The Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers (FUURT) (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.) has awarded the Research Professor Sofia Laine from the Finnish Youth Research Society as the Academic of the Year 2024. Laine’s role in promoting youth participation in future-oriented decision-making and research was a particular merit and reason for the selection. According to trade union FUURT (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.), the selection is also seen as an encouraging indication of the researcher’s potential to create a meaningful research career in the third sector.
“I feel that this award is at the same time a recognition for youth research and for the Finnish Youth Research Society, but also for the youth field in general and young people themselves. At the same time, I think it is a recognition for research that aims to promote social impact, dialogue and the well-being of young people more broadly”, says Sofia Laine, Research Professor and recipient of the award.
Laine and the Finnish Youth Research Society have a long history together: Laine started her career at the Finnish Youth Research Society more than 20 years ago as a trainee. As a Research Professor, Laine leads the research program of planetary youth research visioned by herself, focusing on youth in relation to the carrying capacity of the planet.
The planetary approach to youth research is characterized by the strong involvement and participation of young people. The work is carried out in close cooperation with the Youth Nature and Climate Group (NUOLI) (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.) under the Finnish Prime Minister’s and young people are involved in all stages of the research design, from framing the research questions to implementation and reporting of results. Involving young people in the research and decision-making that concerns them is a matter close to Laine’s heart and a key focus of his work as a Research Professor.
“Sofia’s commitment to young people has strengthened their involvement and participation in all the research we do at the Finnish Youth Research Society. The recognition from the scientific community deservedly highlights her long-term work in youth research and its methodological development,” says Eila Kauppinen, Research Director of the Finnish Youth Research Society.
Global concerns require a global perspective
A common thread running through Laine’s entire research career has been the examination of global issues, which is also a strong source of the vision of planetary youth research. The major concerns of our time, such as climate change and pandemics, are global and their solutions require international cooperation. Children and young people are also the ones who will live longest with the decisions that need to be made in this time for a sustainable future. According to Laine, youth research can therefore be a guiding force for both a global approach and research involving young people.
“In the spirit of planetary youth research, I encourage all researchers from different disciplines to work together with young people to implement different sustainability solutions and safeguard the livelihoods of future generations. I hope researchers from all fields will accept this invitation,” encourages Laine.
Laine’s awakening to global inequality began in high school, led to a variety of social activism and eventually to studies in sociology and development studies (now global development studies) at the University of Helsinki. A key aim of her PhD thesis was also to strengthen the dialogue between youth-focused research and the global perspective. The analysis focused on young people in alternative globalization movements, seeking and proposing solutions for a more sustainable future.
Art-based methods to enrich research
A characteristic feature throughout Laine’s research career has been the use of interdisciplinary and art-based methods in her research work. Examples of her creative ways of combining research with different artistic or embodied methods include reporting research findings through theatre clowning, performing in roadman costume and concluding her doctoral lecture with a dance performance. These examples illustrate how Laine, who also has a qualification as a dance movement therapist, has brought new, creative perspectives to how research can be conducted and reported.
“There is a lot of research data on various social and planetary grievances. Yet the change we need is often happening far too slowly. Logic and reason alone are not enough; what is needed is a connection of research knowledge to the body and emotions, to all living things. When reason, emotions and body work together, we are present, alive and ready to defend life in all its diversity – creatively and joyfully,” Laine sums up.
The Academic of the Year award is an annual prize of € 5000 awarded by the Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers (FUURT) to a socially active and commendable academic. The selection was announced on Friday 8 November 2024.
Who?
Research Professor at the Finnish Youth Research Society from 1.8.2022.
Leads the Planetary Youth Research program at the Finnish Youth Research Society. Proposal for a framework for Planetary Youth Research (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.) was published in a scientific journal Youth and Globalization in November 2023.
Associate Professor of Youth Research at the University of Tampere, PhD from the Department of Global Development Studies at the University of Helsinki in 2012. Ethnographic dissertation Young Actors in Transnational Agoras. Multi-Sited Ethnography of Cosmopolitan Micropolitical Orientations examines the participation of young people in international political meetings. Laine also holds a professional qualification as a dance-movement therapist.
Has conducted research on youth in Finland and internationally. In addition to the Finnish Youth Research Society, she has worked in the field of youth research at the Universities of Helsinki and Tampere and at Youth Research and Development Centre Juvenia (the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences).
Established important international networks, including in the Pool of European Youth Researchers PEYR (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.). Now a member of the global Codered Alliance (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.), which builds international youth research projects in an era of eco crisis, seeking sustainable solutions for the future together with young people.
Photo: Sami Perttilä.
