The 2008 Evaluation of SYKE

The Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) was established in 1995, at the same time when major structural changes were made in the Finnish environmental administration. SYKE is currently both a research institute and a centre for environmental expertise in Finland. SYKE’s expert services provide assistance on a wide range of environmental issues for administrators, local authorities, industries, firms and other organisations. SYKE closely monitors environmental trends and the state of the environment in Finland in co-operation with Finland’s thirteen regional environment centres. SYKE serves as the national environmental data centre in Finland. SYKE’s research and development programmes assess environmental problems from a multi-disciplinary perspective, by integrating socio-economic considerations into scientific research. The research and development programmes focus on a wide range of environmental issues, from global (e.g. climate change and loss of biodiversity), regional (e.g. acidification) or, in some cases, local issues (e.g. soil pollution).