Alex Berg (alex.berg@uef.fi)
The current project that I am working on currently at the UEF Law School addresses the Legal Rights of Older Immigrants and Immigrants with Dementia in Finland.
The legal rights of older immigrants and immigrants with dementia have not been researched extensively globally. In Finland, the research in this area is scarce. It is important to study these groups of people as the numbers of older immigrants and immigrants with dementia is increasing in the country. The study aims at investigating their lived experiences and the obstacles they might face regarding their legal rights and access to justice, and whether they feel stigmatized in society because of their vulnerable situation. It is also necessary to find solutions and strategies that aim at improving their lives and welfare in the Finnish society. The study will primarily employ an empirical approach to investigate the firsthand experiences of these groups through conducting semi-structured qualitative interviews with them. The inputs and experiences of people dealing with these groups will be considered as well in the data collection process. From a legal perspective, the research will analyze the policies regarding access to justice for these two groups, such as the Elderly Care Act, the Non-Discrimination Act, and the Social Welfare Act. From a social perspective, the problem will be looked at from a social stigmatization standpoint. This is in the sense that belonging to one of the categories of being ‘immigrant’, ‘old’, and ‘ill’ can lead to stigmatization. This research addresses groups of immigrants who belong to at least two of these categories, hence what can be identified as ‘intersecting stigmas’, and potentially a reinforced experience of hindrances to access to justice.
Antti-Jussi Kouvo (antti.kouvo@uef.fi)
I am a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Eastern Finland. My teaching focuses on research methods, especially statistical ones. My research focuses on well-being, social cohesion and social networks. I have studied the topics in the contexts of welfare states, neighbourhoods and the disadvantaged groups. For example, in our research project “The neighboring networks of the older city dwellers” we looked at the role of neighborhood networks for the well-being of older people and in our current project called SISU (funded by Research Council of Finland) I lead a work package that focuses on the role of institutional trust during the green transition.
Anu Lainio (anu.lainio@uef.fi)
I am a postdoctoral researcher in the research project ‘Breadline Utopias: Alternative Futures of Material Assistance,’ funded by the Kone Foundation. We explore utopias of those working in food assistance now and in the future, as well as those who need food aid.
I earned my Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2024 from the University of Surrey in the field of sociology of education. My doctoral research was part of the ERC-funded Eurostudents project, which explored constructions of contemporary higher education students by various social actors across six European countries. In my thesis, ‘Discursive Politics of Studentship: Representation of Higher Education Students in the News Media Across Europe,’ I examined and compared constructions of students in newspapers in Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, Poland, and Spain.
My research interests encompass a wide range of higher education-related themes, including student identities and discursive practices of identity formation, marketisation of higher education, educational inequalities, media studies, and cross-national and international higher education research. Currently, my research focuses on utopian theories and methods, students’ utopias of food assistance, as well as the political imagination and agency of students in a changing welfare society.
Center of Law and Welfare
Child Welfare Services
Gender equality in the change of social and health care services – Study on equality among healthcare and social welfare staff
Harri Kalimo (harri.kalimo@uef.fi)
The economy and the environment are fundamental elements of sustainable Finnish, European and indeed global futures. The EU continues to strive towards a more competitive economy, while it at the same time faces enormous environmental challenges in many areas from resource use to biodiversity and climate change. Moreover, these environmental and economic challenges are tightly intertwined. The search for increasing global welfare needs to take place within the limited boundaries of the natural resources available today and for the generations to come. This challenge promises on the other hand also opportunities for those that are the most advanced in “greening their economies”.
These societal challenges and opportunities are at the core my professorship on the “circular economy” and the EU and international economic law. The societal objectives and the support for achieving them takes to a notable extent place in the laws and policies that govern the fast evolving environmental and economic sectors, and their interactions in Finland, the EU and beyond. The objective of my professorship is to deliver theoretically advanced, policy relevant research and education on this environment-economy nexus, focusing on the circular economy, sustainable trade agreements and green public procurement.
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Henna Nikumaa (henna.nikumaa@uef.fi)
Henna Nikumaa (Master of Social Services) works as a Lecturer in Elder Law and coordinator of the Center of Law and Welfare.
Nikumaa’s research has focused on autonomy and supporting the legal capacity of people with dementia, which also her doctoral thesis scrutinizes. In addition to the subjects of her doctoral thesis, Nikumaa is also interested in the equality of elderly and disabled people as well as challenges of autonomy and protection of people with dementia.
Nikumaa has worked for 20 years in various positions in the field of elder care. Especially she has led projects that developed and strengthened later life legal planning, equality and the rights of people with dementia. She has published, in particular, articles and textbooks for social and health care professionals.
Nikumaa has completed a master’s degree in leadership and management and has many years of experience in management and supervision from different organizations as well as from different research and development projects. She is a member of the European Law and Ageing Network (ELAN) and of an European expert group that works on recommendations for an EU-wide dementia strategy. She is also a co-founder of the Finnish network of Elder Law Experts (VAASI).
Heta Tuominen (heta.tuominen@uef.fi)
Research
My research links the study of motivation with well-being and explores both among children and young people. I started working at the University of Eastern Finland in September 2022. In my Academy Research Fellow project (2022–2027), the main objective is to examine the developmental and situational dynamics between students’ motivation, perfectionism, and academic well-being across upper secondary education, and to consider the role of student welfare in supporting students’ learning and well-being.
Teaching
Educational psychology; research on motivation, learning, and well-being; quantitative research methods; PhD theses supervision; Master’s theses supervision
Other
I am the editor-in-chief of The Finnish Journal of Education and the coordinator of the Educational Psychology and Learning Research Special Interest Group of the Finnish Educational Research Association.