Circular Economy Morning Coffee

Start your Wednesdays off in a great way at the Circular Economy Morning Coffee sessions on Teams!

Join us every Wednesday morning to hear a short presentation on themes related to sustainability and the circular economy. These presentations are followed by a discussion in a friendly atmosphere.

Sessions run 24.9.2025 – 19.11.2025 and are from 8.30–9.00 (UTC+2).

These coffees are hosted by the Research Center for Sustainable Circular Economy (CECE) based at the University of Eastern Finland. See you there!

Schedule (Fall 2025)

24-Sep. Speaker: Aldona Glińska-Neweś (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland). Subject: Circular Couture – Transforming the Fashion Lifecycle Through Sustainable Consumer Decisions.

1-Oct. Speaker: Eeva Hellström (Sitra). Subject: Regenerative futures – from principles to examples.

8-Oct. Speaker: Juha Kinnunen (UEF). Subject: Microcredentials as lifelong learning and CE – CE4ALL project.

15-Oct. Speaker: Angelina Korsunova-Tsaruk (University of Helsinki). Subject: Digital platforms for nurturing circular neighbourhood spirits.

22-Oct. Speaker: Alisa Mick. Subject: Circular Entrepreneurship as a Transition Engine.

29-Oct. Speaker: Diana Arbelaez Ruiz (UEF). Subject: Mineral demand for urban mobility electrification has social, environmental and geopolitical effects. Why is this important for urban actors?

5-Nov. Speaker: Johanna Räikkönen (Navitas Kehitys). Subject: Kokemuksia kiertotalouden edistämisestä.

12-Nov. Speaker: Merve Atasoy (UEF). Subject: Transformation of Traditional Wastewater Treatment Plants into Resource Recovery Hubs.

19-Nov. Speaker: Milla Sarja (University of Jyväskylä). Subject: CE and beyond – perfecting the imperfect model.

Past Circular Economy Morning Coffee sessions

Spring 2025

5-Feb. Speaker: Kristina Leppälä (UEF). Subject: Finnish peat industry entrepreneur perceptions of their industry’s gradual termination.

12-Feb. Speaker: Olli Vigren (KTH Royal Institute of Technology/Stanford University). Subject: Dynamic capabilities frameworks in understanding intra- ja inter-organisational business development processes.

19-Feb. Speaker: Meri Löyttyniemi (UEF). Subject: Universities´ sustainability and doctoral pilot “Sustainability Transformations”.

26-Feb. Speaker: Antonella Radicchi. Subject: Citizen science for a responsible and inclusive change: The MLE CSI-PP Scalability Toolkit.

5-Mar. Speaker: Mikko Lampinen (UEF). Subject: How socio-cultural and spatial trajectories shape industrial CE ecosystems.

12-Mar. Speaker: Mikko Sairanen (Tampere University). Subject: Low-carbon business models; Review and typology.

19-Mar. Speaker: Outi Suomi & Soile Ollila (Business Finland). Subject: Foresight in circular transition.

26-Mar. Speaker: Soja Sädeharju (UEF). Subject: Uudistava ajattelu ja intuitio päätöksenteossa.

2-Apr. Speaker: Tiia Tuuri (City of Espoo). Subject: Building a ”green line” ecosystem around Espoo metro line for green chemistry, CE, and clean tech.

9-Apr. Speaker: Juha Kotilainen. Subject: Green reindustrialization and critical raw materials.

16-Apr. Speaker: Marileena Mäkelä (University of Jyväskylä). Subject: Utopias as catalysts for a sustainable circular economy.

Fall 2024

25-Sep. Speaker: Arto Salonen (UEF). Subject: Yltäkylläisyydestä merkitysnäköalojen rikkauteen.

2-Oct. Speaker: Wisdom Kanda (Linköping University). Subject: Systems and Ecosystems in the Circular Economy: What’s the Difference?

9-Oct. Speaker: Lauri Kurkela (UEF). Subject: Behind the climate actions – The influence of values on the municipalities of Global North.

16-Oct. Speaker: Vesa Alatalo (LAB University of Applied Sciences). Subject: Helping SMEs to renew their business through circular economy training.

23-Oct. Speaker: Anne Raudaskoski (Ethica). Subject: Circular design: introduction & tools.

30-Oct. Speaker: Subhanjan Sengupta (UEF). Subject: Making circular economy socially inclusive through entrepreneurship.

6-Nov. Speakers: Krista Leppänen (UEF). Subject: Developing sustainability reporting framework in the EU and the sustainability transition of SMEs.

13-Nov. Speakers: Maike Diepeveen (UEF). Subject: Can interaction with advocacy nonprofits make business more sustainable?

20-Nov. Speaker: Toni Eerola (GTK). Subject: Environmental, social and governance issues related to remining of tailings: the Finnish case studies of the Nordic Sustainable Minerals Project.

