The University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI) has over 30 years of experience in research, education, and cooperation related to tropical resources. It offers degree programs in tropical silviculture and forest management, conducts research on topics like climate change adaptation and mitigation, and has partnerships around the world. VITRI aims to take a holistic approach to natural resource management through its work on issues at the intersection of forestry, agriculture, and development challenges in tropical regions.

1. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
Viikki Tropical Resources
Institute (VITRI)
30+ years of research, higher education
and cooperation
Olavi Luukkanen & Markku Kanninen
Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI), University of Helsinki
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EIARD - 21th European Coordination Group Meeting,
26-28 October 2015, Helsinki, Finland

2. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
• Founded in 1640 (in Turku)
– moved to Helsinki in 1828
• Main functions are research, higher
education and societal interaction
• Two official languages (Finnish and
Swedish), teaching provided also in English
• 40,000 degree students, staff about 4,000
• World ranking 76 (Times Higher Education
World University Ranking - 2015)
University of Helsinki
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3. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI) 3
Four campuses
City
Meilahti
Viikki
Kumpula

4. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
Viikki life sciences Campus
- second largest in Europe
• 6000 students
• 1500 staff
• 4 faculties
• Research
institutes
• State institutions
• Business and
science park
• > 20 companies
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5. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
• Established in 1980 (as Tropical Silviculture Unit)
• Staff: 3 permanent, >10 with external-financing
• B.Sc., M.Sc., and D.Sc. (Agr. & For.) degrees in Tropical
Silviculture and Forest Management, jointly with Dept. of
Forest Sciences
• 50% of students from outside Finland
• VITRI courses include
– Tropical ecology, agroforestry, forest management, plantation
forestry, social and community forestry, social studies, natural
resources management
– Ecosystem services, watershed management
– Climate change adaptation and mitigation
Viikki Tropical Resources
Institute (VITRI)
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6. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
• Holistic approach to natural resources management in the
Tropics
– Forestry & agriculture & agroforestry = landscape management <–>
development challenges
• Solid basis in methods, and skills
– Professional skills to work in the Global South
• Topics that are actual and important
– Livelihoods and forest & natural resources management at
landscape level
– Climate change – mitigation and adaptation
– Agroforestry, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity
– Globalization – industrial forestry – small-scale forestry
– Land-use change, bioenery, deforestation, governance
VITRI’s focus in teaching &
research
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7. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
Studies
• International M.Sc. Programme (2 years;
Dept. of Forest Sciences)
• Individual doctoral programmes
• Minor in tropical silvilculture (25 ECT)
• Student mobility programmes
– Erasmus, Atlantis, CIMO (Finnish Center for
International Mobility)
• International Summer School
– Managing Sustainable Landscapes
• Educational networks
– GIFN (Global Industriual Forestry Network);
NOVA (Inter-Nordic training)
• M.Sc. thesis work & practice in the Tropics
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Plantation field course
in Ethiopia 2012

8. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
• Kallio, M. 2013. Small-holder tree plantations, Indonesia
• Negash, M. 2013. Agroforestry and carbon sequestration, Ethiopia
• Rantala, S. 2013. Forest conservation governance, Tanzania
• Alam, S. 2013. Carbon and water in savannah woodlands, Sudan
• Omoro, L. 2012. Ecosystem services in Taita Hills, Kenya
• Jalonen. R. 2012. Nitrogen dynamics in agroforestry systems, French
Antilles
• Paavola, M. 2012. Micro-credits for sustainable forest management, Laos
• Kalame, F.B. 2011. Forest governance and climate change adaptation: Case
studies of four African countries
Most doctoral theses available from VITRI website!
Examples of VITRI doctoral theses
(> 40 completed 1989-2015)
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9. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
• Forests and climate change - mitigation [REDD+] and
ecosystem-based adaptation
• Community-based management of forests and trees
• Smallholder forestry
• Rehabilitation of degraded natural and man-made production
systems, particularly in African drylands
• Tropical agroforestry and plantation forestry
• Development cooperation and capacity building projects,
including higher education (curriculum development etc.)
• Sustainable post-civil war natural resource management
(South Sudan, Somalia)
VITRI – Research &
development cooperation
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10. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
VITRI Projects
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Research
Institutional & academic development
Climate change and development
Doctoral studies
MSc studies
On-going projects: Recent/on-going theses:

11. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
Development projects – example
• Building Biocarbon and Rural
Development in West Africa (BIODEV):
ICRAF, 2012-2016, € 10 mill.)
– Burkina Faso & Sierra Leone,
Guinea & Mali
– Funding: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of
Finland
– Consortium led by ICRAF with CIFOR, two
Finnish Universities and several national
partners (NGO’s, universities)
– VITRI: WP leader on Policy and Capacity
Building
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12. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
Research projects – examples
• Carbon management at the landscape scale – part of
“Learning from REDD+: An Enhanced Global Comparative
Analysis” (CIFOR), 2013-2015
– Indonesia, Peru, Tanzania, Mexico …+
– VITRI: Landscape-level C analysis & modelling
• Private Agricultural Investments and Land Use Change Impact
on The Adaptive Capacity of Local Communities to Climate
Change in Mozambique (PAIMO) (Academy of Finland), 2013-
2014
– Mozambique
– VITRI: Project lead, carbon analysis & modelling, ecosystem-based
adaptation at community level
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13. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
Institutional development projects
– examples
• Forest Landscape Rehabilitation in the Mekong Basin
(FORMEB) (CIMO/MFA Finland), 2013-2015
– MFA Higher Education Institutional Cooperation Instrument
– Lao PDR
– Partner: Faculty of Forestry/National University of Laos
– Landscape Planning and Management Training for the
Environment in South Sudan – (LAMPTESS) (CIMO/MFA
Finland), 2013-2015
– MFA Higher Education Institutional Cooperation Instrument
– South Sudan
– Universities of Upper Nile & Juba; Ministry of Agriculture, Juba
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14. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
VITRI’s engagement in
international science and policy
• CGIAR
– Prof. Emer. Olavi Luukkanen: ICRAF Board member 2009-2015; CIFOR
Board observer member
– Prof. Markku Kanninen: CIFOR – research director 2003-2010
• CATIE
– Prof. Markku Kanninen: research director & DDG 1996-2003
• IPCC & UNFCCC
– Prof. Markku Kanninen: active in IPCC since 1992,
member of the Adaptation Fund Board since 2008
• UNCCD
– VITRI & UNCCD joint special issue in international journal on dryland
management , due in 2016
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15. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
Africa
• Wondo Genet College of Forestry (Ethopia)
• Forests National Corporation, Forestry Research Centre of the Agricultural
Research Corporation , University of Khartoum (Sudan)
• University of Juba & Upper Nile University (South Sudan)
• Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique)
Asia
• Kasetsart University (Thailand)
• National University of Laos (Laos)
• Nanjing Forestry University (China)
• Bogor Agricultural University, IPB (Indonesia)
• Center for Forests and People (RECOFTC)
VITRI – Strategic partnerships
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16. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
Americas
• CONAFOR, ECOSUR & UNAM/Morelia (Mexico)
• Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica (Costa Rica)
• University of Sao Paulo (Brazil)
• Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE)
Finland & Europe
• Several European universities
• European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN)
• NIRAS Finland & other consulting companies
• Finnish Somalia Network (NGO)
Global
• Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
• International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO)
• World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
VITRI - Strategic partnerships
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17. University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
Thank you very much
for your attention!
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www.helsinki.fi/vitri/
http://blogs.helsinki.fi/vitriblog/
www.facebook.com/UH.VITRI
olavi.luukkanen@helsinki.fi
markku.kanninen@helsinki.fi