Green transition conflicts can be anticipated and resolved fairly

Despite the shared goal, the green transition gives rise to conflicts, particularly at the local level where the impacts of various projects are visible, audible, and felt. Green investments totaling over 300 billion euros are currently underway in Finland, but many of these projects are at risk of being delayed or failing entirely due to local opposition. Acceptability issues and various land-use conflicts are, in fact, the most significant bottlenecks in the green transition.

Finland has already recognized that something must be done about this, but the chosen methods may not necessarily help ensure the transition’s acceptability. Flexible, conflict-preventing procedures based on collaborative negotiation and joint problem-solving among the parties should now, at the very latest, be added to the toolkit. Prevention is the best form of conflict resolution: it is the most effective, the least expensive, and certainly more meaningful for all parties than the other available options.

Akordi addresses bottlenecks in the green transition

Implementing the green transition therefore requires tools for reconciling interests, anticipating conflicts, and resolving them. The most effective path to sustainable results begins with anticipating potential conflicts and carefully defining the issues to be resolved. Formulating acceptable solutions serves everyone and requires multilateral cooperation: industry needs predictability and certainty to invest; the local natural environment needs protection and the strengthening of its ecological values during the transition; and the municipality, along with its current and future residents, needs to ensure the security of local livelihoods and a healthy living environment.

Infograafi: Neutraali foorumi, jossa alakerrassa kapasitointi, seuraavassa kerroksessa tilanteen kartoitus ja yhteinen ongelmanratkaisu, kolmannessa kerroksessa observatorio sekä neuvot ja suositukset ja vintillä tilannehuoneIn response to these needs, Akordi is working with an extensive network of partners to develop Finland’s capacity for conflict management in the green transition and methods for proactive conflict management. Our goal is to establish effective methods and forums for collaborative negotiation in Finland, where parties can bring their shared problems or points of contention. At the impartial negotiating table, the guided process is facilitated by a professional neutral expert. A jointly developed operating model with its own rules, along with a “collaboration platform” that enables regular communication and foresight, helps prevent the escalation of local, project-specific conflicts. Furthermore, the implementation of new procedures requires strengthening cooperation capacity as well as development work and research (figure in Finnish).

Between 2023 and 2025, we have developed and tested effective ways to prevent and resolve green transition conflicts in Finland through a project funded by the TAH Foundation. These experiments yielded both concrete solutions for various situations and scalable operating models, which we aim to roll out and establish in a follow-up project funded by the TAH and RELEX Foundations in 2025–2026.

What we do when developing methods for anticipating and resolving conflicts related to the green transition in Finland:

  • We offer the assistance of a neutral third party in anticipating and resolving conflicts related to the green transition

    We help apply insights from the field of conflict resolution and experiment with new approaches to managing the green transition in the everyday life of municipalities, so that diverse local values can be genuinely and fairly recognized and taken into account. We bring proven practices from negotiation and alternative dispute resolution into wider awareness and to support everyday situations of the green transition.

  • We support project developers and government agencies in green transition projects across Finland

    Starting in June 2025, we will address these issues over the course of a year in five localities, which are Kristiinankaupunki, Oulu, the western reindeer herding area, Sodankylä, and the Kaustinen region. Resources have also been set aside to respond to unexpected needs across Finland. We will respond to requests for assistance, go on the ground to clarify the situation, and offer help in finding fair and acceptable solutions. Together with the parties involved, we will develop a plan of action tailored to the situation. The aim is to provide rapid, proactive assistance to municipalities, regions, businesses, and civil society organizations before disputes escalate.

  • We published the "Local Acceptance of the Green Transition" playbook

    The main message of the Playbook, published in November 2024, is that conflicts are not to be avoided or won, they can be resolved together. In the Playbook, we focus on the early stages of project development and offer proven tools for thinking and doing. These tools can help build better interaction, collaboration and trust, which are essential for project acceptance. Read more about the Playbook on its website, where it is available free of charge in Finnish, English, Swedish, and Norwegian.

  • We develop expertise and train key players in the green transition

    A total of 124 people participated in our Strategic Stakeholder Engagement in Clean Transition Projects course series in 2025, and our open expert lectures were viewed over 250 times. The training provided participants with a solid range of practical tools for conflict prevention and management, and also delved into topics such as preparing for challenging interaction situations, identifying and reconciling interests, and building trust and collaborative negotiation. We are also developing our expertise in Swedish, which supports Nordic cooperation and the sharing of best practices across national borders. Read more about our training references here and watch the summary video (in Finnish).

