Research projects 7

FinCEAL Plus started in January 2015 as an expansion and continuation of the FinCEAL Project (2012-2014), both funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The aims of the FinCEAL Plus project were to: 1. Increase and consolidate the Finnish bi-regional cooperation towards Africa, Asia, and the LAC region, with special emphasis on supporting Finnish researchers’ involvement in European bi-regional networks; 2. Support and consolidate the participation of Finnish experts in EU-Africa, EU-CELAC and EU- Asia bi-regional research and science policy dialogues; 3. Increase the knowledge about and visibility of Finnish cooperation towards the target regions within Finland; 4. Expand the awareness of Finnish expertise in the regions; and 5. Expand and consolidate the Finnish research communities’ awareness of cooperation possibilities with the EU, Africa, Asia and LAC region. 6. Throughout all the project activities, strengthening the Finnish universities’ global responsibility and making it more systematic and measurable.

Team

Eva Kagiri, Kajsa Ekroos, Jarkko Mutanen, Melissa Plath

  • Head of research Paivi Haapasaari
  • Language n/a

The primary aim of the research is to analyze the effects of environmental change on vulnerable communities, and to suggest means of coping with this by way of co-management, bearing in mind the underlying power relations involved.

Team

  • Head of research Heikki Roininen
  • Language n/a

Edible insects as food for humans is fast gaining global recognition as a key driver to underpin developmental efforts for addressing the interrelated challenges of food security, poverty, nutrition and climate change. However, technologies to ensure sustainable supply of edible insects to meet the increasing demand are not available. This project is aimed to develop a sustainable technology for mass rearing a highly popular and valuable grasshopper (Ruspolia differens) in eastern Africa based on ecological and biological knowhow, and to roll out the knowledge and skills to local communities.

Team

Heikki Roininen, Anu Valtonen, Geoffrey Malinga, Philip Nyeko, Vilma Lehtovaara, Robert Opoke, Karlmax Rutaro, Riitta Julkunen-Tiitto, Tommi Nyman, Okia A. Clement, Francis Omujal, Stefan T. Jaronski, Paul Vantomme

The main purpose of this project is to improve the capacity of IMD to produce air quality forecasts and –modeling and to increase the preparedness to mitigate climate change related risks in the future.

Team

Fresh water scarcity due to glacier retreat and decreasing precipitation related to global climate change will be one of the most serious environmental and social challenges in the Andean Amazonian region in this century. Rapidly increasing land use changes make water scarcity even more critical in dry season and, on the other hand, increase flooding and landslide risks in rainy season, because deforested areas have lost their natural water retention and storage capacity. A better understanding of natural water fluxes of forest ecosystems is needed to be able to solve the problems in water cycle.

Team

Johanna Toivonen, Sanna Huttunen, Tinja Pitkämäki, Carlos Gonzales Inca, Lassi Suominen

The ‘Exploring Tonle Sap Futures’ project (2010-13) was one of the five localised case studies of the ‘Exploring Mekong Region Futures‘ project, led by The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and funded by AusAID. The Tonle Sap study looked -similarly to the entire regional project- the nexus between water, energy, food and climate change.

Team

Marko Keskinen, Matti Kummu, Aura Salmivaara, Paradis Someth, Hannu Lauri, Hans de Moel, Philip Ward, Sokhem Pech

The general objective of this study is to improve our understanding on short term regulation of tree growth and its allocation in subtropical conifer (Chinese red pine, Pinus massoniana) under the context of climate change. This study will be conducted at the Dinghushan Mountain Forest Reserve, which is located in south China and belongs to the South China Botanical Garden/Chinese Academy of Sciences. The project will be accomplished in collaboration with the Department of Physics, & Department of Forest Sciences of the University of Helsinki, Finland and South China Botanical Garden (SCBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Team

Syed Ashraful Alam, Frank Berninger, Teemu Hölttä, Timo Vesala, Jianguo Huang