My research focuses on food security related initiatives in the Global South. I work on aquaculture and specifically fish farming development, food innovation using neglected foods and indigenous knowledge, food safety and quality management as well as value chain management and development of gender-based value chains. The development of tertiary education (vocational and higher education) is a cross-cutting theme in all of my global engagements in research and education.

Projects

Global Foodnet: Ancient Crops for Food Security

Central Asia Finnish Education Institutes for Green Biotechnology and Food Security

Aquaculture and fisheries development in the Kyrgyz Republic

Green biotechnology for food security

Development of women fish farmer cooperatives in Nepal

Capacity Building in Fisheries and Aquaculture Education in the Kyrgyz Republic

Education collaboration opportunities between Finland and South Africa

Bridging existing and new approaches for science, technology and innovation cooperation between Finland and Africa

Food safety and quality management

Teachers of the future : Finnish-Namibian collaborative teacher education

Food product development from indigenous foods

Role of Finnish higher education in global food and nutrition security

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.

I am a doctoral researcher in the Doctoral program in School, Education, Society and Culture (SEDUCE) of the University of Helsinki. My research focuses on equity in academic partnerships between Global North and Global South higher education institutions. I am more specifically interested in understanding the temporalities of academic partnerships, time conceptions informing partnership time frames, and how partnership time frames either support or undermine equitable collaboration.

I have some published work on gender equality and tourist behavior. My current research focuses on the impacts of tourism in societies in the Global South and how people adapt to those changes and sustain their livelihoods.

Omotomilola Ikotun is a researcher of the Time, Space and the Environment in Society Doctoral Programme at the University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu. Her research analyses pastoral access to water supply, pastoral inequality and the impact of environmental conflicts on borders, access to natural resources, and agriculture market access development in Nigeria and West Africa.

My name is Moustapha Itani and I am a doctoral student in interdisciplinary environmental science at the University of Helsinki. I have always been passionate about exploring how multidisciplinary collaboration can answer complex research questions. Before I joined DENVI, I developed vegetation management plans for archaeological sites, systematically reviewed public health impacts of weaponised depleted uranium in Iraq, assessed mental health benefits of gardening on Syrian refugee women and developed a vegetation description method for conserving rare plants in cities. In my doctoral research, I particularly focus on pastoralism’s challenges and sustainability in the Global South. In Lebanon, we are facing one of the worst economic crisis in modern times. Here, the food security and livelihoods of most of the population are threatened. We need to rectify people’s misunderstandings on pastoralism, revitalize this method of food production and boost its contribution to GDP.

The Role of Village Community Banks in Tanzanian Female Entrepreneurs’ Lives. The doctoral dissertation studies the characteristics of community banking in the global South, with the focus on Tanzanian Village Community Banks VICOBAs. It seeks to address the benefits and drawbacks of the community groups. In addition, the study explores how mobile technology, namely mobile money service, can benefit entrepreneurs’ businesses.

Applying foresight methods and tools in a range of topics, in particular to anticipate the energy transition in the Global South. Research interests: anticipatory governance, innovation ecosystems, off-grid solar photovoltaics, pioneer analysis, science-communication, startups. Co-author of "Electrification in Peer-to-Peer Society - a New Narrative for Sustainable Futures" (2019) and "La Electrificación en la Sociedad Entre Pares – Una Nueva Narrativa para Futuros Sostenibles" (2020).

Projects

Neo-Carbon Enabling Neo-Growth Society – Transformative Energy Futures 2050

Projects

The Politics of Corporate Resource Exploitation: Social Movement Influence on Paper- and Metal Industry Investments in Brazil and India

I am Professor in Geography and Academy of Finland Research Fellow, with a background from both human geography and economics, at the Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu, Finland. My research focuses on two broad topics: i) management of valuable natural resources in the Global South and ii) adaption to climate change related natural hazards. For more information, see www.paivilujala.com