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Ismo Pölönen ([email protected])

Ismo Pölönen is a Professor of Environmental Law (Bioeconomy and Natural Resources Law) at the UEF Law School. Pölönen defended his dissertation on environmental impact assessment in 2007 and was awarded the title of docent in environmental law in 2012. His research has focused on the EU and Finnish law on environmental impact assessment, mining and forest legislation, land use planning law and public participation rights. Pölönen is very experienced in multidisciplinary and international research projects. He has also held several expert roles that have supported the drafting of legislation and the practical implementation of legal statutes. Pölönen leads legal-scientific sub-project in CORE-consortium funded by funded by Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland. This sub-project studies collaborative environmental planning and decision-making from the regulatory perspective. Furthermore, he leads a sub-project of TRANAPLAN-consortium (2020-2024) funded by Academy of Finland. This study brings together planning theory and jurisprudence to examine land use planning especially in the Finnish context.

Jasmiina Leskinen ([email protected])

I work as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Eastern Finland in the Department of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education in Joensuu. My duties include both research and teaching tasks.

Throughout my career, I have studied STEAM learning, particularly in makerspace learning environments. My research focuses on the collective learning processes of children and adults. I have examined these processes from various perspectives, drawing on sociocultural theoretical understanding. I have studied, among other topics, distributed leadership, relational expertise, innovation practices, and the collective construction of (in)equity in technologically supported makerspace learning environments.

In our current research group, we explore the potential of AI-based chatbots to support teaching and learning.

Jenni Alisaari ([email protected])

Jenni Alisaari works in the School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, where her main job is teaching the Master’s Degree Programme in Early Language Education for Intercultural Communication. She also teaches other students on the topics of linguistically responsible pedagogy, language awareness, language pedagogy and multilingual learners.

Previously, Alisaari has worked as a university lecturer of Finnish at the University of Stockholm, as a special researcher in sociology at the INVEST research centre at the University of Turku, and as a teacher trainer at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi. Alisaari has also provided professional development training for teachers on linguistically and culturally responsible teaching for several years. Linguistically responsible teaching takes into account, among other things, the dimensions of language in the school context and the link between language and culture and identity. It also supports the development of language skills and promotes the use of multilingualism as a resource for learning. Culturally responsive teaching takes into account all dimensions of cultural identities, such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and socio-economic background, and their relationship to learning.

Alisaari’s main research interests are related to linguistically responsible pedagogy, multilingualism and language learning. She has also studied the teaching and guidance of newly arrived students and students studying Finnish or Swedish as a second language and literature. Alisaari’s doctoral thesis dealt with learning Finnish by singing, listening to songs or rhythmically reciting song lyrics.

Jenni Bäckman ([email protected])

In my doctoral dissertation, I investigate how students in the fields of mathematics and the natural sciences develop their engagement with studies in various learning environments. My focus is particularly on pedagogical approaches, teaching models, and learning environments. Nowadays, university education is offered in multiple formats, such as on-campus, remote, and online, which pose challenges for building student engagement. Engagement with studies is crucial for completing a degree and fostering a sense of belonging.

In addition, I work as a project researcher in the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) initiative. Our work package 5.2 focuses on innovations in education, such as teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and the use of educational technology and learning analytics.

 

Research projects:

  • 2024-2026 YUFE (Young Universities for the Future of Europe) – WP 5.2 Research Publication on Innovation in Education in the YUFE Context, Project researcher
  • 2022 Utilization of learning analytics in the various educational levels for supporting self-regulated learning (OAHOT) project (Business Finland), School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Project researcher
  • 2021 DigiCampus -Retrofitting Learning Landscapes-subproject (Ministry of Education and Culture), School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Project researcher

Jenni Huurinainen ([email protected])

Hi! 🙋‍♀️

I work in the web services team of the UEF Communications and Media Relations. Our team is responsible for developing UEF’s key online services.

