On 7–8 August 2026, SustainERA took part in the Estonian Opinion Festival (Arvamusfestival) in Paide, with team members contributing to a wide range of public discussions on sustainability and societal change. The annual two-day festival brings together people from across society to strengthen democratic debate, foster civic engagement, and provide an open platform for diverse perspectives on issues ranging from environmental challenges and mental health to security, defence, and disability rights.
SustainERA was actively represented throughout the festival programme, including through two dedicated panel discussions and a backcasting workshop. These activities explored sustainability transformation from different perspectives, from envisioning fossil-free futures and examining degrowth to discussing the relationship between fossil fuels, masculinity, and political discourse.
Postdoctoral Research Fellows Dr Amy Shackelford and Dr Halliki Kreinin facilitated a SustainERA backcasting workshop that invited participants to envision a fossil-free future and reflect on their own roles in bringing about this transformation.
On the second day, Dr Amy Shackelford moderated the panel “Degrowth as a Collective Survival Strategy”, featuring SustainERA members Dr Grete Arro and Junior Research Fellows Dušan Pajović and Ayan Shamchiyeva. Drawing on local examples from the past and present, the discussion explored the potential of degrowth as a collective response to ecological and social challenges and considered pathways towards a more equitable and sustainable future.
Dr Halliki Kreinin also moderated a panel on petromasculinity, a concept developed by Prof Cara Daggett, a previous guest of the SustainERA Seminar Series. The discussion brought together Natalie Mets, Eero Janson, Frederik Klanberg and Kaimar Kuldkepp to examine how petromasculinity manifests in the Estonian context, particularly in politics and public discourse. The panel also considered the usefulness and limitations of bringing academic concepts such as petromasculinity into wider public debates in an increasingly polarised political environment.
Beyond these SustainERA-organised events, team members contributed extensively to the wider festival programme. Dr Grete Arro participated in discussions on technology and the brain, systems thinking in education, early childhood education and young people’s mental health in the age of social media. Prof Mari-Liis Jakobson chaired a discussion on the role of expert opinion in public debate, while Prof Anu Realo contributed to a conversation on why environmental concerns do not necessarily translate into electoral support. Prof Jaanus Terasmaa joined discussions spanning water and food security, climate action, sustainability knowledge, degrowth and the role of expertise in public debate. Kertu Vuks also contributed to a discussion examining whether environmental protection should be understood primarily as a cost or as a source of value for people and businesses under challenging political and economic conditions.
Through these contributions, SustainERA brought research on sustainability transformation into dialogue with wider public debate, creating opportunities to connect academic perspectives with the experiences, concerns and ideas of different groups in Estonian society.
