Kristina Leppälä
Postdoctoral Researcher
Post-doctoral researcher
Business School, Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies
Leppälä’s research primarily concentrates on navigation and enactments of sustainability and the circular economy. Her research interests include materials and technology, and industrial transitions towards sustainability. Leppälä came to academia from a long career in the high-tech industrial sector. She has been a visiting researcher at Exeter University (UK) and twice to Stanford University (USA), the latter as a Fulbright Finland scholar (2025). She serves on many boards and is frequently seen as a visiting speaker. Leppälä has made her home in Finland for decades, and maintains close ties to the US.
Research groups
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Innovation Management (INNO) 24.10.2017 - -
Sustainable Innovation Lab 01.08.2022 - -
Research Center for Sustainable Circular Economy 01.08.2021 -
Projects
Publications
27/27 items-
Entrepreneurial Resilience in a Phasing-Out Industry: Survival Strategies of Finnish Peat Entrepreneurs in Systemic Transition
Kinnunen, Juha P; Lehtimäki, Hanna; Leppälä, Kristina, 2026, Itä-Suomen yliopisto. Abstract -
Sustainability leadership in the circular economy transformation
Parkkinen, Ida; Leppälä, Kristina; Lehtimäki, Hanna; Thatchenkery, Tojo, 2026, Itä-Suomen yliopisto. Abstract -
Systemic Interdependencies of Circular Plastics Ecosystems
Piispanen, Ville-Veikko; Leppälä, Kristina; Lehtimäki, Hanna, 2026, Circular economy, 3, 5, 100-118. A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
Business and societal perspectives on circular plastics economy
Lehtimäki, Hanna; Leppälä, Kristina; Piispanen, Ville-Veikko; Sengupta, Subhanjan; Lampinen, Mikko, 2025, Ghosh, Pooja; Carrasco-Navarro, Victor; Kumar, Sunil; Lähde, Anna; Lehtimäki, Hanna, Circular Plastics Economy: A Multidisciplinary Perspective, 393-413. A3 Book section, Chapters in research books -
Medical devices, lifecycle assessments, and sustainability: a grand and complex challenge
Leppälä, Kristina; Attebery, Jonah E.; Hyttinen, Anne; Vornanen, Laura, 2025, Ghosh, Pooja; Carrasco-Navarro, Victor; Kumar, Sunil; Lähde, Anna; Lehtimäki, Hanna, Circular Plastics Economy: A multidisciplinary perspective, 345-366. A3 Book section, Chapters in research books -
Organization Development Interventions for Sustaining Circular Economy: The Role of Appreciative Intelligence.
Thatchenkery, Tojo; Lehtimäki, Hanna; Leppälä, Kristina; Parkkinen, Ida, 2025, Organization development journal, 43, 1, 67-77. A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
Remaining in the Field: The Vulnerability Paradox of Native Member Ethnography
Kosonen, Päivi; Leppälä, Kristina; Ikonen, Mirjami, 2025, International journal of qualitative methods, 24, 1-9. A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
Researching Sustainable Businesses
Leppälä, Kristina, 12.12.2025, Fulbright Finland Foundation: Blog. E1 Popularised article, newspaper article -
Sustainable Innovation Framework: A Review of Organization, Strategic Management, and Entrepreneurship Literature
Lehtimäki, Hanna; Leppälä, Kristina; Mielonen, Nuppu; Piispanen, Ville-Veikko; Henttonen, Kaisa; Sengupta, Subhanjan; Parkkinen, Ida; Liakh, Olena, 2025, Sustainable development, 34, S1, 34-64. A1 Journal article (refereed), original research -
The Quiet Side of Sustainability: Why the Little Things Matter
Leppälä, Kristina, 16.09.2025, CECE Voices: Leaps & Loops. E1 Popularised article, newspaper article


