Travel & Venue

We look forward to welcoming you in Joensuu!

The Colloquium will be hosted in the tranquil environment of the University of Eastern Finland’s Joensuu campus. Just at the edge of the city centre but surrounded by trees and parkland, this will be the perfect space for a week of interesting discussions about the future of environmental law. Here are some options for how you can get here and where you could stay.

Getting to Joensuu

If you come to Joensuu from abroad, your journey will almost inevitably lead through Helsinki, the Finnish capital. Helsinki Vantaa Airport is well-connected and easily reachable from anywhere in the world. The city is also linked by ferry to Sweden, Estonia and Germany.

From Helsinki, you can choose to fly directly on to Joensuu or – as we recommend – take a comfortable intercity train to get there. Not only is this more sustainable, but it will also lead you straight through the pristine landscapes of the Finnish lakeland with amazing views all the way to the Colloquium, as well as free wifi, generous leg-room, and a restaurant cart. Indeed, the Helsinki-Joensuu route was recently featured in The Guardian as one of Europe’s most beautiful train rides. Flights to Joensuu take less than an hour and are available from Finnair, while the train can be booked on VR and will take you around 4.5 hours from Helsinki airport (changing in Tikkurila).

The train station is centrally located and all the main hotels can easily be reached on foot or by bus from there. The airport is situated outside the city and linked to central Joensuu by Bus 6. This bus leaves 10 minutes after each plane’s arrival and waits for up to 45 minutes in case of delayed flights. A ticket from the airport to the city centre costs 5€ and can be paid for in cash or by card. If you are departing Joensuu by plane, you can use the same bus line to reach the airport. Buses always leave 70 minutes before scheduled departures from the central bus station, situated right next to the train station.

Note: Whether you’re taking the train from Helsinki or flying, it is important to note that the last leg of the journey will still take you some hours. Consequently, it may be more convenient to break the journey up into two days and spend some time in Helsinki in between. If you are doing so, we highly recommend you attend the Pre-Colloquium Workshop organised by our friends at the Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), which will take place from Friday to Sunday, 28-30 July, in Helsinki. This includes a seminar on “Sustainability Law In and Out of Environmental Law” as well as a sightseeing tour of the city. You can find more information and the registration page here!

Staying in Joensuu

We recommend you stay at one of the following hotels, where we have made preliminary reservations for Colloquium attendees to ensure enough rooms will be available:

GreenStar Hotel

GreenStar is the first carbon-neutral hotel chain in Finland and their Joensuu location is in the town centre near the conference venue. As an added benefit, guests at this hotel can borrow a bike to easily get around the town. Book your room by email (joensuu@greenstar.fi) or by phone (+358 10 423 9390) using the booking code “UEF”.

Scandic Joensuu

Also situated in the centre of Joensuu and the closest hotel to the venue, Scandic is another convenient option – and it, too, has bikes available for loan to guests. Book your room here using the code “BUEF310723”.

Sokos Kimmel

Beautifully situated by the river and surrounded by parkland, this hotel is also very easily reached from the train station – making it a convenient place to stay, even if it is a little bit further from the venue than the others. Book your room here using the code “BIUCN”.

Sokos Vaakuna

Last but not least, rooms are also available in Sokos Vaakuna. Right by the market square – the heart of every Finnish city – this is the most central hotel and also just a short walk from the venue. Book your room here using the code “BIUCN”.

To get a room in one of these hotels, please book as soon as you know you are going. Enough rooms are reserved for attendees to book until 15.06.2023 (for GreenStar and Scandic Hotels) and 30.06.2023 (for Sokos Hotels). You can of course also choose another accommodation if you prefer, for example through AirBnB or Booking.com.

Getting around in Joensuu

Once in Joensuu, you can easily get around by bus using the Waltti app to buy tickets and plan journeys, or book a taxi e.g. through Taxi Eastern Finland (+358 601 10100). The town centre is also quite compact with relatively little traffic and plenty of spacious pedestrian walkways and bike-paths – so it can easily be navigated on foot or by bike. You can also rent electric scooters and bikes for short journeys using the TIER app.

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Supporters of the Colloquium:

The IUCN AEL Colloquium 2023 is proudly supported by Transnational Environmental Law and Cambridge University Press.

Edward Elgar will be hosting a book display at the venue and are pleased to offer delegates a special Conference Discount for selected books available here: https://bit.ly/ee-display