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Decent Work and Economic Growth Gender Equality Good Health and Well-being Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure No Poverty Partnerships for the Goals Reduced Inequalities Responsible Consumption and Production

Is human rights a happy topic?

This blog is written by Greta Steenvoorden, a Doctoral candidate at the subject of Supply Chain and Social Responsibility at Hanken. Hanne Dumur-Laanila is a publisher of the text! Human rights impact of business activities is one of the hot topics of today. While the discussion has roots as far back as the times of Dutch East […]

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Climate Action Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Partnerships for the Goals Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions Responsible Consumption and Production Sustainable Cities and Communities

ESG investing, Institutional Investors, and Active Ownership

For many investors, the financial outcome of their investments is not their only objective. Some investors are also interested in the impact and role of their investments in promoting sustainability and responsible actions.   Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing is a term for investments aiming for long-term positive impact on society and the environment with positive financial returns. For instance, the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock recently stated in their 2020 Letter to Our Clients that “sustainability should be our […]

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Climate Action Decent Work and Economic Growth Good Health and Well-being Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Reduced Inequalities Responsible Consumption and Production

What is the role of intellectual property in sustainable fashion?

One may think what has IPR to do with Sustainable Fashion. Well, fashion industry is an Intellectual Property (IP) intensive industry, that deals with plenty of creativity in the form of designs, fabric etc. However, historically, the global fashion industry has had to operate in a low-IP protection environment, especially when it comes to designs.  Fast fashion has benefitted hugely from the low-IP protection of the industry as it has been rather risk-free to knock-off designs of […]

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Affordable and Clean Energy Climate Action Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Partnerships for the Goals Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions Sustainable Cities and Communities

Political Polarizations of Sustainability

What role would you think sustainability policies play in accentuating political division in your country? How has the question of peat energy become a polarizing issue in Finland and how does it relate to sustainability? What is the Finnish approach to bioeconomy and how sustainable is it?  We’re witnessing an increased geographical division of politics in many countries in Europe and North America, between the so-called liberal, metropolitan centres on […]

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Decent Work and Economic Growth Gender Equality Good Health and Well-being Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Reduced Inequalities Sustainable Cities and Communities Uncategorized

Is artificial intelligence fair, inclusive and ethical?

Imagine a robot running a recruitment process? Sounds like the solution we have been waiting for fair recruitment processes?  But wait…Can it really be free of bias? The answer is unfortunately not so simple and lies in the algorithms that are behind the artificial intelligence tools. As our lives become more and more intertwined with […]

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Good Health and Well-being Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Partnerships for the Goals Sustainable Cities and Communities

How to create human-centric and sustainable Internet of Things solutions?

The internet of things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. IoT solutions are found everywhere. Look around you and you might be surrounded with […]

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Affordable and Clean Energy Climate Action Decent Work and Economic Growth Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Responsible Consumption and Production

How can private investors invest responsibly and sustainably? Moving beyond the why!

Sustainability matters for all investors, both private and institutional. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impending climate crisis, the interdependence of capital markets, economies, environmental impacts, and social impacts is clearer than ever. In 2019, sustainable investment by institutional investors was USD 30,7 trillion in assets under management in Europe, the United […]

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Clean Water and Sanitation Climate Action Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Life Below Water Life on Land Quality Education Responsible Consumption and Production Sustainable Cities and Communities

What is the future of textile reuse in Finland and beyond?

Let’s be honest. You don’t wear every single piece of clothing you own. None of us do!  Recent studies reveal that we are using only 12% of what’s in our closets. It means that 88% of our clothes remain there, untouched. The fashion and textile industry is responsible for approximately 10% of all greenhouse gas […]

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Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Partnerships for the Goals Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions Responsible Consumption and Production Sustainable Cities and Communities

Legal Design and ethics in commercial contracts

Imagine a world where you would know if your insurance would cover the repair of your broken iPhone’s screen or of your drowned drone. Where you would know what your data is being used for when you download an app on your phone, where you would read and understand the “terms and conditions” before clicking […]

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Affordable and Clean Energy Climate Action Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions Reduced Inequalities Sustainable Cities and Communities

Where are we headed with Sustainability and Ethics in the Banking Sector?

Sustainability, and especially Ethics, are not the first words that come to one’s mind when thinking about the Banking Industry. Although banking activities are largely based on trust, banks do not benefit from a positive image. Scandals of money laundering, links to cartels, and terrorist organisations have generated quite a lot of bad publicity for […]