Tuulikki Halla transitioned from a long career at Metsähallitus to become a doctoral researcher in Forest Sciences and a project researcher in the UNITE Flagship Programme.
Doctoral research can open up new career paths for long-time employees: After twenty years at Metsähallitus, Tuulikki Halla moved to the University of Eastern Finland as a doctoral researcher in Forest Sciences. She also works as a project researcher in the UNITE Flagship Programme funded by the Research Council of Finland.
Halla is familiar with the university's academic atmosphere and enjoys it. She is particularly fascinated by the freedom and creativity of science.
"Mental freedom and scientific creativity are the best parts of doing research. There are no fixed solutions. In my own work, I have long contemplated what causes forest conflicts, and the topic is still relevant. Now, as a doctoral researcher, I have some answers to the question," Halla says.
Halla was drawn to the University of Eastern Finland by the field of forest sciences and the eastern mentality.
"Karelian culture feels like home, and it's the strength of UEF. When you work at your own department, you feel seen. You're not just part of the crowd. The Joensuu campus is also concrete and allows you to move between different faculties," Halla commends.
From the forestry college to philosophy studies and employment
Tuulikki Halla originally graduated as a forestry engineer. She continued her studies at the University of Jyväskylä and graduated as a Master of Social Sciences, majoring in philosophy.
After her studies, Halla spent about ten years working in nature and recreational guidance at the Seitseminen Visitor Centre, part of Parks & Wildlife Finland under Metsähallitus. She then moved into communications and corporate social responsibility tasks at Metsähallitus’s headquarters in Vantaa for another decade.
"The reason why I'm now a doctoral researcher stems from the forestry college. Conflicts over old-growth forests were already intense at the time. At Metsähallitus, I saw how the Finnish forest sector works and what kinds of conflicts arise," Halla explains.
We can break down the reasons for conflicts and bring them up for discussion. Research plays a key role in this.
Tuulikki Halla
Doctoral Researcher, Project Researcher
Finns' relationship with forests at the centre of research
Tuulikki Halla started as a doctoral researcher at the Department of Forest Sciences of the University of Eastern Finland around 2020 with the help of a grant. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the human-forest relationships (HFRs) of Finnish forest professionals, exploring individual and communal forest-related meanings and their interlinkages to forest conflicts.
Finns' relationship with forests is multi-layered and deeply rooted in history. Forests have been linked to building the Finnish identity, and they have been managed like national property. Sustainable development themes and global concern about the state of forests have emerged in the discussion through the younger generations, Halla estimates.
"Previously, the relationship with nature was tied to work and daily life. Now, more emphasis is placed on individuality and well-being."
In Finland, many people still have livelihoods, property, work, or identities closely connected to nature and forests. Conflicts are caused by differing views on forest use.
"Conflicts are often associated with forest use practices, whether in forestry, nature tourism or recreational use. However, they are often fuelled by big questions about identity, worldview or power, for example," Halla says.
For Halla, the task of a researcher is to describe and verbalise the root causes of conflicts and thus help find a common ground.
"We can break down the reasons for conflicts and bring them up for discussion. Research plays a key role in this."
As a qualitative researcher, Halla is interested in how people think about nature – and how they feel heard. For her doctoral dissertation, she has interviewed forest professionals.
The interviews give a more diverse picture of forest professionals than the black-and-white publicity suggests. This complexity also opens up shared perspectives that can help bridge divides.
Geocaching provides information on forest experiences
As a project researcher in the UNITE Flagship Programme funded by the Research Council of Finland, Halla is part of the Geotrail project that studies the gamification of forests and people's relationships with nature. She also produces science communication for the Flagship programme.
In the Geotrail project, the researchers collect data on people's forest preferences in a completely new way. The project team created four geocaching trails in Eastern and Western Finland. With the help of mobile technology and gameplay, the researchers examine how people experience different forest environments.
A small part of Halla's work is related to domestic and international research networks.
"We brought together Finnish researchers who study human-forest relationships in different disciplines, and we were involved in creating the Human-Forest Relationship Research Club, the latest science club of the Finnish Society of Forest Science. Currently, I coordinate the work of an international IUFRO research group focused on forest conflicts," Halla describes her work.
