‘My entire career as a marine biologist and sustainability scientist has been extremely interesting’

Eeva Furman is a marine biologist by training, shecompleted her doctoral dissertation in Menai Bridge Marine Laboratories, University of Wales, United Kingdom. Her work community was already very multidisciplinary and international at that time. 

‘As a doctoral researcher in that global group, I understood that nature cannot be protected solely through nature conservation legislation, but policies that affect the whole society are needed. It is important to understand the connections between poverty and the state of nature, for instance, as nature provides food, livelihood, and mental health, or that environmental regulation can place burden on people when certain livelihoods become restricted or making everyday travel prohibitively expensive.’

Sustainability encompasses different elements of society, including social and health aspects, economic, human and cultural aspects, ecological aspects, and themes related to security, democracy, and the rule of law. The various areas of sustainability influence each other, and it is a talent to create optimal combinations of them. A secure, functioning natural system of the planet is needed as a ground, as without it, other themes of sustainability, such as the economy, security, and health, will eventually crumble. Although achieving sustainability is ideal, striving for it provides a more stable and manageable society.

Eeva Furman has had a long career at the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), where she led a multidisciplinary environmental policy research centre and participated in numerous research projects. 

‘In leading the research centre, the diversity of sustainability prominently emerged. In our research projects, we pondered how these different dimensions could be optimally combined. During those years, I felt that I was a sustainability researcher, even though there was no education for it during my studies. People started to recognize me as the sustainability expert, and when the Sustainability Panel was established in Finland, I was chosen as its member and chairperson. The Sustainability Panel is an independent scientific panel that aims to promote sustainable development in Finland. I also conducted sustainability-related reporting for the UN for four years.’

From the Finnish Environment Institute to the Prime Minister's Office 

From 2023 to 2025, Eeva Furman worked at the Prime Minister's Office promoting sustainable development. 'I served as the Secretary-General of the Sustainable Development Committee led by the Prime Minister. I retired from that position at the turn of the year.’

Eeva says she was interested in working at the Prime Minister's Office because she had studied the link between science and decision-making and collaborated with experts in the government. 

‘I wanted to see what it is like to promote sustainability work from the inside. Those three years were very interesting. There were not many sustainability experts at the Prime Minister's Office, but I worked with people from very different backgrounds. It was fast paced and highly interesting. All in all, I felt that I had a good opportunity to advance matters. Researchers and research were appreciated, which delighted and somewhat positively surprised me.’

Ecological sustainability should be integrated into everything 

Eeva Furman is presently interested to find out how ecological sustainability is integrated into everything taught, researched and managed at the School of Business, from which the School of Business recently received a prestigious PRME Champion recognition. 

‘I belong to the school of thought that does not separate the world from a sustainable world but aims to see them as one. Some think that if sustainability issues are kept separate, more can be achieved, but I believe it is more effective to achieve less but as real, long-lasting impact.’  

Eeva Furman is currently writing a book article about how researchers and other actors influence internationally how sustainability is managed and who has a say in this global development. She aims, together with her colleagues, to find ways to make global sustainability more efficient. This would include a stronger hold of ecological sustainability.

‘Ecological sustainability is the most challenging area of sustainability for us in Finland and indeed for all other wealthy countries and many companies, as well. However, it is the foundation of everything: this world can change significantly when following world politics, but the natural system does not care about these discussions. The disturbance of the natural system, loss of biodiversity, and warming climate is to have significant impacts on our societies. Nature is neither good nor bad but operates according to its own laws. Therefore, when the natural system is disrupted, it can cause considerable harm to people, as the coronavirus pandemic is one example.’ 

In teaching, Eeva is currently participating in the Creative Sustainability programme's Capstone course. Senior University Lecturer Leena Lankoski is the course teacher, and the newly appointed Professor of Practice serves as a mentor in the course. 'I find it valuable to learn and see how teaching is conducted at the School of Business. In the autumn, I will have my own lecture course on ecological sustainability in the Entrepreneurship Unit.’

‘I am happy to help and share my expertise around sustainability. That is why I am honoured to have been invited to the School of Business, where I started at the beginning of the year. I have already collaborated extensively with Professor Minna Halme, for example, and written an article together with the School of Business sustainability expert Paula Schönach.’ 

Sustainability should not be a curse word to anyone 

Despite the geopolitical positions of states, sustainability work is progressing worldwide, as companies, cities, and other actors think about optimal, systemic, and research-based ways in which societies could contribute to sustainably.

According to Eeva Furman, sustainability is currently almost like a curse word in world politics, and many countries, in fact all other Nordic countries except Finland, have been slowing down on sustainability matters to not strike out from the powers of the world. 

‘However, I have learned the following from a high-ranking EU official: when there is lack of political appetite towards an issue such as climate change, biodiversity or sustainability, but you know the issue will not disappear from the list of challenges, you need to keep up working on it anyways: doing research, keeping the society and businesses aware of the theme. When times change and the tide turns, it is too late to start research work. Then the answers must already be at hand. The world will never be finished, but we should do as much as we can within the time we have,’ says Eeva Furman. 

Eeva Furman was interviewed by Terhi Ollikainen