  • Events and International Cooperation

    In addition, we have for example compiled international examples of conflict prevention and resolution efforts from the United States and the Netherlands, organized public events and visits by international experts to Finland, and arranged an excursion to the Netherlands for Finns. Recordings of the events can be found at the bottom of this page.

A multi-perspective advisory group supports our work

The members of our new advisory group often sit on opposite sides of the negotiating table. At the meetings of our advisors, experienced experts from different sectors have discussed how we could best scale up and establish Akordi’s proven procedures at the national level. It has been great to see that the advisors recognize the importance of our work and are happy to support it.

With the support of the advisory group, we aim to 1) take into account the concrete challenges and opportunities in different regions and industries, 2) bring together the perspectives of different sectors, right-holders, and stakeholders so that the challenges of the acceptance of the green transition can be resolved fairly, and 3) scale up the practices based on joint problem-solving by the parties involved, and embed them in national practices.

  • Angelique Irjala | City of Kristinestad
  • Arto Hietaniemi | University of Eastern Finland
  • Hanna Halmeenpää | The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation
  • Hannele Pokka
  • Heidi Paalatie | Renewables Finland
  • Jenni Hunnakko | MTK Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners
  • Johanna Kentala-Lehtonen | The Prime Minister’s Office
  • Joonas Söderholm | City of Oulu
  • Laura Höijer | Ministry of the Environment of Finland
  • Mats Brandt | Regional Council of Ostrobothnia
  • Mila Segervall | City of Kristinestad
  • Minna Ojanperä | Confederation of Finnish Industries
  • Outi Kuittinen | RELEX Foundation
  • Sanna Hast | Reindeer Herders’ Association
  • Sanna Jylhä | Ministry of the Environment of Finland
  • Tapani Veistola | The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation
  • Taru Tujunen
  • Teppo Säkkinen | Chambers of Commerce
  • Tiina Sanila-Aikio
  • Touko Sipiläinen | Greenpeace Finland
  • Tuuli Orasmaa | Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland
  • Minna Vares | TAH Foundation
  • Johanna Kentala-Lehtonen | Expert Panel for Sustainable Development
  • Touko Sipiläinen | Greenpeace Finland
  • Laura Höijer | Ministry of the Environment of Finland
  • Teppo Säkkinen | Chambers of Commerce
  • Minna Ojanperä | Confederation of Finnish Industries
  • Tiina Sanila-Aikio | Association of Sámi Reindeer Herding Cooperatives
  • Taru Tujunen | Ellun Kanat

News:

Starting points for implementing an acceptable and just green transition – Akordi’s proposal for an engagement strategy for the City of Oulu

Read more

Finnish forest reindeer and wind power development on a collision course: Situation overview and paths to resolving tensions in Central Ostrobothnia

Read more

Experts from Akordi and WesselinkVanZijst presented systematic and proven practices for engaging the general public and key stakeholders in large-scale energy projects

Read more

DENSE & TENSE: Large Scale Energy Projects in Oulu and The Hague – Systematic Approach to Engaging the General Public and Key Stakeholders

Read more

Publications

Only in Finnish:

In English:

Only in Finnish and Swedish:

Event recordings in English

Experts from Akordi and WesselinkVanZijst presented systematic and proven approaches to engagement and interaction during a webinar, using two case studies from The Hague and Oulu. Read more in the news article and watch the recording:

The Akordi team supported by our steering group, network partners and some of our alumni gathered to discuss how conflicts related to the green transition can be anticipated and resolved applying the mutual gains approach to negotiation and collaborative problem solving – and how these practices can be scaled up to the national level. Read more and watch the recordings of the keynote speeches below.

Keynote speaker Marc Wesselink (WesselinkVanZijst, Netherlands) illustrated in his presentation concrete principles of Strategic Stakeholder Engagement (SSE) and the Mutual Gains Approach.

Steve Greenwood, an expert at the Oregon-based National Policy Consensus Center (NPCC), was a guest of Akordi in Finland and shared practical examples during a webinar of how elected officials have found a new role as conveners and facilitators of solution-oriented collaboration.

Watch the recording (partly in Finnish):

The invitation-only event examined the progress of the green transition in Finland. Read more about the event and watch the recording (partly in Finnish):

The seminar held as part of the Akordi X Puistokatu 4 event series, which launched a two-year project supported by the TAH Foundation, addressed the following topics, among others:

  • How are land-use conflicts resolved in municipal and regional planning processes?
  • How does proactive conflict management relate to legal processes?
  • What kinds of practices do responsible companies have for handling conflicts?
  • How does the requirement for fairness manifest itself in green transition conflicts?
  • How could a center for anticipating and resolving green transition conflicts operate in Finland?

Presentation in English:

Recording of the entire event (partly in Finnish):