Citizens, cities and communities

In our research, we examine the practices and connections that shape relationships between citizens, cities, and communities.

We understand these practices and connections as being in a constant state of change. We are particularly interested in how lived experiences and everyday interactions are reflected in the formation of local communities. Another key focus of our work is how social and ecological sustainability can be promoted in cities through inclusive and participation-oriented measures.

In our work, we aim to advance understanding of how community relationships develop in cities, and with what consequences, and how increasingly diverse urban populations could better take people’s needs into account.

Current projects

ECIE focuses on promoting empowering, inclusive, and equitable citizen science, particularly within universities in the ECIU network.
Towards an Inclusive and Equitable Citizen Science Community (ECIE)

Past projects

The EmergentCommunity project explores local and everyday forms of conflict and peace. We are interested in relations between communities and in how belonging and inclusion are negotiated.
EmergentCommunity

In the Homeward project, our working structure is based on co-creative workshops on themes defined through a cooperative and dialogical approach. However—as often happens—this also entails challenges.
Homeward: exploring co-creation practices towards integration

The Cities and Climate Responsibility project examines how cities as collective actors, and urban residents specifically as city dwellers, can be held responsible for climate change. Climate responsibility is analyzed from the perspectives of guilt, responsibility for action, and virtue ethics.
Cities and Climate Responsibility

The Neighbourhood Yurt (Naapurijurtta) project examined practices and experiences of living together through embodied encounters in everyday life. These encounters were understood as part of the formation of political awareness and agency.
Naapurijurtta

The Local Interpretations of a Global Method project studies the application of participatory budgeting in different social and cultural contexts.
Local Interpretations of a Global Method: The Role of Knowledge in the Application of Participatory Budgeting in Finland, Poland, and England

The Participatory Budgeting in Resident‑Driven Urban Planning project studied and developed participatory budgeting as a tool for neighborhood development and resident-driven planning. The aim was to produce knowledge on how participatory budgeting can be applied to neighborhood development and resident-led planning from both residents’ and urban planning perspectives.
Participatory Budgeting in Resident‑Driven Urban Planning