Towards Socially Sustainable Platforms: Seminar on 14 November 2025

Nokia Arena entrance A

What is social sustainability in digital environment and on digital platforms? How can we achieve it? How can researchers enhance a more sustainable and fair digital environment? Join the seminar on this topic on Friday 14 November 2025 at 9–16.

Welcome to the seminar Towards Socially Sustainable Platforms (SoSu), where we think about the ways in which research can enhance a more sustainable and fair digital environment.

Since there is already a substantial amount of research on the problems and concerns around digital, datafied environment, this event seeks to look more into the different alternatives and solutions — particularly exploring the ways in which researchers could enter the debate and make an impact.

The seminar consists of two keynote speeches and workshops:

  • Professor Eugenia Siapera, from University College Dublin, asks in her keynote speech if AI can be sustainable. Prof. Siapera approaches this question through the economic, environmental, and societal dimensions. Her talk is based on early findings from a Horizon Europe Forsee project.
  • Professor Helen Kennedy, from University of Sheffield, asks in her keynote speech what a good digital society looks like and how we get there. Prof. Kennedy approaches these questions by taking as a starting point the critiques of digital developments presented by social scientists, humanities scholars, and digital rights advocates and activists. Her talk draws on experiences from the ESRC Digital Good Network.
  • In the workshops, seminar participants on site at Tampere get to discuss and devise solutions, share knowledge on making an impact, and envision a more equitable and socially sustainable future.

The seminar is held at Paidia, Nokia Arena. The keynote lectures and the workshops can also be attended in a satellite event in Helsinki at Rajapintapäivät (workshop location: University of Helsinki, Snellmania, Unioninkatu 37, 1st floor). The keynote speeches without workshop participation can be followed online.  The link will only be provided upon registration.

Sign up to participate in the seminar by 3 November.

See the detailed seminar program and keynote abstracts on the seminar page.

The event is organized by Tampere Universities’ Media Studies Research Group and funded by DigiSus.