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).
I provide support to accessing EU and related international funding programmes by:
- monitoring and identifying suitable funding opportunities for researchers in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies,
- providing advice on the presentation and content of proposals and application procedures, in line with funder requirements and expectations, and
- participating in the consortium development and proposal preparation process and reviewing and editing proposal components, as required.
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.
2.11.0.0
There are similar regional centres funded by the International Association of Schools of Social Work RRCs in other regions of the world such as China, Oceania and Eastern Africa. Our network of university partners is committed to exchange and communication across participating countries for the promotion of global social work education (including fieldwork) and the recognition of best examples of innovative and transformative social work research and practice.
We seek to create new opportunities for active partnership in teaching and research on the contemporary issues such as sustainability, diversity, inequality, migration and promote the regional professional profile of social work education and research. The centre is coordinated by the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany and University of Eastern Finland, Finland, higher education institutions with a longstanding commitment to global social work education and scholarship. The current coordinators of this centre are Professors Chaitali Das, (FUAS), Janet Carter Anand (UEF).
I am a doctoral researcher at the department of social sciences. My dissertation locates in the fields of youth studies and sociology and it deals with vocational students well-being from the perspective of Capability -approach and ecological sustainability. The aim of the research is to hear young people’s own perceptions of their well-being and examine how vocational education supports young people’s opportunities to live a life they have reason to value. In addition the objective is to find out, how ecological boundaries emerge in the young people’s perceptions of their own well-being. The practices of vocational education to promote opportunities for just and sustainable well-being are analyzed.
My previous research projects has dealt with participation and belonging at child welfare services, young peoples’ experiences and well-being in the times of Covid-19 and young peoples’ educational choices as well as equality in carrier guidance.
Leading an international research project on e-leadership with digital communication 2021-2016 funded by the Academy of Finland.
Research area I: E-leadership and digital communication. Challenges and opportunities in e-leadership, digital communication channels in e-leadership, video communication and social presence.
Research area II: Relationship marketing and B2B sales management. Customer relationships, customer experience, value co-creation, sales communication and interaction, interpersonal communication competence, digital marketing.
Research area III: Communication competence and AI in management. E-leaders’ and sales managers’ communication competence, physicians’ communication competence, AI integration in service and sales teams, AI and ethics in management.
My main duties are related to Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) Alliance, which makes it possible to study and develop one’s skills physically and online in 10 universities around Europe. I lead YUFE’s work package on Lifelong learning and support the other multilevel development work related to YUFE in our own university. I am also happy to discuss about the opportunities provided by YUFE with different groups.
Additionally, I enhance the internationalization of studies of our Finnish students, and the integration of our international students by regional, national and international network cooperation.
I work as a researcher in the research project Intergroup relations and local encounters – Immigrant and Finnish young people’s perceptions of each other, their lives and future in multicultural Savo. In addition, I am working on my doctoral dissertation on young people’s lay perceptions related to social classes and their agency. I also teach part-time in the subject of social psychology.
My research interests are related to themes of inequality and young people, viewed from the young people’s own point of view, in the way how they themselves perceive society and what kind of connection these lay perceptions have on how they perceive their opportunities and alternatives in their own lives. Methodologically, I am interested in mixed method research and especially its integrative approach.
Pedagogically, I am interested in developing multi-modal teaching, especially in an online environment, in the way that it supports meaningful learning for students from different backgrounds. Also developing more diverse evaluation methods in online teaching is one of my core interests.
I work as a project manager at the Business School at the University of Eastern Finland. I have wide experience in tourism research and development including sustainable tourism, nature-based tourism, e-tourism and cultural and event tourism. I have experience in multiple tourism projects funded for example by EU Regional Development Fund, European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, European Commission, and the Finnish ministries. My goal is to work in the interface of the tourism business and research and develop the tourism business by offering them insights from the latest research. I am especially interested in responsible tourism and sustainability marketing, as well as opportunities offered by technology for improving the customer experience and making tourism more sustainable.
Specialities:
Sustainable and responsible tourism
Sustainability marketing
Nature-based tourism
Event & cultural tourism
Customer research and knowledge
