BUP Symposium 2025

Climate change remains a pressing global issue for countries, institutions, and entire regions amplifying security risks, economic challenges, and resource competition, creating intricated connections with geopolitical conflicts. Environmental changes, such as rising sea levels and droughts, force migration, staining resources and contributing to social tension. The surged frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters over the decades escalated not only economic losses but also the number of fatalities. These events indicate the urgency of mitigation and adaptation measures at various levels. Bio-based solutions and Artificial Intelligence (AI) offer an additional opportunity that can contribute to strategies and policy- and decision-making processes aimed at climate change resilience of local communities.

Research fields

• Climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions
• Community resilience
• Efficient use of resources
• Future of bio-based solutions
• Climate change and AI

This session is coordinated by Dr. Jelena Barbir and Dr. Marina Kovaleva, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.

As the Baltic Sea region faces increasing geopolitical tensions and environmental challenges, energy security and new energy solutions have become critical priorities. How can new energy developments enhance energy security and improve the energy systems around the Baltic? How do current green transitions go and how will newly announced nuclear ambitions affect the situation? How to handle risks from future transports of fossil fuels via the Baltic? This session will evaluate ongoing energy transition efforts, challenges and future development, explore new and existing energy dilemmas, and discuss how to handle future energy challenges in the Baltic Sea region.

Research fields

• Energy systems analysis
• Energy modelling
• Energy planning and strategy
• Energy governance and regulation
• International relations
• Energy markets and trade
• Energy and environment

This session is coordinated by Assoc. Prof. Mikael Höök, Uppsala University.

The Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022 as well as the return of Donald Trump to the Oval Office in 2025 have challenged the global world order, including the prospects for democracy, respect for human rights, economic freedom, sustainable development and the ability to mitigate climate change. The countries of the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe are strongly affected by these challenges. This session relates to the BUP theme “Sustainable societies” and welcomes contributions that explore the different ways the present global situation challenges the region, including topics like for example increased geopolitical competition and economic protectionism, the expansion of authoritarianism, populism and Euroscepticism.

Research fields

• International relations
• International politics
• Political science
• Democracy and security studies
• Regional economic cooperation

This session is coordinated by Prof. Joakim Ekman, Södertörn University.

This session relates to the BUP theme “Sustainable societies” and welcomes contributions that explore the different aspects of crisis preparedness and societal resilience, i.e. the ability of the countries in the Baltic Sea Region to recover quickly from major shocks like armed attacks, hybrid attacks, health crises, natural disasters, and critical infrastructure failures. The way a society can endure internal and external crises and threats may also be related to civil society, media and press freedom, as well as academic freedom.

Research fields

• Civil society and societal sustainability
• Social movements and citizen initiatives
• Political participation
• Anthropological and ethnographic considerations in relation to sustainable societies
• The role of the humanities in times of crisis
• Academic freedom and knowledge production
• Artistic initiatives in view of sustainable societies

This session is coordinated by Dr. Ramona Rat, Södertörn University.

Scholars and governments worldwide increasingly see a need to develop resilient food systems, which can withstand crises and shocks like climate change, pandemics, biodiversity loss, disruption of supply chains, food crises, geopolitical events and war. Additionally, food systems connect scales from the local to the global, and different scales are seen as crucial in developing resilient food systems. Central for resilient food systems is to have capacity over time to provide sufficient, appropriate and accessible food and water to all, in the face of various and even unforeseen disturbances. Current food and water systems are highly vulnerable and need absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities to be resilient. Handling such complexity and building capacity is a challenge for policy makers, food system actors and scholars. The increased vulnerability in the Baltic Sea Region has raised food and water security concerns to the political agendas, where policies, plans and strategies are updated and developed.

Research fields

Food systems in different scales

• Localizing food
• Policy, planning and practice supporting resilient food systems
• Resilience capacities: absorptive, adaptive, and transformative
• Governance and transformation of food systems
• Food and water security and preparedness
• Resilient primary production, food supply, agricultural land use

This session is coordinated by Assoc. Prof. Madeleine Granvik, Uppsala University and PhD candidate Malin Andersson, Uppsala University.