I am a doctoral researcher in media studies at Tampere University, Finland, focusing on disinformation, gamification, hate infrastructures, mediatized memories, and political violence. I lead the social media research team for the Luce Foundation-funded project on Muslims in India under Hindu majoritarianism, alongside professors from Science Po, Princeton, and Columbia University. Previously, I was a fellow at Oxford’s Reuters Institute and the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. I have over 20 years of experience as an investigative journalist, covering environmental justice, human rights, and conflicts in the Indian subcontinent, earning multiple awards, including the Kurt Schork Memorial Award. I have taught journalism at various Indian universities, am a certified media literacy trainer, and have conducted over 40 training sessions in India and Bangladesh. My work has been featured in major international media, and I was formerly India editor of AFP's fact-checking division.

Niti's research interests lie in the intersection between design methods, knowledge systems particularly local, traditional and indigenous knowledges, and participatory social design-driven transformation. She is currently exploring the relationship between post-colonial indigenous research paradigms (Chilisa 2019) and integrated product development strategies for holistic knowledge production that implements cognitive justice (Visvanathan 1997; 2021) for research at the Cultural Interface (Nakata 1997, 2007; Durie 2005). Over 30 years of professional creative practice in design and innovation. This includes 15 years of leading interdisciplinary teams for fieldwork using design anthropology methodologies (rapid ethnography, indepth interviews, day in the life, observations and shadowing in markets, farms, villages, borderlands and more). Fieldwork personally completed in South Africa, The Philippines, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and with local assistance in Benin and Malawi. Networks span the African continent. Public recognition of original knowledge production includes Invitation to mainstage of TED Global 2017 in Arusha Tanzania TEDTalk video https://www.ted.com/talks/niti_bhan_the_hidden_opportunities_of_the_informal_economy

My name is Weiyi Feng. I am a PhD student in Information Technology at the University of Jyväskylä. My research interests primarily focus on 1.The application of AI in STEAM education, focusing on the impact of generative assessment tools on student learning motivation and a comparison between human and machine assessment; 2.Educational equity and teacher professional development, focusing on the professional challenges and identity construction of female STEM teachers in international contexts. Several empirical studies have been conducted in related fields, aiming to explore educational equity and assessment justice under the intervention of technology.

I am a doctoral researcher at the UEF Law School. My PhD research focuses specifically on international, transnational, and regional climate change laws and policies, gender based adaptation laws and policies, and socio-economic resilience of rural women. Through my research, I aim to conduct comparative case studies on Bangladesh and the Finnish Arctic. I am employed as the Coordinator for the Center for Climate Change, Environment, and Energy Law (CCEEL) and I am a member of the Climate Change and International Environmental Law research group from CCEEL. My other research interests include climate justice, environmental justice, and human rights.

PhD candidate in Political Science at University of Lapland (since 2025), specializing in resilience and restorative justice. My research explores how restorative justice can add to resilience research in context of conflict and development policy to address structural inequalities, power dynamics, and sustainable conflict resolution.

David Lawson is an applied development economist who works on issues of extreme and chronic poverty, gender, health and household shocks. He recently completed a term as Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Helsinki, Associate Professor of Development Economics and Public Policy at the University of Manchester, and Visiting Professor at the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing. He has 25 years of applied public policy experience, in sub-Saharan Africa, as a resident advisor for the Governments of Ethiopia, Lesotho, and Uganda and advised extensively for DFID, OECD, UNECA, UNICEF, World Bank, among others. He has published widely with more than 100 publications and reports, including in leading peer-reviewed journals and six books that include the book series - What Works for the Poorest (Practical Action, 2010, 2017. 2020), and Gender, Poverty and Access to Justice: Policy Implementation in sub-Saharan Africa (Routledge, 2020).

Projects

TaitaWater - WG Social issues in Water management

Goal 4+: Eco-cultural Pluralism in Quality Education in Ecuadorian Amazonia

Frank is the Project Coordinator for the Africa Networks at the University of Jyväskylä. He coordinates three networks (FAPI, SAFINET, EDUCASE) that are part of strategic funding by the MEC. Frank is a doctoral researcher at the University of Lapland where his research focuses on integration of migrants with focus of his research on migrants from Sub Sahara Africa. He has written articles and contributed book chapters on human rights, Covid-19, social justice and education.

PG Researcher in Education with an interdisciplinary interest in the overlap between culture, society, technology, business, and development - especially in educational settings.

Happy Mathew Tirivangasi is a political and environmental sociologist whose Afrocentric research lens explores how societies perceive, evaluate, and manage risks in the context of climate change and socio-political change. He holds PhD in Development Studies (JYU), Master of Governance and Development (Uantwerpen, IOB), and Master of Arts in Sociology (University of Limpopo, South Africa). His work spans climate adaptation, health, indigenous knowledge systems, decolonizing climate change, gender, mobility, food security, and resilience always centering African experiences while engaging global policy debates. He also conducts research in political sociology, examining violence, protest, migration, xenophobia, transitional justice, and elections. A prolific scholar, Happy has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals including Climate Policy (Taylor & Francis), Sustainable Development (Wiley), International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management (Emerald), Development Southern Africa (Taylor & Francis), Scientific African (Elsevier), Management of Environmental Quality (Emerald), and the International Journal of Heritage Studies (Taylor & Francis). His book chapters appear with major publishers such as Springer Nature, Palgrave Macmillan, and Rowman & Littlefield. Happy thrives in collaborative, interdisciplinary research environments. He is currently editing multiple book projects with Palgrave Macmillan, Springer, and Routledge, bringing together a large network of scholars from Africa and Europe. These projects collectively include more than 100 contributing researchers. As part of his commitment to academic capacity building, he is mentoring a cohort of early-career African scholars who serve as Associate Editors supporting their growth in research leadership, editorial practice, and scholarly development. Across all his work, Happy is committed to bridging academic evidence with actionable policy insights, advancing sustainable development, governance, and resilience within and beyond the African continent.