Last update: August 2023
My current research interests are mostly related to the following issues:
- Developing the awareness and conceptualisation of transformative futures studies
- Studying the approaches and methods to support imagining transformative futures
- Initiating new ways to increase futures consciousness (see Ahvenharju et al, 2018) among different actors across sectors (education, business, citizen)
What comes to all these research interests, they describe not only my long-term passion toward transformative futures studies, but to translational thinking and agency creation. Besides my day-time work as a tenure-track researcher, a lot of this work still remains to be done during my free time (a variety of collaborative processes, giving speeches, blogging, editorial work).
Even when working with strategic foresight, in 2016-2020, my research interests were strongly linked with developing futures thinking (see Ketonen-Oksi, 2022). With deep concern for social sustainability issues, back in 2019, I started working on a vaste integrative literature review on methods to support imagining transformative futures. This was a collaborative research process with Minna Vigren (Aalto University) with whom I co-authored the paper (coming out soon!) and continue to work in several other ways (experimentations, organising shared learning circles, publications).
Although many of my speeches even today are about developing futures orientation, the capacity to work with futures, or the multi-perspective approach to futures thinking, my deepest thoughts are in building wisdom that transcends to transformative futures. That is also the topic of my network based collaborations that I have been working on for some time now and which is currently taking new forms in terms of introducing activities, such as reading circles (only by invitation!) and webinars (open for all). This is also something that has developed besides my regular work hours, based on friendships and collaboration with a diversity of researchers with whom to ponder these questions together with. The idea is not to form a network of my own, but to continue learn from and work with various networks that all contribute to my research themes.
Finally, in my current work at Laurea the focus is on different capacity building RDI activities in relation to working with futures. Besides building new RDI cooperation with our international partners, I have also been coordination the internal process of developing Laurea’s organisational capacity to work with futures. This has included e.g., introducing new approaches and tools to work with students, working with regional / national / international ecosystem actors, as well as consulting my colleagues with their futures related RDI work.
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