AYS in English
The Society for Regional and Environmental Studies (AYS) is a multi-disciplinary Finnish scientific society, representing the fields of human geography, environmental social science, regional studies, and related research areas. The society has a critical orientation. It enforces critical position-taking, social responsibility and dialogical relations between scholars, professionals, policy-makers, activists, and the general public. The main activities are scientific publishing, interaction between scholars and other actors, organization of scientific events, and participation in national science policy.
AYS published a high-quality scientific journal Alue & Ympäristö [Region & Environment] and a dialogical discussion series Versus. Both follow the principles of open access, no fees publishing. The publications are in Finnish yet longer and shorter texts may be published in other languages as well, if justified.
AYS was established in 1970. It is a member of the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) and has representation in the National Committee of the International Geographical Union (IGU).