RES's Director Dr. Bjorn Gunnarsson is both a Member of the School's Steering Committee and will also give lectures on the importance of renewable energy in the 21st century. Other participating universities in the organization of ISSK’08 are Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Lapland, and Faculty of Political & Social Sciences at Petrozavodsk State University. Additional faculty members include representatives from St. Petersburg State University, MGIMO University and the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Introduction: What is the ISSK?
The International Summer School in Karelia (ISSK) is an extraordinary meeting point for Russian and Finnish university students focusing their research on European and Russian studies. Since 2002,
the ISSK's goal has been to bring together a modest amount of master’s degree students for one week at PetrozavodskStateUniversity (PetrSU) in Petrozavodsk, Russia and activate their knowledge
of topics they have covered during tuition at their home universities during the academic year. Among the main themes of the ISSK have been Geopolitics, Security, Eurasia and The Nordic cooperation.
Coming now into its fifth year of existence, the ISSK is expanding its scope and vision to include larger audience of students and provide them with a more diversified academic, professional and
social learning experience.
International Summer School in Karelia 2008: Energy in a Real World Context
Energy is a touchstone. Far from being an issue that exists on its own, the energy has evoked very public concerns surrounding economic growth, environmental degradation, political stability, and the
maintenance of post-modern, consumerist society. Yet, despite the obvious overlap among economic, political, environmental and societal aspects of energy, academic treatment and public debate on
energy itself has been compartmentalized. By focusing exclusively on one of energy’s associated influences, scholars and journalists alike have drawn focus away from the core issue itself:
under current conditions, the way in which we organize the use of energy to fuel our economies, legitimize our political institutions, and support human development is not sustainable over the long
term. In order to find viable solutions to the many challenges posed by energy, a serious discussion concerning substantive issues and their inter-linkages to the overall concept of energy needs to
occur. It is from this point of departure that the ISSK’08 has been organized.
ISSK'08 Outline
This year's one week course intends to approach the energy issue in a comprehensive, interdisciplinary manner. By brining together recognized European and Russian experts in related theoretical
fields, ISSK'08 aims to provide students with an overall picture of the current trends in energy research undertaken at some of the region’s foremost educational institutions. The Summer School
will not only provide academic lectures, but provide a forum for academics, public policy makers and private sector actors to weigh in on the energy issue from their own perspectives. Simultaneously,
students will be able to actively participate during the lectures and the roundtable discussion with invited experts in order to activate their own understanding of the energy issue. As a related
part of the academic tuition, students will also have the opportunity to experience some of the issues introduced during the lectures on field trips to several places of interest in the Republic of
Karelia.
ISSK'08 Development Strategy
In line with the ISSK's vision to reach a wider student audience, the Steering Group for the ISSK'08 has set the goal of approaching potential academic and private sector partners with the offer to
provide an opportunity to contribute to ISSK'08's development. For potential academic stakeholders, there are available places for master’s level students (5 per institution), and opportunities
to provide lectures in relevant topics (1 lecturer per institution). For public and private sector partners, there are possibilities to contribute financially or in kind to the logistics needs of the
summer school (field trips, transportation, venues for student and faculty receptions). In return, participation in the ISSK can provide a forum, in which all partners receive tangible benefits,
including networking opportunities, academic credits, quality tuition, international exposure, and the possibility to cooperate in the construction of a longer term academic activity that will have
social relevance.
Further information about ISSK'08
Further information about ISSK'08 is available from the members of the Steering Group:
Andrey Demidov, Vice-Dean, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Petrozavodsk State University, Russia (ademidov@petrsu.ru)
David Dusseault, Project Coordinator, Eurasia Energy Group, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, (david.dusseault@helsinki.fi)
Björn Gunnarsson, Rector, RES - the School for Renewable Energy Science, Iceland – (bjorn.gunnarsson@res.is)
Lassi Heininen, Docent, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lapland and Director of ISSK - (lassi.heininen@ulapland.fi)
Tapani Kaakkuriniemi, Director, Master's Programme, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki (tapani.kaakkuriniemi@helsinki.fi)
Gleb Yarovoy, Lecture, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Petrozavodsk State University, Russia (gleb.yarovoy@mail.ru)
