduating from the University of Technology in 1990 he had research and management roles in the product development of frequency converters and specialized in motor control He was one of the main developers of Direct Torque Control (DTC) that revolutionized motor control The cooperation with the Lappeenranta University of Technology began in 1994 with further development in the DTC method for different synchronous motors This cooperation led to founding the Carelian Drives and Motor Center Tiitinen also participated in founding the Institute of Intelligent Power Electronics unit at the Helsinki University of Technology Tiitinen was in charge of ABB's global frequency converter business and was responsible for generating significant growth He was later appointed to ABB Group's Executive Committee as head of the Discrete Automation and Motion division He began his role as ABB Finland's Managing Director in October 2016 ABB is closely involved in student collaboration with the Lappeenranta University of Technology In the University's ABB classroom of experimental physics elementary and high school students have the opportunity to test physical phenomena related to electrical energy electromagnetics and electronics through practical exercises. Each year around 800 students and their teachers visit the ABB classroom.  The sixth doctoral promotion at the Lappeenranta University of Technology will take place on the 26th of June 2017 Honorary Doctor is a title that the university awards to particularly distinguished persons It is the highest form of recognition a University can award ABB's website uses cookies. By staying here you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn more I agree Danfoss Editron has broken its monthly manufacturing record at its production facility in Lappeenranta The company increased the amount of power electronic products and permanent magnet motors it produced in June by 13% and 8% respectively compared to the previous record set in February this year Danfoss Editron’s production rate has grown substantially over the last year the company’s production of motors is up 96% with the manufacturing of all power electronic products Commenting on the new manufacturing record the Director of Operations at Danfoss Editron’s Lappeenranta factory Timo Koljonen said: “It’s testament to our exceptional team that we’ve not only been able to continue manufacturing despite the COVID-19 pandemic but actually increased our production capabilities to new levels By quickly implementing strict social distancing and safety measures we were able to keep our Lappeenranta plant operating daily and have not needed to close it at any time This new record-breaking month further demonstrates that Danfoss Editron unveiled a new in-house testing laboratory at its Lappeenranta manufacturing site The facility is being used to conduct electromagnetic compatibility and environmental tests guaranteeing the quality of the company’s EDITRON systems to its customers Graduated in political sciences and international relations in Paris Editor for IEN Europe and the new digital magazine AI IEN As per our privacy policy your professional data will be passed along to Danfoss Editron Oy who might get in touch with you to follow up on your download DC/DC Converter Module with Parallel Option Accurate Volume Measurement in Real Time Type 3R filter fans Electronics & Electricity Vision & Identification Automation Danfoss Editron Oy Suppliers database Datasheets White Papers       Close     Register now FOR FREE and get complete access to full functionalities   Already have an account?   Register now   Danfoss Editron provides another example of how the company is transforming the construction market by enabling the electrification of heavy-duty machinery   Digital Edition  Download PDF IEN Europe is a key online source of industry & product news. Find application stories, technical articles, a listing of events & much more! Thank you for your enquiry, it has been redirected to the supplier. Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (04 Jan) announced a new route from Lappeenranta to Berlin Schönefeld, with twice-weekly service commencing in April, as part of Ryanair’s Summer 19 schedule. Finnish consumers and visitors can now enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including: Ryanair’s Sales & Marketing Executive Chris Lundshøj said: “Ryanair is pleased announce a new Lappeenranta route to Berlin Schönefeld, operating twice-weekly, as part of our Lappeenranta summer 2019 schedule, with four routes in total to/from Athens and Thessaloniki (both weekly services) and Milan Bergamo (twice-weekly) in addition to our newest route to Berlin Schönefeld, commencing in April. To celebrate we are offering seats for sale on this new route from just €19.99, for travel in April 2019. This offer is available for booking until midnight Friday (7 Jan). Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.” Lappeenranta’s Airport’s CEO, Eija Joro said: “This new route further enhances and represents our joint growth and relationship with Ryanair. Lappeenranta –Berlin route has been our number one priority and we are extremely excited to get this route started. This new route not only offers Ryanair’s unbeatable low fares, but German consumers and visitors will now have the opportunity to experience Lappeenranta Airport’s unique position, with Lake Saimaa only two kilometres away and the exciting city of St. Petersburg only 2 hours away. As always, we will continue to focus our efforts towards the development of both connecting traffic and services at the Lappeenranta airport to support further growth.” Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (1st August) celebrated the first flight from Prague to Paphos, while on Monday (3rd August) it will launch a twice weekly service to Kosice, both as part of its extended Summer 2020 schedule. To celebrate its new routes, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares from 729 Kc for travel to Kosice and from 759 Kc to Paphos, both until the end of October, which must be booked by Wednesday (5th August), only on the Ryanair.com website. Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today (11 Oct) launched a new Lappeenranta route to Athens as part of its summer 2018 schedule, with one weekly services, which will go on sale on the Ryanair.com website today. Finnish and Russian customers and visitors can look forward to even lower fares and enjoy the latest “Always Getting Better” customer improvements, including: “Ryanair is pleased to return to Lappeenranta with a new route to/from Athens. This new one weekly service will go on sale on the Ryanair.com website today. To celebrate, we are releasing seats on sale from Lappeenranta from just €29.99 for travel from 16th of May to 14th of June 2018, subject to availability, which are available for booking until midnight Friday 13th October 2017. Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.” ”We are very happy to welcome Ryanair, Europe’s No 1 airline, back to Lappeenranta in the heart of Finnish Lakeland with lots of natural beauty to offer. This new route to Athens offers great possibilities for Finnish and Russian customers to fly directly from the border town Lappeenranta to the sunny capital of Greece and beyond to multiple destinations in Greek archipelago served by Ryanair with tempting low fares. ​This route also enables an easy gateway for travellers to the exciting metropolis of St. Petersburg, which is only two hours from Lappeenranta Airport.” A protest held in the eastern Finnish city of Lappeenranta on Sunday afternoon called on the government to reopen some of the border crossing points closed last week An Yle journalist at the scene estimated that there were between 200 and 300 people gathered outside the city's town hall to protest the border closure one of the organisers of the demonstration told Yle that the demonstrators want Finnish authorities to open at least one border crossing point in the southeast of the country "We are united by a common sorrow and a common problem," Marova said "We are unable to see our loved ones who live in Russia Our main demand to the government is that at least one of the border crossing points in southeast Finland be opened in some way so that those who have a necessary need to get to the other side of the border can get there." The Finnish government closed the Vaalimaa Imatra and Niirala border crossing points last week in response to Russian officials' decision to allow undocumented asylum seekers to cross in growing numbers It is very cruel to make such a decision before Christmas Almost everyone had plans to spend Christmas with loved ones This feels like an attack," Marova said She further noted that while some border crossing points do remain open further north the journey is difficult or virtually impossible for some Open image viewerThe four border checkpoints in the southeast of Finland closed at midnight last Friday night Image: Laura Merikalla / Yle and Nanna Särkkä / YleProtesters worried about family friendsMany of the demonstrators involved in the protest on Sunday afternoon told Yle that they were concerned about their children friends and other relatives living on the Russian side of the border Several of those interviewed by Yle said they have sick relatives in Russia Lappeenranta residents Kari Karjalainen and Ljudmila Karjalainen said they would have preferred to see restrictions instead of a full closure of the border checkpoints "It would probably have been possible to restrict traffic and stop illegal border crossers Maybe our government just does what it does and doesn't think too much," Kari Karjalainen said Open image viewerKari Karjalainen and Lyudmila Karjalainen are married and live in Lappeenranta Lyudmila's children and 80-year-old father live across the border in St Petersburg Image: Jani Aarnio / YleSofia Andreeiva told Yle she was born in St Petersburg but has lived in Finland for five years siblings and other relatives live in Russia I can't get to my grandmother who is ill and old I wish the borders were open and I could go to my family," she said Trucks and trains transport logs and pulpwood to the integrated UPM Kaukas mill in Lappeenranta Wood also arrives by ship and by means of log driving along the Saimaa water system The production facility comprises a pulp mill all of which together consume a considerable amount of wood-based raw materials All raw materials are utilised efficiently with an eye to minimising waste The integrated mill is an industry forerunner in the efficient use of resources and harnessing side streams we are the most versatile integrated mill site in the bioforest industry This is what UPM’s Biofore strategy means in practice.” Industrial symbiosis is currently a hot topic on the circular economy agenda This is when adjacent production plants use all the raw materials entering the area as comprehensively as possible “UPM Kaukas has followed this principle for over 120 years,” says Production Director Jaakko Nousiainen from UPM’s biorefinery Industrial production at the current mill site began in 1892 when Kaukaan Tehdas Osakeyhtiö transferred its spool factory from Mäntsälä to Lappeenranta but when a pulp mill was built in the same area in 1897 a sawmill and a paper mill were added to the Kaukas mill site This formerly also comprised a plywood mill but plywood production has since been transferred to other UPM production plants in Finland The latest addition to the integrated mill site is the biorefinery which began producing biofuels from tall oil Its main product is the renewable traffic fuel UPM BioVerno Production at UPM Kaukas is carefully planned to make efficient use of all side streams and residues the pine and spruce logs delivered to the Kaukas mill site are turned into sawn timber at the sawmill and the chips and the sawdust from the sawmill are used in pulp production at the adjacent pulp mill is used for making renewable diesel and naphtha All side streams at the biorefinery are also fully utilised There are major synergy gains in having multiple production plants operating on the same mill site Managing the raw material chain is clear and straightforward be pumped directly to the paper mill while it is still wet which provides savings in drying and logistics costs A major source of synergy is the mill site’s own self-sufficient energy generation which makes