In the spirit of the upcoming environment summit in Copenhagen, Jari Kaivo-oja discussed the challenges of the post-carbon society. The society has to adapt to using new sources for energy and preparing for the ecological and societal impact of the change in the environment. Finland and the EU are focusing their goals in the reducing emissions, improving energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources. New innovations in technology are needed, but are not sufficient; energy safety, resource sufficiency and the development of the price for oil have all to be taken into account. Cosmetic changes are not enough: the society has to critically re-evaluate policies on traffic and transportation, housing and city development, for example.

Kari A. Hintikka discussed the possibilities of how political parties can organise themselves in the internet age. The scenario examines the possibilities of four internet traits: crowdsourcing, wikis, collective intelligence and a network without a scale. The scenario presents four different kinds of political parties; ranging from parties striving for a consensus to parties embracing diversity. Interestingly enough, the parties presented in the scenario can be considered to have their real-life counterparts within the current political parties in Finland.