Spring 2024

7-Feb. Speaker: Hanna Lehtimäki (UEF). Subject: Introduction and discussion of two new books related to sustainability.

14-Feb. Speaker: Tero Hokkanen (Laurea University of Applied Sciences). Subject: Näkökulmia kiertotalouden systeemiseen muutokseen.

21-Feb. Speaker: Mikko Lampinen (UEF). Subject: Circular economy barriers and opportunities – Sustainable development and CE in Seinäjoki area businesses.

28-Feb. Speaker: Olena Liakh (University of Bologna). Subject: Internal drivers of corporate sustainability leadership.

13-Mar. Speaker: Moritz Albrecht (UEF). Subject: Policy and entrepreneur narratives for assessing sectoral developments.

20-Mar. Speakers: Päivi Kosonen & Mirjami Ikonen (UEF). Subject: Trust and sustainability.

27-Mar. Speakers: Sybille Sachs & Silvan Oberholzer (HWZ Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration). Subject: Engaging stakeholders in the circular economy.

3-Apr. Speaker: Nuppu Mielonen (UEF). Subject: Circular ecosystems of battery materials case study.

10-Apr. Speaker: Kati Pitkänen (Finnish Environment Institute SYKE). Subject: Exploring sustainable plastic citizenship in PlastLIFE project.

17-Apr. Speaker: Ida Parkkinen (UEF). Subject: Exploring leadership in a regenerative circular economy.

24-Apr. Speaker: Hanna Lampinen-Vilkkilä (Jamk University of Applied Sciences). Subject: Bio- and circular economy business accelerator BioBoosters’ innovation services – designed to meet the needs of businesses.

8-May. Speaker: Hanne Laasonen (Laurea University of Applied Sciences). Subject: Leadership skills for a circular economy.

15-May. Speaker: Eeva Houtbeckers (UEF & University of Turku). Subject: Sustainability transformation in work: experiments and ruptures in post-fossil working life in Finland.

Fall 2023

13-Sep. Speaker: Paula Sjöblom & Ville Virsu (University of Turku). Subject: Voiko kielenkäytöllä edistää kiertotaloutta?

27-Sep. Speaker: Vaula Berg (University of Turku). Subject: Humane individual change agency.

11-Oct. Speaker: Heta Leinonen (Tampere University). Subject: The dark and gray shades of stakeholder engagement activities in a circular economy: Emerging tensions.

25-Oct. Speaker: Topi Turunen (UEF). Subject: Kiertotalouden sääntelykatalyytit.

8-Nov. Speaker: Mira Valkjärvi (University of Turku). Subject: Circular design: kick start your circular journey – lessons learned from the DeCiDe project in Pietarsaari.

22-Nov. Speaker: Annika Blomberg (Tampere University). Subject: Stakeholder engagement in a sustainable circular economy.

13-Dec. Speaker: Mikko Sairanen (Tampere University). Subject: Customer value of circular B2B offerings.

Spring 2023

18-Jan. Speaker: Anna Heikkinen (Tampere University). Subject: Three approaches to sustainability in a circular economy.

1-Feb. Speaker: Ville-Veikko Piispanen (UEF). Subject: Circular startups opportunity creation.

15-Feb. Speaker: Milla Sarja (University of Jyväskylä). Subject: Yritykset siirtymässä kiertotalouteen – tunnistettuja haasteita, mutta mistä apuja?

1-Mar. Speaker: Ari Jokinen (Tampere University). Subject: Miksi paikalla on väliä urbaanissa kiertotaloudessa?

15-Mar. Speaker: Mira Valkjärvi & Kaisa Henttonen (UEF). Subject: Kiertotaloudentekijät-podcastin lanseeraus.

29-Mar. Speaker: Hanna Lehtimäki & Kristina Leppälä (UEF). Subject: Circular Economy from a global and multidisciplinary perspective – Expanding CE knowledge – collective book of essays and research findings.

12-Apr. Speaker: Satu Teerikangas (University of Turku). Subject: Typology of circular economy agency – who are actors catalysing CE transitions, and how do they operate to enable this change.

10-May. Speaker: Linnea Harala (Tampere University). Subject: How institutions shape reverse logistics systems – comparative analysis of package deposit systems in Australia and Finland.

24-May. Speaker: Juha Suonpää (Tampere University of Applied Sciences). Subject: Art as a catalyst of change.

7-Jun. Speaker: Sini-Tuulia Suokas (UEF). Subject: Laurea Circular economy Living Lab X CICAT2025 Morning Coffee: Circular economy in the ICT sector “Online platforms and circular economy companies”

These morning coffees are brought to you in part by the UEF CE4ALL project which is partially funded by the European Union.