Brexit provides an excellent opportunity to examine how the formal (state) and informal (social) processes of border-making relate to each other and play out in the everyday life of those impacted by this historic change. As the transitionary period after UK’s exit from the EU ends in December 2020, it is important to discuss the impact of the Brexit process from a migrant perspective. The prolonged uncertainty has already had an impact on the lives of intra-European migrants at multiple levels: for their legal status and rights as residents, for their work opportunities and career prospects and for identity and the sense of belonging and feeling of social inclusion to their host societies – be they the UK for the Nordic migrants or any of the other EU countries for the Brits.
UEF is host to several research projects that focus on the impact of Brexit on intra-European migrants. Dr. Tiina Sotkasiira has interviewed Finns living in Scotland and England as a part of her research on Brexit and Finns in Britain and Dr. Saara Koikkalainen has collected data among Nordic nationals in London . Together with two colleagues, researcher Peter Holley and Dr. Nicol Savinetti, Dr. Koikkalainen has also conducted a survey among Brits living in Europe (n=752).
The main aim of the project is to enhance landscape awareness and collaborative governance of cultural and natural landscapes through innovative learning interventions in higher education. The partners of the consortium are willing to tackle the question, how actors and stakeholders can collaborate into the governance of a landscape. Special concern will be attended for empowering methods to carry out collaborative planning and for improving the communication flow between local and regional authorities, environmental planners and managers, NGOs and citizens.
The project is developing and enhancing partnerships and innovation between HE institutions, organizations on the field of landscape planning and management, environmental NGOs and citizens. The activities of the project will take place in four countries in Europe (Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Finland). Partners are going to cooperate closely with each other and with regional and international networks and other stakeholders.
I obtained my PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the Institute for Physiologically Active Compounds of the Russian Academy of Science in 2019. The PhD studies were carried out with Professor Mikhali Krasavin at Saint Petersburg State University. My research is focused on the design, synthesis and biological profiling of Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. I am currently involved in a project related to the design of melanin-binding antiglaucoma drugs at the University of Eastern Finland.
