UPM Pulp Matters 1/2023

Digital Futures School strengthens young people’s faith in the future UPM, together with Finnish IT software and service company Tietoevry, is committed to supporting and developing Futures School run by the Children and Youth Foundation. Futures School provides Finnish secondary schools with tools and learning materials to promote future-related education. The platform and learning materials are free of charge and openly accessible to everyone, and their aim is to strengthen young people’s faith in the future and in their own capabilities to cope with the challenges of a changing world. “It is important for us to engage in active dialogue with young people on the subject of sustainability, and we believe that through Futures School we can do our share to support young people in shaping their future path – while at the same learning something new ourselves,” says Kaisa Vainikka , Director, Social Responsibility at UPM.

Streamwater programme to release and restore 500 km of Finland’s rivers by 2030 As part of its water biodiversity work, UPM has adopted a new stream water programme that aims to release or restore 500 km of stream waters by 2030. The migratory fish programme launched by UPM in 2016 will be integrated into this new programme. Besides migratory fish, the biodiversity of inland waters also concerns the restoration of the habitats of other endangered species such as green club-tailed dragonfly, freshwater pearl mussel and thick shelled river mussel. Stream waters form a crucial bridge between different habitats, which is why free-flowing water is important for the vitality of stream water ecosystems. Two projects forming part of the programme – the Sapsokoski and Arvajankoski rapids – were completed in the autumn of 2022. At both sites old dams were dismantled and rapids restored, freeing up stream water routes and offering new spawning areas for migratory fish.

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