From Magdeburg University (Germany), Lena Merkle works in the field of Peace and Conflict Studies, informed by social anthropology and philosophy. As she enters her final stage of her doctoral research, Lena looks at the question of state borders as places of violence, trying to find a decolonial approach to cosmopolitanism. However, her relationship with TAPRI is not new; it dates back to the EuPRA Conference that took place in Tampere last summer. That experience allowed her to get in touch with other TAPRI members whose research is similar, focused on mobility and border issues, too. Thus, she looks forward to discussing with them during her stay here, as well as to the opportunity to get new input and feedback that could greatly contribute to the progress of her research.
Lika Tvildiani, from Ilia State University (Georgia), also envisages to have enriching discussions with other TAPRI scholars. Her research topic relates to peace education at the Georgia’s Secondary schools, and more specifically on the type of influence that Conflict Resolution Education has on the Georgian schools’ peace culture, as well as compared to other countries’ experiences. Her stay in Tampere would allow her to look at Finnish education system for that purpose. Besides, this experience would contribute to enrich her research at its initial stage, not only through the discussions she will carry out with different Finnish education institutions in Helsinki, but also through the exchange of views and knowledge that would give her the acquaintance with TAPRI professionals.
Finally, Augustin Zapuhlih, from Moldova State University (Chisinau, Republic of Moldova), researches the Black Sea region in the foreign policy of the Republic of Moldova. His stay at TAPRI was motivated by the desire to investigate the intricacies of the Baltic Sea region so as to be able to apply and verify the chosen scientific theories for the Baltic and Black Sea regions in their similarities and differences. He looks forward to incorporating the view and expertise of the researchers of the Baltic Sea region into his body of work. His visit at TAPRI is part of the longstanding fruitful collaboration relationship between Tampere University and Moldova State University.