The Africa-EU relations, migration, development and integration (AEMDI) project, aims to bring into conversation leading academics, policy makers, political observers and practitioners from civil society to explore and examine intra-Africa migration on one hand and EU-Africa relationships vis-à-vis migration on the other hand. Efforts to integrate Africa, through the RECs, should, then, be informed by lessons and parallels drawn from across Africa, and chiefly, the integration experience of the EU—particularly the Schengen Area—in moving from free movement of labour (only) to EU citizenship, as enshrined in Article 20 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Its main activities of AEMDI will include two international workshops and one international conference. One workshop will be hosted by the University of Eastern Finland and another by the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn) at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. The main output of AEMDI activities will be a scientific edited volume, based on deliberations in and papers from the workshops. The main outcome of AEMDI is the promotion of the Jean Monnet Programme and adoption of best practices from the EU`s successes in regional integration, in Africa. The impacts of AEMDI will include increased networking and expertise between/of academics, policy makers, professionals and relevant stakeholders in Africa and the EU. AEMDI responds to the need to promote development and well-being in Africa through, among other things, learned experiences from observed successes in EU integration.
Aino Korrensalo (aino.korrensalo@uef.fi)
I am a plant ecologist focusing on how vegetation impacts the production, uptake and release of greenhouse gases and biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in boreal peatlands. I would like to understand which properties of peatland plants, plant communities and ecosystems make up peatland carbon cycle and influence the response of peatlands to changing environment. I find it very rewarding when I’m able to build links between these different spatial scales. Currently, I am working with my Academy of Finland -funded post doc project where I study how BVOCs are produced and taken up in the peat and moss layer of peatlands and how their emission into the atmosphere impact climate through aerosol formation.
Anna Laine-Petäjäkangas (anna.laine-petajakangas@uef.fi)
My background is in peatland ecosystem ecology and my current main research interest falls on climate and biodiversity impacts of peatland restoration
Data Literacy for Responsible Decision-Making (DATALIT)
The project investigates use of data as well as development and use of new tools for data-based decision-making in social and healthcare public organizations. The project examines current practices and development projects, as well as their institutional and societal implications and impacts. One of the starting points is to study and evaluate especially the possibilities of using tools and models, which are not based on profiling individuals. A central goal is to identify criteria for socially sustainable uses of data rather than provision of a list of general ethical principles.
The project is a part of DataLit consortium coordinated by the University of Helsinki. The multidisciplinary consortium combines social sciences, law and computer science. The aim of the project is to develop understandable and reliable practices and tools, which can utilise Finnish social, healthcare and well-being data and promote data literacy.
Funded by: Strategic Research Council 10/2020-9/2023
Economic impacts of second home tourism
Ernesto Pasten Zapata (ernesto.pasten@uef.fi)
I am interested in hydrological modelling and the assessment of climate change impacts on the water resources. Additionally, I am interested on quantifying the uncertainty of the different sources, including hydrological models, climate models, bias-correction methods, scenarios, etc.
I joined UEF in summer 2021 for a 3-year postdoc position. During these three years I will assess different uncertainties that impact the assessment of climate change impacts for different sites in Europe.
Henni Ylänne (henni.ylanne@uef.fi)
I am a plant ecologist researching the impacts of reindeer grazing on the functioning of northern ecosystems. I’m particularly interested to assess how different grazing practices affect the carbon exchange between the ecosystem and the atmosphere.
Currently, I conduct my research in Pöyrisjärvi wilderness area in the projects ReindeerPaths (2020-2023) and LANDMOD (2020-2024) funded by the Academy of Finland.
Ilkka Pyy (ilkka.pyy@uef.fi)
Enclosed lecture courses, my essential duty is a weekly research seminar in Human Geography, in which I supervise both Bachelors’ thesis and Masters’ thesis. For me, the fieldwork is also highly important geographical method of learning and that is why I have coordinated two decades a Nordic-Baltic network, which moderates intensive two-week course in a yearly basis. Course themes and venues varies according to ongoing research projects. My research deals with polity changes of the welfare state, core-periphery relations and rural/regional development policies as well as the politics of local involvement, service provision and environmental concern. Currently, my research focuses on the impacts of green and silver economies for urban and land use planning in urban and rural areas. Finally yet importantly, I act as tutor teacher for Masters’ degree Human Geography students and work in departmental group for developing teaching.
Irmeli Mustalahti (irmeli.mustalahti@uef.fi)
Irmeli Mustalahti, Professor of Natural Resource Governance has a PhD in participatory forest practices and impacts (University of Copenhagen, Denmark). She is a chair of Responsive Natural Resources Governance-Research Group (RNRG). Her main research and teaching interests are long-term empirical research on natural resources governance, environmental conflict resolution, and collaborative management of natural resources. Since 2003, she has engaged with the Academy of Finland funded research projects and being in close collaboration with various international research networks. Since 2015, she has been developing jointly, with an international researchers and PhD supervisors, a course series called ‘Environmental collaboration and conflict resolution’. For example, in 2012-2016, she led the Academy of Finland funded projects ‘Towards Responsive Governance in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation? Comparative case study in Tanzania and Nepal’ and ‘REDD+: The new regime to enhance or reduce equity in global environmental governance? A comparative study in Tanzania, Mexico and Laos’. Currently, she is among of the leadership of the multidisciplinary research project, ‘All youth want to rule their world, ALL-YOUTH, 2018-2023’, a consortium funded by the Strategical Research Council of Finland. She is also a leader of MAKUTANO research project in Tanzania which aims to develop methodological and theoretical approaches for environmental collaboration and conflict resolution.
Jeremy Smith (jeremy.smith@uef.fi)
I carry out research on the recent and contemporary history on the countries of the Former Soviet Union. At present, there is an especial emphasis on the five countries of Central Asia. My research interests range from very specific, localized events and their impacts, to broad understandings of the interactions of time and space and the legacies of empires and long-distance trade routes on peripheral landscapes. My current projects involve work on post-Soviet borders, the role concern for ethnic Russians in neighbouring countries plays in Russian policy making, and constitutional arrangements and understandings of national minority rights in new post-Imperial countries.