Sanna Mustasaari (sanna.mustasaari@uef.fi)
LL.D Sanna Mustasaari is Senior Researcher at the Center of Law and Welfare, UEF Law School. Her on-going research project Children Abroad: A Relational Analysis of Finnish Child Protection and Welfare in Transnational Contexts [CARELA], Academy of Finland 2020-2024) adopts an interdisciplinary approach to study children’s rights to protection in various transnational settings. She is the PI of the NOS-HS exploratory workshop series Transnational Childhoods, Transnational Rights (https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/group/nos-hs-workshop-series-transnational-childhoods-transnational-rights-nordic-responses-to-global-challenges-in-the-field-of-child-protection/ ) and leads a subproject in a Consortium that focuses on cross-border child protection (SUOJATIE, 2022-2024).
Mustasaari’s PhD “Rethinking recognition: Transnational families and belonging in law” (2017) studied the diverse forms of the legality and recognition of family relationships in different normative systems. Her main research interests include religion and family law, human rights law, private international law, migration law, children’s rights, trans rights, relational legal theory, feminist legal theory, rights in context, and migration and transnationalism studies.
Sari Havu-Nuutinen (sari.havu-nuutinen@uef.fi)
Sari Havu-Nuutinen: PhD, Education. Professor on education, especially early years education. Havu-Nuutinen works at School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education involved e.g. in minor studies of pre-primary education, international master’s degree program and postgraduate studies in education. She has more than 20 years’ experience of teacher education in Finland and during the period she has actively participated in the curriculum development in teacher education.
She is internationally collaborative researcher in her research field addressing young children’s teaching and learning in science education. She has participated in science education research and developmental projects internationally and nationally. In addition, she is leading national school related projects relating to science education and flexible learning environments. She worked as a Fulbright scholar (ASLA Fulbright senior research grant) at Ohio University 2015.
Sini Kontkanen (sini.kontkanen@uef.fi)
My research areas consist of teachers’ and pre-service teachers’ professional development from the point of view of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). At the moment, I work as a researcher in FINSCI project (funded by the Academy of Finland), where our interest is to discover parents’ science capital and children’s science literacy. I am responsible teacher of in-service training program for working teacher called ‘Learning and teaching in Digital Environment’ (60ECTS). I work as an educator in School of Applied Educational Sciences and Teacher Education, especially on themes of digital learning and primary education.
Supporting children’s language and emotional skills by literary art intervention
Susanna Iivonen (susanna.iivonen@uef.fi)
Susanna Iivonen is a University Lecturer (Physical Education) in School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education.
Teaching: Physical education in early childhood education teacher education, supervision of theses.
Research areas: Physical education pedagogy in early childhood education, children’s motor skills, physical activity and outdoor play, physical education in early childhood education teacher education.
Suvianna Hakalehto (suvianna.hakalehto@uef.fi)
Suvianna Hakalehto is professor of law teaching tort law, child law and education law. The topic of her PhD thesis from the University of Helsinki (2008) was tort liability of public authorities. Since 2010 the main focus of Suvianna’s research has been children’s rights. Her post doctoral study (2012) was on pupils’ rights at school.
Suvianna is interested in the special legal status of a minor in various context (family, school, health care etc) and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Finland. Her recent publications are from the field of education law (school discipline, inclusion, supervision of education providers). She is now writing a book on children’s rights in early childhood education and care.
Suvianna has been training lawyers as well as professionals on several fields on tort law and children’s rights more than twenty years. She was one of the founders of Child Law Lawyers and was a chair of the association 2013-2020.
The Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) study
Tiina Kuutti (tiina.kuutti@uef.fi)
I work as a University Teacher in Early Childhood Education Teacher training. I am also a Ph.D. student and I am currently working on my doctoral thesis. My research focuses on the participation and peer relationships of children with special educational needs in early childhood education. The aim of my research is to find out effective ways to support inclusion in ECE and the belonging of each child.
Timo Lakka (timo.lakka@uef.fi)
Timo Lakka is a Professor of Medical Physiology at University of Eastern Finland, a Specialist in Internal Medicine, and an Adjunct Professor of Public Health. His research is focused on the identification of individuals at increased risk of overweight, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases and the prevention of these diseases and conditions by increasing physical activity and improving diet since childhood. He is a Principal Investigator in the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) study and a Co-Principal Investigator in the Stop Diabetes (StopDia) study and the Dose Responses to Exercise Training (DR’s EXTRA) study. He has also acted as a senior researcher in many other large-scale lifestyle intervention studies, long-term epidemiological follow-up studies, and wide international genetic-epidemiological studies. He has published over 360 scientific articles in international journals, and these articles have almost 60 000 citations and a h-index of 106 (Google Scholar). He has supervised 24 doctoral theses and is a supervisor of another 13 doctoral students.