African Research and Education Day

Marjo Kaartinen is the Rector of the University of Turku. She is full professor of Cultural History (on a leave of absence). In 2022–2024 she served the University of the Arts Helsinki as Vice-Rector for education. She was appointed Rector from 1 August 2024.  Kaartinen has served the University of Turku for more than three decades as teacher and researcher. She was appointed as professor in 2015. She served as Head of the School of History, Culture and Ats Studies in 2017–2022. Her keen interests as Rector are, among others, ethics, developing academic leadership, staff and student welfare, facilitating young scholars’ career development, and intensifying international cooperation. Kaartinen’s research interests have focused on the cultural history of religion, gender and bodiliness. She has published two monographs in English, one on the cultural history of English monasticism in early Reformation and the other on the history of breast cancer in the eighteenth century.

As European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Ms Jutta Urpilainen oversees the European Commission’s work on international cooperation and sustainable development.

Before joining the Commission, Ms Urpilainen served as a Member of the Finnish Parliament from 2003 to 2019. In 2008, she became the first woman leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. From 2011 to 2014, she served as Finland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. During that time, she became closely involved in development issues, joining the Development Committee of the World Bank Group and IMF and chairing the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development. She served as the Foreign Minister’s Special Representative on Mediation (2017-19) and chaired the Finnish National Commission for UNESCO (2015-18).

Dr. John Ouma Mugabe (PhD, University of Amsterdam) is Professor of Science and Innovation Policy at the Graduate School of Technology Management at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. His current research interests are  innovation policy for development, sustainability-oriented innovations as well as political economy of science and innovation policy making. He is advising the African Union on science, technology and innovation policy strategies.

Sai Väyrynen has a PhD in education (University of Kent, UK) and she is currently Director of the Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL) coordination for Africa and China, at the University of Helsinki, Finland, Faculty of Educational Sciences. Sai is university lecturer in special needs education and has worked over two decades with African collaborators, and lived almost 10 years in the African continent. She has also served the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland at the Embassy of Finland in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2017-2020), as counsellor in education, and co-chaired the development partners’ and Ethiopian Ministry of Education coordination group over three years. Her research interests in education are related to education policies, inclusion and social justice, inclusive pedagogy, teacher education and development for inclusion, and understanding the phenomenon of education realities from multiple perspectives. She also holds the position of Adjunct Professor in education, in particular inclusive education and global education issues at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

Friederike Lüpke is professor of African studies and chair of AfriStadi, the Africa Research Forum for Social Sciences and Humanities, at the University of Helsinki. Her research on small-scale multilingualism extends to the question of how multilingual practices widespread in West Africa can serve as a model for more convivial multilingual societies in the Global North. Beyond her disciplinary interests, epistemological questions are of great concern to her, in particular regarding the (post) colonial history of European African Studies. She is committed to mainstreaming African knowledge as crucially contributing to theory formation and to the development of equitable research paradigms.

Dr Acquah is an Associate Professor in Minority Research at the Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies in Åbo Akademi University where he is currently the Director of a master’s in teaching and learning. Dr Acquah is also an Assistant Editor of Educational Research Review and an international Co-editor for Revista Catalana de Pedagogia. His primary research interest is multicultural teacher education and culturally and linguistically responsive teaching. He has related interests in diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as indigenous knowledge.

Dr. Joy Eghonghon Akahome is a dedicated academic professional at the Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, where she serves in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Marketing. With over a decade of experience in academia, Dr. Akahome has made significant contributions to teaching, research, and mentorship, especially in the fields of marketing strategies, entrepreneurship, and innovation. She has also been actively engaged in providing guidance to international students at the University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw, Poland, where she has mentored students online since 2022. Her research interests are diverse, encompassing gender and innovation, sustainability, business resilience, and the impact of digital technologies in entrepreneurship and marketing.

Elizabeth Eta is a postdoctoral researcher affiliated with the Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL) at the University of Helsinki. In her role, she contributes to research and coordination of academic partnerships between universities in Finland and their counterparts in Africa.

Kirsi Korpela works as a senior international liaison officer at the Partnerships and Strategic Engagement unit of the University of Turku. She has a long experience in developing and supporting internationalisation and international networks at the University of Turku. She is currently also coordinating the FAPI network project.

Professor Niina Käyhkö is a Professor in Applied Digital Geospatial Research at the Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku, Finland. Her academic expertise is rooted in applying and accelerating value of digital geospatial data and community engagement in sustainable landscape management, land use planning and climate resilience.

Desale Tewelde Kahsay has a master’s degree in Anaesthesia from the University of Asmara, Eritrea, and a second master’s in emergency and Critical Care Nursing from a consortium of four European universities. Desale has considerable experience in administering anaesthesia, working in emergency and intensive care, and teaching in resource-limited settings. Currently, he is a doctoral researcher at the University of Turku in Finland. His research interests include pain management, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and health technology.

