Alex is a PhD student in social philosophy at Tampere University and an associate director - social specialist at Wardell Armstrong International. His research involves introducing critical theory approaches (e.g., Recognition theory, decolonial and critical gender theories), to implement novel practices in environmental, social, community health and human rights impact assessment studies. His work in ESG consultancy is largely conducted in the Global South, evaluating impacts from renewable energy, oil and gas, mining and infrastructure projects, with a focus on vulnerable groups.

In my doctoral project, I investigate connections between belonging, development of group identities, urbanization, and political representation and participation in decision-making in the restrictive settings of contemporary Russia. More specifically, in my study, I analyze the peculiarities of these phenomena among non-Russian ethnic minorities and Indigenous peoples. My research is based on the case study of Komi people inhabiting Syktyvkar, the capital of Russia's north-western Komi Republic.

Projects

Materiality and Immateriality in Amazonian Indigenous Christianities

Nathaly Pinto is a doctoral researcher at Aalto University, Finland, and an Adjunct Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica in Ecuador. With design training in Ecuador and the Netherlands, she has spent nearly a decade collaborating on projects with popular classes and indigenous peoples, partnering with civil society organizations in Ecuador and Andean South America. Her research centers on participatory design from the Global South, popular communication, and design for social change. Currently, Nathaly's focus lies in closely working with indigenous organizations and youth in the Ecuadorian Amazon, conducting research and co-designing visual devices to support political-educational spaces for dialogue, deliberation, and learning.

Punam Noor’s research focuses on accommodating indigenous peoples' traditional knowledge in international climate change law with special reference to the European High Arctic, where she combines conceptual frameworks with indigenous traditional knowledge for the promotion of indigenous peoples' resilience against climate change. She is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lapland. She earlier had a Masters in Comparative and International Law from University of Eastern Finland. She specialised in Environmental and Climate Change Law and she did European Union Law as her minor studies. She has completed Postgraduate Diploma in Law from Northumbria University in the UK. Prior to that, she completed Bachelors in Law from University of London.

Projects

Indigenous and local community motivations, rationale and regimes for biodiversity conservation

Projects

Creative indigenous actors: Integration of Indigenous Studies at the University of Helsinki

New Native Leaderships and Forms of Power in Amazonia

Transforming the future in Brazil: ritual and indigenous agencies

United in Diversity: Monumental Landscapes, Regionality, and Cultural Dynamism in Pre-Columbian Western Amazonia

Passado e Presente de Povos Aruák na Amazônia Ocidental