Strategy, responsibility and ethics at Luke

We are a research and expertise organisation, working to promote the sustainable use of natural resources and the bioeconomy. We use our research to deliver value and solutions for our customers, locally and globally. Our strengths are our expertise in sustainable production and use of natural resources and our deep knowledge of raw materials.

We employ around 1300 people, half of whom are scientists. We operate in 22 locations throughout Finland.

Our strategy responds to the key challenges facing the natural resources sector. Combating climate change, halting biodiversity loss and developing sustainable and profitable primary production require more effective solutions.

Our activities are centrally linked to a number of sustainability challenges and goals. Our strategy comprehensively considers the drivers of change in our environment, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, the use of natural resources that threaten sustainability and the resulting need to promote circular economy approaches. Our current strategy runs until the end of 2025.

International cooperation and collaboration with industry and research-based decision support will strengthen the impact of our work.

The changing world of work and digitalisation underpin our multi-location model. Digital solutions will make our services and research results more widely available.

In addition to the strategy, Luke's work and operations are guided by the Code of Conduct and Luke's values. Our Code of Conduct outlines the ethical principles by which everyone at Luke works.

As a research institution, it is of the utmost importance to us that our work is of high quality, honest and reliable. Research ethics, research neutrality and accountability are the cornerstones of what we do.

Luke's customers, stakeholders, partners and funders expect impartiality, independence, accountability and reliability from our work. We at Luke expect the same from our working community. In research, Luke is committed to the ethical guidelines of The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK (Good Scientific Practice, GSP) and to good scientific and statistical practice (Chapter 11, Code of practice) in all its activities, including client projects, research and statistical activities.

Research ethics committee

Luke’s research ethics committee supports the management in the evaluation, preparation and decision-making of cooperation initiatives from within or outside Luke, especially regarding ethical issues concerning partners, funding sources and the use of research results.

Ethical committee on empirical research related to natural resources

Luke's Ethical committee on empirical research related to natural resources supports researchers in their ethical reflection and helps them to identify projects that need ethical reflection and prior assessment through the use of ethical principles. Our 2024 Ethical Principles for Research on the Environment and Organisms will form the basis of our pre-assessment work.

The ethical principles and prior assessment aim to reduce harm to the environment or organisms and to enable experimental research at Luke. The committee also ensures that research takes into account the obligations imposed by laws, regulations and legislation. In the case of a prior assessment, the research plan must be approved by the Scientific Ethics Committee before the research can begin. The ex-ante evaluation covers certain research designs identified in the research ethics principles. In its opinion, the Committee gives an informed view on whether the research is ethically acceptable.

Ethical review in human sciences

Luke uses the Ethical review in human sciences to weigh up the ethical risks of a research proposal. Research must be conducted in a way that respects the dignity and autonomy of the subjects and does not pose significant risks, harm or damage to the subjects or communities or other research subjects.

Prior ethical review is primarily requested from the partner's ethics committee, as Luke does not have its own ethics committee for the human sciences. If it is not possible to obtain an assessment from the project partner, it may be purchased from the University of Turku.

National Project Authorisation Board and Luke’s animal welfare groups

We take animal welfare into account in our experimental research, and Luke's internal animal welfare groups support the work.

Luke uses animals in its research and has a licence to operate as required by the Laboratory Animals Act. For experimental procedures in projects, a separate permit must be obtained if the procedures in the project cause pain to the animal equal to or greater than a pinprick. Project authorisation is obtained from the National Project Authorisation Board (formerly the Animal Experimentation Board ELLA).

Luke has wildlife, fish and farm animal welfare groups. The role of the internal Animal Welfare Groups is to advise staff on animal welfare issues: welfare monitoring, reporting, developing and reviewing monitoring, monitoring the progress and outcome of projects in terms of animal welfare, and deciding whether to release or return animals used in projects to an appropriate management system.

Since 2023, Luke has also had an Animal welfare and health coordination group at Luke (EHYT animals). Its main task is to coordinate and monitor the welfare and health of animals in care or research at Luke and to collate the results of the Animal Welfare Group. The group reports once a year to the Luke Management Group on issues related to the health and welfare of Luke's animals.

We are responsible for four networks, the AgriHub Farm Business Competence Network, the Tulanet cooperation network, the Finnish Organic Research Institute and the Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare. These networks are an integral part of our stakeholder engagement and our success in our mission.

the AgriHub Farm Business Competence Network improves the profitability of farm businesses by promoting business management skills and the adoption of smart agriculture solutions and the efficient use of data. The network is based on collaboration between farm entrepreneurs, research, education, training, extension, business and administration. AgriHub builds bridges and close dialogue to renew the agricultural field and strengthen the profitability of farm businesses.

Tulanet is a collaborative forum that provides a common voice for research institutions in the development of research policy and the research system. The Tulanet consortium consists of Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), the National Land Survey of Finland (NLS), the Finnish Food Authority, the Finnish Environmental Institute (Syke), the Technical Research Centre Finland (VTT Oy), the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) and the Institute for Economic research VATT and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA).

the Finnish Organic Research Institute is a joint network of experts of the University of Helsinki and the Luke, whose activities support the strengthening of domestic organic production in the entire food system.

the Finnish Centre for Animal Welfare is a national centre of expertise on animal welfare in Finland.

Sustainability Lab deepens understanding of sustainability  

Sustainable use of natural resources is a priority for society. Achieving this goal requires multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary debate and research to enable better solutions from a sustainability perspective in decision-making. In 2024, Luke's internal Sustainability Lab discussion network will bring together researchers from different scientific and disciplinary fields to reflect on current and future-oriented research questions and to learn more about how to use new types of research methods to address them. The lively discussions were inspired both by our own researchers and by external speakers.