In addition to academic channels, I try to make my research and expertise available for the wider public, the media, and policy-makers. I have been a participant in several policy- or practice-related projects both in Finland and within the framework of the European Union (see below for details). In relation to these projects – and otherwise – I have published a number of essays intended for the general public as well as a few policy papers and reports.

PROJECTS

Reframing the EU

From November 2017 to December 2018 I was a core member in the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre’s project “Reframing the EU” (PI: Nicole Dewandre, EC). The project’s aim was to critically reflect the conceptual frameworks underpinning the EU’s policy-making, particularly in the face of the current political crisis of the Union. I attended three events in reference to the project, two in Brussels and one in Groningen.

The Brussels events, titled “Reframing the EU: Why Words Matter!” and “Reframing the EU II: Why Relationships Matter” took the form of discussion between scholars (political scientists, economists, and linguists) and policy-makers from various DGs of the Commission. The Groningen event, “Reframing European Identity and Legitimacy in an Age of Populism: Arendtian Politics, Conceptual Metaphors, and the Future of the European Union”, was more scholarly oriented and steered towards internal discussions of the project.

CO-RESONANCE: Comprehensive Resilience and Security

For 2018, I was employed in a research project funded by the Finnish Government’s analysis, assessment and research activities (PI Sirpa Virta). The project’s aim at an overview of how ‘resilience’ fits into the comprehensive security framework that steers Finnish security policy as a whole.

The project provided a four-level understanding of resilience (individual, communal, state, international) and defined resilience as a three-step process comprised of resistance, maintaining of functionality, and adaptive learning. It also placed emphasis on enhancing resilience by investing to societal safety-nets, high quality education, democratic participation and the reduction of social inequalities among other things. In addition, maintaining international links of material supply and effective support for the rule-based international order were deemed crucial. Finally, we also emphasized the urgent need to integrate questions pertaining to climate, resource, and more broadly environmental issues more thoroughly to the comprehensive security framework.

The results were presented at various events throughout the year, both for policy-makers and to other research teams working on related topics.

The project’s final report is called Kokonaisresilienssi ja turvallisuus: tasot, prosessit ja arviointi (“Comprehensive Resilience and Security: Levels, Processes, and Assessment”). We also published a policy brief written by Tapio Juntunen and I, called “Resilienssi avaimena laaja-alaiseen kokonaisturvallisuuteen: haasteita ja mahdollisuuksia” (“Resilience as a Key to Broadened Comprehensive Seucity: Challenges and Opportunities”), as well as several blog posts and other shorter forms of communication.

Fact-checking in Finland

I have also worked with Faktabaari, a Finnish fact-checking service, on a project on media’s fact-checking in the 2018 presidential elections and attended their events as a panelist. During the presidential elections of 2018, we analyzed the fact-checks performed by the Finnish media, assessing how well they met the international quality criteria of fact-checking. We also presented a questionnaire to all the journalists that took part in the fact checking in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the fact-checking practices in the media environment taken as a whole. The report “Fact Checking in Finland: what we learned from the 2018 elections” was published in Finnish on Faktabaari website (see press release in English).

PUBLICATIONS INTENDED FOR GENERAL PUBLIC & PROJECT REPORTS

(2020), “Koronakriisi ja yhteiskunnan kokonaisresilienssi“. Kalevi Sorsa -säätiö (blogi).

(2020) Asiantuntijalausunto Eduskunnan tulevaisuusvaliokunnalle.

(2019) “Kokonaisresilienssi ja turvallisuus: tasot, prosessit ja arviointi“

(2018) “Defining Post-Truth: Structures, Agents, and Styles“

(2018) “Resilienssi avaimena laaja-alaiseen kokonaisturvallisuuteen: haasteita ja mahdollisuuksia“

(2018) “Faktantarkistus Suomessa: Oppeja vuoden 2018 presidentinvaaleista”