The Recovery Tour in Estonia was held in Tallinn, Tartu, Haapsalu, Võru and Viljandi in Estonia between the 1st of September and 15th of November 2022. The public debates have taken place indoors with the exhibition displayed. All events were open to the general public.
Tartu 7th of October – Are wages recovering and can UBI help?
During recent events we have seen the huge impact that both the pandemic and Putin’s ruthless war in Ukraine has had on the European economy, inflation, fossil prices but most importantly on the job market. The availability of jobs, wages and their purchasing price have lowered repeatedly and are only slowly recovering. However, the recovery is too slow for those affected as the rent prices are skyrocketing, housing is getting increasingly more expensive at the same time the prices of necessary goods like energy, and food keep going up. Through all of these difficult times the most vulnerable groups are the ones affected the most in Estonia, as well as in Europe. During this event we want to focus the public’s attention on the current problems with wage inequality, gender pay gap, unpaid parental leave, and the job market for young people as well as the relevant Green solutions. We also want to talk about UBI and see how well it could fit as a solution.
Speakers:
- Simo Raittila (the coordinator of Green Think Tank Visio (Finland). He has a Master's degree in Social and Public Policy from the University of Helsinki and is currently working towards a PhD in Sociology)
- Hannes Mehrer (studied psychology and holds a PhD in computational neuroscience. He is one of the coordinators of the basic income working group of the German Greens, a member of the basic income working group of the Swiss Greens, and an editor of the latest issue of “European Green Perspectives on Basic Income”)
- Jaanus Nurmoja (UBI activist and “forefather” of the concept in Estonia)
- Karl Aaron Adson (panelist from young social democrats)
Johanna Maria Tõugu (Estonian Greens)
Võru 8th of October – Preserving cultural heritage while recovering from crises
The topic will focus on preserving local cultural heritage in a globalised world. The discussion was held in Võru, an Estonian county with a rich local cultural heritage, where people speak an indigenous regional language – Võru language. As such, Võru presents a perfect stage for asking questions about preserving local culture in a EU member state when we are recovering from the time of crises.
Speakers:
- Kadri Laube (local cultural activist)
- Rein Järvelill (Seto community leader)
- Kaspar Kurve (county lead and cultural activist)
Haapsalu 12.10.2022 17:00 – 20:00 Protecting the health of Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is considered to be one of the most polluted maritime areas in the world. Next to alien species, microplastic and excessive use of fertilizers in the area, the Baltic Sea is also struggling with noise pollution. The topic of water pollution is also not visible in the Estonian national discourse. In August there was an industrial leakage that caused the pollution in Umbusi river of a catastrophic magnitude with thousands of fish dying and it still took the work of numerous activists groups to make the topic visible in media and to the Estonian environmental public institutions.
We want to bring this topic to the public’s eye and during this event, we have discussed what has been done so far in order to protect the natural reservoirs and what can be done to foster the health of the Baltic Sea.
Speakers:
- Virginija Vingrienė, member of Lithuanian Democrats Party, environmentalist, state officiar, former member of the Lithuanian Parliament
- Aivo Hirmo (local municipality leader)
- Maret Merisaar (TalTech lecturer on maritime ecology)
Viljandi 13.10.2022 17:00 – 20:00 – Well-being of forests
We cannot keep using forests as a production line for wood and call it “green” Energy. We need to learn from examples of other European countries on how we can properly create biomass instead of cutting down enormous forests. We need to expand nature protection and increase the size of areas which are without any human intervention. We know that the Natura 2000 is not enough and that there is still logging in protected areas and during the nesting periods of local birds. This needs to be stopped.
During this event, we are going to discuss possible solutions, legislation, examples from other European countries and EU legislation regarding forests.
Speakers:
- Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (member of the European Parliament)
- Remigijus Lapiskas (member of the Lithuanian Greens, their representative in the National Agreement for the Future of Forests.)
- Marko Kaasik (co-chair of the Estonian Greens)
Tallinn 15.11.2022 11:00 – 17:00 Green future for EU businesses: how to step up your game
Estonia’s booming economy was heavily affected by the pandemic and was still early in recovery when Putin began his ruthless war in Ukraine. The effects of this war and the sanctions that followed can be seen through a variety of lenses, so Estonia’s skyrocketing inflation is just the tip of the iceberg. In this time many politicians and businesses are talking about slowing down the Green transformation, about reducing our climate goals but we know this is a move in the wrong direction This is why during our event we have shown the strength of green solutions for businesses in times of crises.
Speakers:
- Sarianna Mankki (political adviser and international secretary at Finnish Greens - Vihreät)
- Ines Villido (founder of the popular start-up Filaret, which produces 3D printing material from smoke cones)
- Liina Freivald (Senior Technical Program Manager for Microsoft, experienced technology leader and a passionate activist)
- Marko Kiisa (He oversees the trends and practices in banking, including the movement towards supporting and financing companies that aim for shifting towards greener business practices)
