Punos seeks to drive social change within the cultural sector through research, training and art.

For just sustainability transformations to thoroughly permeate societies, new ideas, stories and leaps of imagination will be needed. Hence the meaningful processing of climate change, loss of biodiversity and other ecological threats will require cultural research approaches and creative methods.

Punos generates doctoral research projects with a research outlook that draws from interdisciplinary sustainability research and energy humanities. Current research brings about new, empirical data on sustainability transformations in the field of art, the role of artist residencies in sparking and spreading sustainability transformations (Nurmenniemi), and perspectives on the connections between fossil energy and contemporary cultures through art research (Koski).

Punos is involved in an area that lies between the worlds of academic research and the arts: weaving, translating, and transmitting ideas and discussions that lead towards more just and socio-ecologically sustainable worlds. The artistic work and the scientific research feed into each other, as Punos works in close cooperation with artists and research communities.