use of side streams from the production plants Thanks to the mill site’s synergistic energy production biofuels accounted for 88% of the energy consumed at UPM Kaukas in 2016 There was even enough renewable energy for generating district heating and electricity for the City of Lappeenranta Good results have also been achieved in other areas of environmental performance in recent years Based on chemical oxygen demand measurements emissions to water were reduced by 37% between 2000 and 2016 The emissions were lowered mostly due to the biological effluent treatment plant built in the early 1990s and streamlining the production processes The Kaukas mill site’s airborne sulphur dioxide emissions were reduced by 49% between 2000 and 2016 “The main reason for this reduction is the biomass power plant completed in 2009 which replaced two older bark boiler plants,” Solismaa adds UPM Kaukas is also home to UPM’s largest research and development centre in recent years the centre has increasingly focused on new businesses “The research and development centre is essential to the success of the integrated mill site It provides the mills with top-class expertise and support for challenges that arise in production,” Nousiainen says Important research areas also include the utilisation of side streams from pulp and paper production As a key part of its effort to promote the circular economy the R&D centre is currently examining how effluent sludge could be used as a fertiliser and as a raw material in biogas production According to Development Manager Markku Heinonen from the City of Lappeenranta UPM’s research and development centre is also important to the Lappeenranta University of Technology “Long-term research co-operation benefits commerce and businesses throughout the entire region,” Heinonen points out Lappeenranta aims to become a model city for renewable energy and the circular economy and to encourage local businesses and people to adopt new technology as frontrunners in sustainability Lappeenranta has repeatedly been among the top cities in the international WWF Earth Hour City Challenge which encourages cities to participate in preventing climate change “One of the reasons for our success is the energy produced using bio-based raw materials from UPM Kaukas.” Heinonen says that UPM also has a significant effect on the city’s economy and UPM is the city’s single largest private employer while also providing work for 160 subcontractors the mill site creates approximately 2,600 indirect jobs in fields such as transport the integrated Kaukas mill site pays the City of Lappeenranta a total of EUR 15 million per year in taxes The total sum of indirect tax revenues from UPM is many times greater In addition to being an important economic player in Lappeenranta UPM also actively participates in promoting the city’s wellbeing and vitality by supporting local sports teams and associations UPM also collaborates with educational institutions businesses and public organisations to highlight the circular economy UPM Kymi pulp and paper mill at a new level of efficiency – renewable energy as a byproduct A global move towards the circular economy Around we go – the shape of future waste management is circular Estonian Kati Kutisaar is SaiPa’s newest signing for F-liiga women The 26-year old forward joins the from Estonian Sparta Kati Kutisaar is well known in Finnish elite floorball has she played for NST Lappeenranta in 2017-2019 and for Pelicans SB in 2019-2020 in the Finnish highest league Kati Kutisaar has represented her homeland in two women’s WFC tournaments scoring 12 goals and 5 assists in her 11 games For a list of F-liiga transfers and confirmed rosters click here Routes is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC The ULCC has blamed a “stupid and illogical” tax imposed by the Hungarian government Eight routes are being launched from Finland’s capital during the winter 2021/22 season More than 40 new routes have been added to the carrier’s summer schedule Lappeenranta is set offer greater flexibility to its airlines and passengers following privatisation next year Interested in more stories about Lappeenranta Airport Log in and start following for the latest news on the topic Log in and follow topic Open image viewerAerial photo of Lappeenranta which jointly won the 2021 European Green Leaf Award chosen as one of two of Europe's greenest cities Image: Kalle Purhonen/YleYle News9.10.2020 17:54•Updated 9.10.2020 17:56Finland's southeastern city of Lappeenranta was one of two winners of the 2021 European Green Leaf Award an accolade for being "Europe's greenest city." the award is open to towns and cities across the bloc with populations of 20,000 up to 100,000 residents It is meant to recognise cities that have good environmental records and committed to green growth Lappeenranta officials have aimed to profile the city as an environmentally-conscious community with green values This was the second time the city entered the competition according to Lappeenranta's environmental director Ilkka Räsänen Open image viewerA boarded walkway along the shore of Lake Saimaa Image: Mikko Savolainen / Yle“This is an important sign to us that we have done things right we still must continue our efforts to mitigate climate change more effectively together with residents businesses and the LUT University,” Räsänen said in a city statement issued Thursday evening the award includes a prize of 75,000 euros "[The] year 2021 will include a wide range of local events restoration projects in natural sites and a display panel presenting water-related topics in the Lappeenranta Harbour We will also be organising international webinars and a few international conferences This gives a boost to our goal of becoming a national and international green ambassador This award enables and promotes the accomplishment of environmentally friendly actions now and in the future," Jarva said in the statement Last year, the southern city of Lahti won the European Commission’s Green Capital Award Sauli NiinistöNiinistö cites importance of climate action, women's rights in UN addressPublished 20202020Finland named best wildlife travel destination in 2019Published 20192019Sources: Yle