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Vili Virkki ([email protected])

I work in the Global Water Sustainability research group led by Associate Professor Miina Porkka on two projects.

The GloWater project, funded by the Strategic Research Council established within the Research Council of Finland, places Finland in the global water security context. I am currently analysing Finland’s contribution to changes in freshwater resources and water security elsewhere in the world (e.g. through trade markets) and the potential risks to Finland from freshwater change in selected highlight areas that emerge from the analysis  (e.g. for security of supply).

The AQUAGUARD project, funded by the European Research Council, investigates the impacts of human activities on the freshwater cycle and its subsequent effects on other parts of the Earth system. I am instructing two PhD theses within the project: Elina Paavonen’s research focuses on changes in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and Ronit Bohra’s research delves into forests and climatic impacts of freshwater change. Moreover, I support the research of three AQUAGUARD postdoctoral researchers: Marija Cosovic‘s work on wetland biodiversity, Ville Lindgren‘s work on moisture recycling, and Vincent Sorjonen-Biard‘s work on flow changes and riverine ecosystem health.

My doctoral thesis, completed in autumn 2024, dealt with changes in the freshwater cycle and the role of these changes in the Earth system, with a particular focus on the planetary boundaries framework and its development.

Virpi Kaisto ([email protected])

I hold a Doctorate in Social Sciences (DSocSci), Human Geography. My doctoral study explored the Finnish-Russian borderland as a lived space during the period from 2013 to 2018. The research examined how residents on both sides of the border imagined and used their local environment in a period of relatively free cross-border mobility. My previous studies have also focused on the everyday life of people living in the Finnish-Russian borderland and on territorial development in border areas.

My last research project was CHANEBO (Challenges at EU’s North-East External Borders). It analysed the impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine war and the suspension of the CBC ENI programs on the north-eastern external border regions of the EU. It developed policy recommendations on how EU cohesion policy can better support the resilience and sustainable development of its external border regions in the face of future crises.

Virpi Vellonen ([email protected])

I am a University Lecturer in Special Education and a docent in Education Technology, particularly Education Technologies for People with Special Needs (School of Computing).

My research and teaching focus on the development of learning environments, the design and implementation of educational technologies, supporting learning and well-being, enhancing communication, interaction and participation, autism, and the development of teacher education. In addition to teaching, I supervise master’s theses, doctoral researchers, and teaching practice for special education teacher students. I am responsible for the Special Education Teacher Qualification Studies.

Xiaoyue Hu ([email protected])

Xiaoyue Hu is a social work and implementation science scholar focusing on technology-enabled care innovations, digital inclusion, and policy implementation for ageing populations.

Her work sits at the intersection of implementation science and community-and home-based care for older adults, with a particular interest in dementia care and in how AI and digital technologies can be put to use in their everyday practice. Her research is also supported by the TWIN4CARE Horizon Europe project

“TWIN4CARE addresses this challenge by developing and testing interdisciplinary participatory methods that enable care workers, older adults, and family caregivers to meaningfully shape trustworthy welfare technologies across institutional and home care settings”

Before coming to Finland, she served as a research assistant at the Fudan-Harvard Centre for Medical Anthropology and the Fudan University Centre for Social Governance Research. She actively contributed to several Chinese nationally funded research initiatives, including the National Social Science Fund of (Major Programme), the Ministry of Education Major Research Programme on Philosophy and Social Sciences, and theoretical research projects of the National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration of China.

Xingyue Su ([email protected])

Responsible AI-Assisted Elder Care in Finland and China: Trust, Sustainability and Occupational Well-Being of Professional Care Workers

My research explores the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and welfare technologies into gerontological social work practice, with a focus on enhancing the occupational well-being of care workers in elder care. I am interested in how technology-enhanced social work interventions can support older adults. My work adopts a comparative perspective, primarily examining practices and policies in Finland and China, to better understand how digital interventions and AI-supported care influence both care outcomes and workforce sustainability in aging societies.

AI for Mindful Care and Aging (2026-2029)

Project Researcher

AI for Mindful Care and Aging: Navigating vulnerability in the use and implementation of automated home care – Lund University

AI is viewed as a promising and inevitable development in home care, with the potential to tackle challenges linked to societal aging, such as diverse care needs, workforce shortages, and inefficiencies in welfare systems. However, its implementation raises ethical concerns about how AI may produce or exacerbate vulnerability through exclusion, marginalization, labor exploitation, and emerging risks for older adults and care workers. This project examines how vulnerability is constructed, negotiated, and practiced in using and implementing AI-automated home care in Estonia, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. It focuses on four empirical dimensions: (1) how AI, aging, and care are represented in regulatory frameworks; (2) how innovation leaders frame user needs, opportunities, risks, and worst-case scenarios; (3) how older adults perceive and experience AI in home care; and (4) how care workers respond to AI integration in the workplace. We propose “vulnerability intersections” as a conceptual approach to examine how vulnerability emerges at the intersection of biographical histories, social identities, and shifting structural conditions. The project draws on political economy, life course theory, intersectionality, and the sociology of translation to enable a multi-level understanding of vulnerability as socially and institutionally produced.

Empirically, the study examines policy texts, expert interviews with innovation leaders, and life course narratives of older adults and care workers, using qualitative methods. A critical and comparative perspective informs analysis, ensuring sensitivity to cross-country variations in sociocultural contexts. The project will generate new knowledge on how AI-driven automation shapes care experiences, labor, inequality, and welfare systems, while informing policy and practice by identifying structural disadvantages and highlighting promising and problematic responses to vulnerability. To maximize societal impact, we will implement a targeted communication, dissemination, and stakeholder engagement strategy to involve policymakers, practitioners, and the public in support of strengthening social resilience of older adults and care workers and fostering ethical and responsible use of AI. An interdisciplinary team of early-stage, junior, and senior researchers will conduct the research, supported by capacity building and academic exchange activities.