Face behind the course: Meet Dele Raheem!

Meet Bamidele “Dele” Raheem, the face behind the UniPID virtual course Climate and Food Security in the Arctic with Global Consequences. With a career that bridges food science, education, and environmental studies, Dele invites students to explore how climate change impacts food systems from the Arctic to the Global South. Through his teaching, he hopes to inspire interdisciplinary collaboration and innovative thinking for a sustainable future.

Hello everyone, I’m Bamidele “Dele” Raheem, and I’m delighted to introduce the virtual course 'Climate and Food Security in the Arctic with Global Consequences.'

My academic journey started here in Finland, where I completed both my Master’s and Doctoral degrees at the University of Helsinki. My Master’s degree was in Food Chemistry and Technology, and my PhD in Food Sciences was completed as a split-site program with the Food Research Centre at the University of Lincoln in the UK. I currently hold an Associate Professorship (Docentship) in Food Microbiology at the University of Helsinki. Alongside that, I earned a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the University of Greenwich, London, and a certificate in Vocational Teachers Pedagogy from Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki.

My research focuses on food bio-processing, preservation, and other cross-cutting issues related to food security. In recent years, my attention has turned toward understanding the complex relationship between climate change and food security in the Arctic, and how these changes ripple out to affect the rest of the world. Lately, I have taken part in the 'Advanced Training in Transforming Education' organized by the Finnish Centre of Expertise in Education and Development.

I am also affiliated with the Arctic Centre, a multidisciplinary unit of the University of Lapland, which offers a unique platform to engage with these global challenges.

I teach this course because I believe education is one of the most powerful tools we have to address the urgent issues of our time. Climate change and food security are not isolated topics. They are deeply interconnected and solving them requires us to break academic silos. Teaching allows me to share practical examples of why the food system must transform and how collaboration across disciplines can lead to more sustainable solutions.

This course offers students the opportunity to broaden their understanding, connect virtually with peers in Finland, Europe, Namibia, and beyond, and learn directly from experts in the field. It’s open to students from all disciplines, no need for a technical background, and includes discussions on both indigenous food systems in Europe and the Global South.

When I’m not teaching or researching, I enjoy table tennis, lawn tennis, and indoor swimming. I also love taking long walks through the pristine forests of Rovaniemi and, during winter, I occasionally go cross-country skiing. Though I must admit, I’m still an amateur!

I draw inspiration from higher forces and from the simple beauty of nature. Sometimes, a good conversation or a great piece of music sparks new ideas. I like to be grounded culturally and future-oriented in the natural world. So, my likes for contents can be quite varied. I enjoy Afrobeats, jazz, classical, reggae, funk, R&B, and occasionally some Finnish music. I also like keeping up with technological innovations, especially those driving changes in the food system.

To stay current in my field, I regularly publish and review scientific articles, attend international conferences, and collaborate with colleagues around the world. You can explore some of my previous work on my ORCID profile.

If you’re interested in diving deeper into the themes of this course, I’d recommend a few insightful resources:

• Five Times Faster: Rethinking the Science, Economics, and Diplomacy of Climate Change by Simon Sharpe (2023)

• Food, Health and Climate by Risto Isomäki (2025)

• The film An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore (2006), which powerfully explains the science and urgency behind climate change.

My colleagues and I are truly looking forward to meeting all participants of this course. I hope you’ll join us online soon. Together, we can explore how the changing Arctic connects to global food security and what it means for our shared future.

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Thanks, Dele, for sharing such an inspiring piece. We are already looking forward to hosting the second edition of your course!

What’s next? Registration for the course opens on 4 December 2025, and the teaching period will run from 3 March to 4 April 2026. Read more about the course and let us remind you when registration opens here.

Photo credits: Lightscape, 2018 on UnSplash.