My main responsibilities include:

  • Our approximately 300 separate websites built on the WordPress platform. I work on improving the shared theme (and the two versions of it) used across these sites, together with UEF’s Digital Services and our partner company. In addition, I support content editors in their daily work.
  • UEF Intranet. Within the intranet team, we make sure that our roughly 250 intranet editors have the support they need and share a common approach when it comes to updating the UEF Intranet’s 1300 pages (+ another 1300 in English). The team includes members from UEF Communications and Digital Services.

In addition:

  • I am a member in a team focusing on the accessibility of UEF’s online services. We work on finding solutions and developing practices to ensure and improve the accessibility of UEF’s digital services. The team includes members from UEF Student and Learning Services, Digital Services, Legal Affairs, and Strategy and Communications Services.
  • I participate, as needed, in the communications working groups of the units within UEF Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, especially from the web services point of view.

The best way to reach me is by email, as I am not easily reachable by phone.

Jenni Kankaanpää ([email protected])

Jenni Kankaanpää (M. A., Ed.) works as a doctoral researcher at University of Eastern Finland. Jenni is a trained teacher and has worked in various research projects on both primary and higher education for several years. Especially, she has gained experience on educational development in higher education and flipped classroom/learning during research tasks and when training teachers in implementing them. Her doctoral research is related to higher education teachers’ pedagogical development work in flipped and blended contexts.

Research projects

  • 2021–2022 Utilization of learning analytics in the various educational levels for supporting self-regulated learning (OAHOT) project (Business Finland), School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Project researcher
  • 2020–2021 DigiCampus -Retrofitting Learning Landscapes-subproject (Ministry of Education and Culture), School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Project researcher
  • 2020 The Work-integrated Pedagogy in Higher Education project (WORKPEDA) (Ministry of Education and Culture), School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Project researcher
  • 2017–2019, Flipped Learning project (Ministry of Education and Culture), School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Project researcher
  • 2015–2017, Preparing teacher students for the 21st century learning practices (PREP21) project (Academy of Finland), School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Research assistant
  • 2015, We are Europe project (Erasmus+), Research assistant (temporary, part-time), School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Research assistant
  • 2013, Children tell of their well-being – Who listens? project (Academy of Finland), School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Research assistant

Jenni Lahtinen ([email protected])

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.

Jing Zhou ([email protected])

My research examines how youth well-being is shaped across different social contexts and conditions of vulnerability. I focus in particular on adolescent and young people’s mental health, social inclusion, and everyday life experiences in contemporary welfare societies, with attention to how individual resources interact with family environments, educational settings, and broader institutional and policy frameworks.

A central feature of my work is the use of diverse empirical contexts to address a shared set of theoretical questions. I have conducted and am currently conducting research on urban youth populations in Shanghai, exploring youth development, social participation, and mental well-being in rapidly changing metropolitan environments. In parallel, I am engaged in research on family resilience among families of children and adolescents with special needs, with a focus on caregiving practices, family resources, and the role of institutional support. Building on these research lines, I am currently developing work on immigrant adolescents, examining social inclusion, psychosocial adjustment, and inequalities in well-being.

Methodologically, my research is grounded in quantitative and mixed-methods approaches. I work extensively with large-scale survey data and apply advanced statistical techniques, including structural equation modeling, latent profile analysis, and multi-group and alignment-based measurement invariance testing. Across my work, I place strong emphasis on rigorous measurement, cross-context comparability, and the translation of empirical findings into insights relevant for both academic research and policy development.

I am currently involved in several nationally and internationally funded research projects. Among these, I serve as principal investigator of a project supported by the Juho Vainio Foundation, which focuses on promoting healthy lifestyles and mental well-being among school-aged populations, with particular attention to digital well-being, physical activity, and sleep. My research is embedded in international research networks and aims to contribute to high-quality scientific publications as well as evidence-informed youth, family, and health policies.