June 15, 2022
The Boreal Alliance Steering Committee Comes Together in Helsinki
On June 15th, 2022, the Boreal Alliance Steering Committee gathered in person for the first time in Helsinki, marking a major milestone for the alliance. All member organizations participated in the historic meeting, including UNITE (Raisa Makipaa), University of Oulu (Henrikki Liimatainen), Treesearch (Daniel Soderberg, Kristin Witzel), EMPA (Gustav Nystrom), LUKE(John Kettle), FinnCERES (Monika Osterberg, Stina Gronqvist, Jukka Hassinen, Joanna Witos), and BPI (Orlando Rojas, Emil Gustafsson, Kelley Oh).
The day kicked off with a celebratory lunch, where members bonded over food and drinks and reminisced about the journey so far.
The meeting was productive and efficient, with members providing updates on their activities and progress. This was followed by an open discussion to further delve into the most exciting collaboration opportunities, including joint funding applications, young scholar exchanges and networking, co-hosting events, and joint research publications. The discussions were insightful and the atmosphere was electric, as members were united in their vision for the alliance and their commitment to making it a success.
Wrapping up the memorable day was a group photo, capturing the strong bonds formed between members. The day was filled with excitement, inspiration, and a sense of unity, and members were already looking forward to the next meeting in January 2023.
Overall, the Boreal Alliance Steering Committee meeting in Helsinki was a resounding success and a major step forward for the alliance. We are grateful for the opportunity to come together in person and look forward to continuing our work to make the alliance a success. Keep an eye out for updates on the alliance’s progress and future events!”
January 19, 2022
Boreal Alliance Kick-off Meeting
The Boreal Alliance Steering Committee held their first meeting virtually on January 19, 2022 to celebrate the official launch of its activities and welcome the new members who recently joined the network. The representatives from FinnCERES, BioProducts Institute, Treesearch, EMPA, LUKE, UNITE Flagship, and University of Oulu came together and discussed their shared vision of advancing sustainability through bio-based material innovations from the collaborative initiative.
The members of the Steering Committee will bring their expertise and resources to develop and facilitate collaborative platforms for joint research activities within the network and beyond. In the beginning of each calendar year, a host organization will be appointed to lead the coordination of the Alliance activities. In 2022, the BioProducts Institute will serve as the host organization, carrying the torch from the FinnCERES team who has completed a year of remarkable achievements as the first host organization in 2021. Kelley Oh from BioProducts Institute will support the Committee as the Alliance Manager this year by interfacing communications and operations for the Alliance.
During the launch meeting, the Committee unanimously agreed to actively promote and participate in several signature events that will be (co-)hosted by member organizations, which will provide great opportunities to strengthen the network and cultivate knowledge exchanges among participating researchers and professionals. Through many other joint activities planned, the Committee is excited to work together to transform the grand collaborative vision into actions and make a global impact in accelerating bio-based material innovations for a sustainable future.
