SAFIRE and Ecology and Genetics Research Unit support stronger regional collaboration on ecological restoration

VYYHTI has brought together regional organisations working on water and environmental issues since 2016. Its renewed partnership agreement has been approved by the organisations that have been active in the network over the past decade, reflecting a long-term shared commitment to improving aquatic environments and advancing restoration in Northern Ostrobothnia.

For SAFIRE, VYYHTI brings restoration research into closer contact with the people, places and decisions shaping restoration across Northern Ostrobothnia. It creates a shared regional setting where researchers and practitioners can work together on concrete restoration challenges. These connections are part of a broader effort to bring ecological and societal perspectives on restoration into the same conversation. Restoration involves ecological change, but also decisions about where and how to intervene, how change is understood, and how responsibilities are shared.

The Ecology and Genetics Research Unit also joins VYYHTI as a new supporting partner. The unit has a strong background on stream ecological research and is increasingly contributing to research aimed at understanding and supporting resilient ecosystem restoration.

“I am truly excited to join the VYYHTI network’s core group as an invited expert from Ecology and Genetic Research Unit. I hope to contribute perspectives on the impacts of climate change on our streams and rivers, and on how restoration practices can better account for the continuous environmental changes that freshwater ecosystems are already experiencing. Even our most natural running waters are evolving under changing climatic conditions, and acknowledging this reality will be essential for effective and resilient restoration efforts,” says Docent Kaisa-Riikka Mustonen.

The University of Oulu’s Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit has been a member of the VYYHTI Network for approximately 10 years. Over the years the network has provided opportunities to share and receive information and experiences with other members and local restoration practitioners.

"For example, we have supervised thesis workers who have examined the sources of loads in catchments and their water bodies and produced information from this for local actors as a basis for possible restoration measures," says university researcher Heini Postila.

This collaboration is especially timely as Finland prepares to implement the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. While restoration goals may be set at national or European level, much of the work of restoration takes shape through regional cooperation and in particular landscapes, water systems and communities.

“The expertise represented within the VYYHTI network has been exceptionally broad since its early stages in 2016. As new partners join and complement the existing group, our network becomes even stronger, and its expertise continues to expand. This means that the network is more than ready to respond to the restoration measures arising in the coming years,” says Riina Rahkila, environmental specialist and coordinator of the VYYHTI network at ProAgria Northern Finland.

The VYYHTI network is being further developed through the Veden äärellä project, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

Further information
ProAgria Northern Finland
Veden äärellä project (in Finnish)

VYYHTI contact
Riina Rahkila
Environmental Specialist and Coordinator of the VYYHTI Network
ProAgria Northern Finland
riina.rahkila@proagria.fi