The Impact Initiative of the Year 2025 of the University of Turku was awarded at the University's stakeholder event on 10 November.
The University of Turku awards the Impact Initiative of the Year annually. The recognition is awarded for successful work that promotes the societal impact of research and education.
Nominations for the Impact Initiative of the Year were collected from the University community.
“We received good proposals that reflect the University's multifaceted impact on the public, national decision-making, and international development. The multidisciplinary nature of our University and concrete interdisciplinary co-operation were apparent in the proposals,” says Vice Rector for strategic engagement and impact Maija S. Peltola.
The Impact Initiative of the Year 2025 was announced at the University's stakeholder event on 10 November. The Impact Initiative of the Year was selected by Rector of the University of Turku Marjo Kaartinen and Vice Rector Peltola.
The award was given to the research group of Professor of Political Science Maija Setälä for their work in disseminating the results of democracy research conducted at the University of Turku. In addition to Professor Setälä, the group includes Senior Researcher Mikko Leino, Senior Researcher Maija Jäske, Project Researcher Toni Wessman, Doctoral Researcher Katariina Kulha, and Project Coordinator Mari Taskinen.
In February 2025, the group organised a public meeting on energy, where 54 randomly selected citizens met for six days to learn about energy systems and policies, and to discuss and make joint recommendations to the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on current policy processes. The public meeting was part of the Flaire project funded by the Strategic Research Council, coordinated by the University of Oulu.
“The public meeting is an example of the ambitious and pioneering work being done in the democracy research of the University of Turku to present citizens' views and communicate them to decision-makers. The activities encourage citizens to seek knowledge, engage in open dialogue and critical thinking, and articulating and understanding different perspectives, which is in line with the University's goals and values. They also increase citizens' understanding of societal decision-making," says Rector Marjo Kaartinen.
Honourable mention for the Resilience Academy working group
In addition to the Impact Initiative of the Year, an honourable mention was given to the Resilience Academy working group of the University of Turku, responsible for the Digital Data and Technology driven Innovation Hub (DIDAIhub).
DIDAIhub is a community platform and catalyst for innovative research and learning solutions with global impact. It is part of the international Resilience Academy network and a new model of urban development co-operation initiated by the World Bank, where the role of higher education institutions is to deliver resilience in urban development through skills development. The working group and the community platform it coordinates approach global sustainable development challenges with an inclusive and transformative mindset. The platform brings together local talent, open data, and digital technologies, and involves citizens.
The group that received the honorable mention includes Professor Niina Käyhkö, Senior Researcher Msilikale Msilanga, University Teacher Antero Järvi, Doctoral Researchers Venla Aaltonen, Hilary Mvungi, Monica Timbuka and Masoud Hamad, Project Researcher Khairiya Masoud, and Research Assistant Tytti Tengström.
