Metsä Group has donated EUR 250,000 each to the University of Helsinki and the University of Oulu. These donations will be allocated to science, agriculture and forestry at the University of Helsinki and to technology at the University of Oulu. Metsä Group wants to invest in developing teaching and research in these fields. 

“Metsä Group produces recyclable products from northern wood for the daily needs of people around the world. Sustainability, competitive production and the top expertise of our employees lie at the core of our operations. We want to develop forestry and the forest industry, and that requires top quality higher education and research,” says Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group. 

The universities of Helsinki and Oulu are Metsä Group’s partner universities. Both provide teaching and conduct research in disciplines important to the Group. Academic research in different fields of the bioeconomy and circular economy are important to the development of the entire industry. Joint development projects in particular help the field evolve, because innovations and new initiatives often emerge at the interfaces of different organisation. Currently under development, Metsä Group’s wood-based Kuura textile fibre is a prime example of this.

Metsä Group’s current over billion-euro investments in Finland will ensure continued demand for competence and research in the field.

“We appreciate our partnership with Metsä Group, as we share the same goals for the sustainable use of natural resources and the creation of new innovations. The circular economy and the utilisation of side streams, digital operations, and climate change are examples of common fields of interest. Donations are an important strategic funding instrument for us, because they can boost the impact of our research and activities in our chosen areas. The donation will be used primarily for key recruitments,” says Jouko Niinimäki, Rector of the University of Oulu.

“The University of Helsinki is very pleased with this donation and gratefully accepts it. Our partnership with Metsä Group focuses on securing future competence and solving sustainability challenges especially in the fields of forestry and chemistry of circular economy. We will use this donation to promote these fields”, says Sari Lindblom, Rector of the University of Helsinki.

Metsä Group’s donations are part of the matched funding scheme, with which the Government supports donations made to universities by private foundations, companies and persons. The matched funding scheme will run until the end of June 2022.
 

For further information, please contact:
Juha Laine, Senior Vice President, Communications, Metsä Group, tel. +358 10 465 4541

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