Research Professor, Team leader
Professor Timo Koivurova is a director of the Arctic Centre. His expertize covers, among others, Arctic legal and governance questions, international environmental law and indigenous rights. He is one of the key scholars dealing with the Arctic regional cooperation, including in particular the Arctic Council.
Homepage tel. +358 40 551 9522
Associate Professor
Dr. Stefan Kirchner is specialized in international law. The focus of his work is the regulation of spaces and interactions between different actors in the Arctic. In addition to his academic work, he has extensive practical experience in international law, having worked in both private practice and public administration.
Homepage
tel. +358 40 484 4001
Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Sanna Kopra is an Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Researcher who is specialized in International Relations. Her research interests include China's foreign policy, great power politics, international environmental politics and Arctic governance. Between 2018 and 2021, Sanna carries out a postdoctoral project “The Rise of China and Normative Transformation in the Arctic Region.”
Researcher, PhD Candidate
Pamela’s background is in land use and urban planning as well as in environmental impact assessment. Her research at the Arctic Center focuses primarily on the social license to operate (SLO) and sustainable mining in the Nordic countries. The topic of her dissertation centers on the social license to operate concept as a form of private governance and seeks to operationalize SLO via economic compensation mechanisms such as Impact and Benefit Agreements.
Homepage tel. +358 40 484 4051
Researcher
The topic of Ilona's multidisciplinary doctoral research is the use of knowledge in environmental and regional development related strategic planning. Her research focuses empirically on regional level proactive climate change adaptation strategies in the Arctic. Ilona’s other research interests include collaborative planning, regional development in Arctic areas, multiple-use of nature, cartography (historical maps in particular), sustainable Arctic tourism, relational planning theory, and actor-network theory.
Homepage tel. +358 40 484 4273
Adam Stepien is a political scientist. His interests include: policy coherence, Arctic governance, law and cooperation, indigenous governance, participatory decision-making, as well as development cooperation partnerships. Adam took part in several projects dedicated to the EU and the Arctic. The latter is the topic of his ongoing PhD.
Homepage tel. +358 40 484 4298
Visiting Researcher
Elena Cirkovic has a transdisciplinary background and specialization in international law. Her research centers on sustainable uses of outer space and the earth system. Some of her research areas include: Critical legal theory and philosophy, Earth System Governance, Indigenous peoples’ rights, Outer space law, greenhouse gas emissions in the Arctic, Posthumanism and new materialisms, Science and technology studies, International Humanitarian Law and Sustainable landscape design. She also has a background in landscape architecture, visual arts, and music. She is currently affiliated with the Alexanteri Institute at the University of Helsinki.
Susanna is also holding a position as a Doctoral candidate with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oulu. Her thesis concerns human physiology and human thermoregulation in cold environments, which covers essential questions in the context of personal human safety in the Arctic. Lately she has been working for the maritime safety enhancement. Her research interests include human physiology, cold environment, health, tourism safety, economics, medical and biosciences and natural sciences.
Homepage tel. +358 40 484 4297
Visiting Senior Researcher
Geographer, her research interest are: Community-based development in sparsely populated and peripheral places; Tourism in small-scale regions; Socio- cultural impacts of tourism development in peripheral places; Community resilience and adaptation to changes; Management, policies and planning in peripheral areas; Regional development in Arctic communities. Conducted several research projects in Greenland.
Visiting Reseacher
Waliul Hasanat, LLD is a Professor of Law and Justice Discipline in Khulna University, Bangladesh. He has done his Doctor of Laws at the Faculty of Law in the University of Lapland on the Arctic Council. His main research interests include public international law, international soft-law, soft-law forms of cooperation, the Arctic Council, Arctic law and governance, changes in the Circumpolar North, sustainable development, and the protection of minorities.
Research Assistant
Human rights issues; Minority and indigenous rights and issues, particularly Sámi Rights; Group rights and individual rights; Participatory approaches, deliberative democracy and community involvement; Environmental decision-making processes, particularly environmental mediation; Constructivism, particularly constructivist norm research.
homepage tel. +358 40 484 4159
Postdoctoral Researcher, Team Leader
Homepage tel. +358 40 484 4256
Project Coordinator
Jenni Ervasti is the Project Coordinator in a EU-funded project Attract Lappi. Jenni is tourism and entrepreneurship studied women from Koillismaa. She has worked in tourism field in many roles. During her studies, she did internships in Japan and in England, which left a big interest towards foreign cultures. She is also interested to enable versatile working opportunities in Northern Finland.
Ekaterina is a project coordinator in a EU-funded project Business Ladies. She takes care of recruiting immigrant entrepreneurs for the project and guides them to appropriate project activities. She also performs administrative tasks and ensures project implementation together with the project manager.
tel. +358 40 687 2915
Ayonghe holds a Master of Art degree from the University of Lapland in Audiovisual Media. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Anthropology, with a Minor in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea (Cameroon). Ayonghe is conducting his doctoral research on the co-management of national parks from the standpoint of anthropological theory. He is currently coordinating two EU co-funded projects: Sirius Policy Network on Migrant Education and MaxiPAC. Both projects aim at facilitating the training and work life of migrant youths in northern Finland.
Homepage tel. +358 404844231
Conference Coordinator
With a background in international relations, Kalle is working as a coordinator for the Migration in the North conference. In addition to the conference related work, he is also taking part in migration research as a research assistant.
Business Coordinator
Dilixiati Bolati works as a Business Coordinator in Business Ladies Project in Arctic Center, his role is to establish a strategic network for Immigrant female entrepreneurs in Finnish Lapland region to start a sustainable business meanwhile integrating to the Finnish sociality. He is responsible of project marketing and external communications focusing on the corporate relations. +358 40 614 6816
Tiina Mäki-Petäjä works as a Business Coordinator in project Attract Lappi. Her task is to develop business networks to enhance temporarily employed immigrants in Lapland to find permanent employment in the region. She works in close cooperation with private sector companies listening to their needs.
Doctoral Researcher