I am a doctoral candidate in the Political, Societal and Regional Change programme experienced in qualitative research and implementation of development cooperation projects in Finland and Latin America. My doctoral research focuses on how the focus of women’s empowerment shifts when Finland’s development aid has been increasingly transferred from traditional development cooperation to the private sector through cross-sectoral partnerships with Kenya. My professional work has been focused on using research to inform project design and implementation in development cooperation initiatives for gender-based violence, gender equality, peacebuilding, psychosocial support, and migration. Previously I have conducted research on Women, Peace and Security, and feminism in Colombia, and refugees, agency, and gender-based violence in Norway.

Projects

Forest Landscape Rehabilitation in the Mekong River Basin (FORMEB)

Forestry Higher Education Cooperation between Laos and Finland (FoLAFI)

I'm a project management professional with several years of experience in coordinating international cooperation projects in both academia and the private sector. My areas of expertise are: science, technology and innovation (STI) cooperation frameworks between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, EU-CELAC STI policy dialogue, internationalization of higher education and research, Latin American Studies and intercultural communication.

Projects

Developing Finnish Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Europe, Africa, Asia and the LAC Region (FinCEAL Plus)

Developing Finnish Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Europe, Africa and the LAC Region (FinCEAL)

Developing Finnish Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Europe, Africa, Asia and the LAC Region (FinCEAL Plus Continuation)

Internationalizing Finnish Science: Building Sustainable Bridges to Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (BRIDGES)

Hi! I am Marianna Birmoser Ferreira-Aulu, project researcher and doctoral student at the University of Turku (UTU), Finland. My long-term professional goal is to contribute to society by exploring innovative pathways towards just and sustainable futures. I intend to do this by producing high-quality scientific materials, by popularizing science to catalyze positive transformations, and by engaging with the civil society to collaborate with various stakeholders. During the past five years, I have been working as project researcher in two departments in the University of Turku: the Finland Futures Research Centre, and the Centre for Collaborative Research. I have been engaged with various projects in strategic foresight, futures literacy, sustainability and climate action, renewable energy, food research, and international collaboration. In addition to desk research, I enjoy doing workshop facilitation (have experience in Finland, Peru and Colombia). I have also been quite active in public speaking, by giving talks in various seminars and conferences. I also enjoy cooperating to developing the strategy of our own organization. I have represented UTU in international cooperation initiatives through international education services. Since the beginning of 2021, I have also been pursuing my doctoral degree in Futures Studies. The working-title of my dissertation is “Building a Strategic Roadmap for Ecologically Sound and Socio-politically supported Conservation of the Brazilian Amazonia”. The research takes into consideration the local socio-political dynamics, the uniqueness of its peoples and its biodiversity. I look at the conservation of Amazonia as a wicked problem that needs diverse set of actions to attempt to solve it. This research topic is a continuation, and expansion of my Master’s Thesis, where I explored futures scenarios for the Volta Grande do Xingu, the region most affected by the construction of the Belo Monte Dam, in the East of the Brazilian Amazonia.

Lisa Grans holds a PhD in Public International Law from Åbo Akademi University (2018) and has published extensively on the issue of women’s rights, with a particular focus on violence against women. Her expertise also includes the prohibition of discrimination, the prohibition of torture and linguistic rights. Grans has worked practically for over 20 years with promoting the human rights of women and other disadvantaged groups in cooperation with the relevant governmental bodies in countries such as Georgia, Kosovo and Turkey, having been based in the latter two.

Projects

Prevention of honour-related violence through the lens of the right to physical and psychological integrity

I am currently writing my doctoral thesis on the motivations of Finnish foreign relations towards Southern African states in the latter part of the 1980s. The primary aim of this research is to examine why the relations towards African states were promoted and what were the reasons for doing so. My previous scientific publications focus on Finnish foreign relations and policies towards Southern African states during the Cold War period, and modern cultural impacts of sports video games. My scientific interests include Nordic historical approaches on development cooperation, Finnish foreign, security, and domestic policy issues during the Cold War, African countries in international forums during the Cold War, and modern cultural impacts of sports in society.

I am working on the Aid, Policy, and Growth nexus, which is close to development cooperation, policy intervention, and sustainable agriculture development. I am particularly interested in addressing the global shared responsibilities and contemporary issues of the food crisis, climate change, and poverty in developing countries.

After my retirement I'm on professorial contract continuing to conduct research and supervise PhD students in Global Development Studies at the University of Helsinki. My own research areas include histories of global development, Finnish development cooperation and Tanzanian long-term development history. I supervise students whose topics are in some way related to any of these.

My backround is in geology. I have 16 years of experience in processing of spatial data, digitising processes, data quality improvement processes and geodata management using geographic information systems. I have been working in development cooperation projects for ten years, mainly in Central Asia.

Projects

NANOSCIENCES, NANOTECHNOLOGIES, MATERIALS AND NEW PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES DEPLOYMENT IN LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES

Latin America, Caribbean and European Union Network on Research and Innovation

Cybersecurity Awareness and Knowledge Systemic High-level Application (YAKSHA)