Kaisa Kanerva is a Senior Lecturer and Team Leader at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.

Arina Ventelä is a Project Advisor at Turku University of Applied Sciences. She is a certified Project Manager for international projects and an expert in Africa collaboration. She brings valuable experience and insights to fostering partnerships that enhance education and research between Europe and Africa. She plays a pivotal role in various capacity-building projects, contributing to initiatives that support sustainable development and international collaboration.

Dr. Maija S. Peltola is a professor in phonetics and the head of Learning, Age & Bilingualism laboratory at the Faculty of Technology, University of Turku. Her research interests lie in the human ability to acquire speech and she is committed to multidisciplinarity. Professor Peltola was the President of the Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers in 2019-2022 and the chair of the local organization since 2010. Professor Peltola was a member of the University board in 2014-2019 at UTU. In 2018-2019 Peltola was a member of the workgroup for ethical evaluation of researchers headed by the Federation of Finnish Learned Society (TSV) and in 2020-2021 she was nominated by the Ministry of Education and Culture to a group assessing the state of university autonomy. Peltola will act as the vice-rector of UTU effective January 1^st 2025, her focus will be on societal interaction and impact.

Sanna Huttunen is a botanist with 25 years work history in biodiversity research at natural history museums. Currently she is employed by Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku. She has worked both on tropical and cool climate floras, with specialization on evolutionary history, taxonomic research and conservation biology. Since 2019 she has lead the Carbon Garden project by University of Turku & University of Namibia. Project aims at 1) creating data and methods for estimating carbon stocks and CO₂ dynamics in Namibian tree species and 2) exploring challenges and potential for climate change mitigation by planting trees in Namibian agro-forestry and savanna ecosystems.

Roseanna Avento serves as Global Development Manager at the University of Eastern Finland. Her role entails coordination of the university’s Global South engagement. She is a development practitioner with over 20 years’ experience in global development affairs and partnerships. Research wise, her focuses are on food and nutrition security, rural development, social entrepreneurship, and gender equity. She works with partners in Africa, Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia as well as Latin America and the Caribbean regions.

Dr. Erkki Sutinen is Professor of Computer Science (Interaction design) at the University of Turku since 2015. He moved to Namibia in 2019 to set up the first overseas campus of University of Turku that was located until 2024 at the premises of University of Namibia, in its main campus in Windhoek. Erkki got his PhD from University of Helsinki in 1998, based on his research in string algorithms. In 1999-2015, he was a professor at University of Eastern Finland (1999-2009 University of Joensuu) where he founded a research group in educational technology, hosting an online PhD program IMPDET. In 2010-12, he was the chief technical advisor of the 22 M€ STIFIMO science, technology and innovation program in Mozambique. Erkki has been researching educational technology, Computing education, ICT4D, and co-design.  He has supervised 35 PhDs and co-authored around 400 papers. As an ordained Lutheran priest, his current interests include digital theology.

Kalervo Väänänen has worked as Professor of Cell Biology at the Universities of Oulu, Upsala and Turku. In addition to his professorship  he had served as a board member at the Academy of Finland and Chair of Medical Research Council. Väänänen has been the Academic Rector at the University of Eastern Finland  and  as the Rector of the University of Turku. In his research, Väänänen has dealt with, among other things, bone cell biology and bone diseases. He has been a co-founder of several companies. For his work, Väänänen has been rewarded, among other things, with one of the largest medical awards in the Nordic countries, the Swedish SalusAnsvar Prize.

Dr. Jussi S. Jauhiainen (PhD, University of Turku, Dr. honoris causa, University of Tartu) is Professor of Geography at the University of Turku and Visiting Professor at the University of Tartu. His current research interests are on innovations, the Metaverse, and LLMs in education. He is Academic Director of FAPI (Finland-Africa Platform for Innovation SDG9).

Kaisa Kurki coordinates the Finnish University Partnership for International Development, UniPID, a network of nine Finnish research universities. UniPID’s aim is to advance member universities’ global responsibility and bring Global South perspectives into their education, research, and societal impact activities. Previously, she was Head of Study and Academic Affairs at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä, Manager for International Affairs at Tampere University and Director of International Education Services at the University of Tampere. With 20 years of experience in international education and higher education, she has been the Director of the network hosted by the University of Helsinki since March 2023.

Enrico Di Minin is a Professor of Conservation Geography at the University of Helsinki. Enrico is also the Director of the Taita Research Station of the University of Helsinki in Kenya and a Honorary Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist with research interests spanning several disciplines, including geography, economics, and computer science. His research background and expertise are relevant to investigate the interactions among biosphere, society and economy, which affect the global biodiversity crisis and other sustainability challenges.

Irinja Paakkanen is Head of International Affairs and works at the Partnerships and Strategic Engagement Unit at the University of Turku. She has a long experience in developing internationalisation at the University of Turku. She is also member of several international, national and regional networks and working groups.