Oikos Finland 2023: Environmental responsibility statement

As a society of ecologists and evolutionary biologists, we aim for environmental responsibility when organizing this conference. On top of hearing important scientific presentations on topics related to natural resources management and biodiversity, we are taking a number of practical measures to reduce the environmental impact of the conference.

• We serve vegan or vegetarian food in all conference events and coffee breaks, including the conference dinner.
• We encourage all participants to arrive in Helsinki by public transportation and avoid flying when possible.
• We encourage and give advice on using public transportation within Helsinki during the conference.
• We host a Scientist Rebellion discussion event to hear how scientists can actively increase the awareness of the climate and ecological emergency.
• We ask all participants to bring along and reuse old conference name tags.
• We encourage all participants to bring along their existing travel mugs to reduce dishes during the coffee breaks.
• We avoid disposable dishes and prefer reusable ones in all conference events and coffee breaks.
• We avoid unnecessary printing and provide the abstract book and the conference programme as online versions.
• We serve locally produced beer during the poster session.

• Oral presentations: 12 minutes (10 + 2 min for questions)
• Poster presentations: The poster session will take place 16:30-18:00 on February 15th in front of the main lecture hall. Posters will be displayed the entire day and should be set up before the first plenary talk that starts at 9:00. Dimensions of the posters should be made to fit the display stands: Width = 950 mm and Height = 1600 mm. 

There are plenty of accommodation options in Helsinki city centre, which has easy public transport links to the Viikki campus. Below we list three options for which we have secured discount rates for conference attendees.

Unihome - promotion code Oikos2023

Bookings: https://unihome.fi/en/book​

To make the booking, guests must go to Unihome Töölö Towers website and add Oikos2023 to the promotion code line. Rooms can be booked as long as there is availability and rate is valid for the period 13-19.2.2023.

1-6 nights reservation may be cancelled free of charge on the day of arrival by 2pm. Failure to cancel the booking within this time or in case of a no-show, will result in a cancellation fee equal to one night payment.

Address: Pohjoinen Hesperiankatu 23 A, 00260 Helsinki

Scandic Hotels - promotion code FIARB 

Bookings: https://scandichotels.com​ 

The code gives a reduced refundable rate at all Scandic hotels during the conference. Rooms must be booked at least five days in advance, and can be cancelled free of charge until 6pm on the day of arrival. Breakfast is included in the room rate. 

Two locations are conveniently located near the Helsinki central train station and pre-conference venues:

Grand Central (4 star, 1-3 people per room): Vilhonkatu 13, 00100 Helsinki

Kaisaniemi (3 star, 1-5 people per room): Kaisaniemenkatu 7, 00100 Helsinki

Forenom Aparthotel Herttoniemi - promotion code OIKOS23

Bookings: https://www.forenom.com/aparthotels/helsinki/forenom-aparthotel-helsinki-herttoniemi/144/?checkin=%222022-12-02%22&checkout=%222022-12-09%22&occupants=1​ 

The code gives 10% off on all bookings during the conference. The hotel has rooms for 1-4 people, with kitchenettes. It is easily linked to the city centre by metro, and to the Viikki Campus by bus.

Address: Hitsaajankatu 12, 00810 Helsinki

From the city centre you can reach Viikki with any bus number starting with 7. Recommended routes are for instance:

• Bus 78 which runs from the Central railway station to the Infocenter/Infokeskus in Viikki - Bus stop "Viikin tiedepuisto".
• Bus 70 which runs from the Töölö area to Viikki - Bus stop "Viikki".

Buses 73, 74, 75, 79 and 701 also have stops near the conference venue.

Another option is to take the metro towards Vuosaari/Mellunmäki, hop off at "Siilitie" and take bus 79 to Viikki.

There are also multiple bus connections from Pasila railway station.

We recommend using the Journey Planner app HSL, where you can also purchase tickets: https://www.hsl.fi/?fromJourneyPlanner=true​, or using Google maps to look for public transport options.

• HSL (also in English) https://www.hsl.fi/liput-ja-hinnat/hsl-sovellus​

If flying to Helsinki, the airport is very well connected to the city centre via direct train (P and I) to the Central railway station, and tickets can be bought on site or via the HSL app.

Twice daily there will be coffee, tea and snacks for the coffee breaks on both conference days.

There are several places for having lunch in the Viikki campus, and you can also check https://www.lounaat.info/viikki-helsinki​:

• Ravintola Viikuna - Agnes Sjöbergin katu 2, 00710 Helsinki
• Sodexo Ladonlukko - Latokartanonkaari 9, A-talo, 00790 Helsinki
• UniCafe Biokeskus - Viikinkaari 9 , 00790 Helsinki
• Sodexo Viikin Kartano - Viikinkaari 8, 00790 Helsinki
• Chico's Viikki - Viikintori 3, 00790 Helsinki
• Ristorante Bello - Maakaari 9, 00790 Helsinki
• Food & Co Tähkä - Koetilantie 7 , 00790 Helsinki

There is also a quite big supermarket 750 m away from the conference venue - Prisma.

For local beers you can head to CoolHead Brew & Taproom, which is 800m away but is only open after 2pm.

There are plenty of places for eating in downtown Helsinki. The pre-conference day venues downtown (13th of Feb) will be located close to the Helsinki cathedral. Several UniCafe options are available for lunch (see map):

• UniCafe Metsätalo
• UniCafe Pesco & Vege Topelias
• UniCafe Porthania
• UniCafe Kaivopiha
• UniCafe Soc&Kom

Please also join us for the conference dinner on Tuesday Feb 14 in the Helsinki Congress Paasitorni, Paasivuorenkatu 5 A, 00530 Helsinki 

www.paasitorni.fi/en 

Check out things to do in Helsinki!!

https://www.myhelsinki.fi/your-local-guide-to-helsinki​

https://www.hel.fi/en​