The Pentti Malaska Futures Award is given to a research-based and groundbreaking visionary innovation that can help with building a more sustainable global future. The University of Turku has granted the €30,000 Pentti Malaska Futures Award to Soilfood Ltd for their solution that connects industry and agriculture into a functioning circular economy.
Soilfood is a Nordic circular economy company that produces recycled raw materials for industry and fertilizers, limes, and soil improvers for farms from industrial waste streams. Founded in 2015, Soilfood has already processed two million tonnes of industrial waste streams for reuse and created a market for circular economy products in its sector.
In the center of the photo is Mari Jokinen, Director of Digitalization and Marketing at Soilfood Oy. On the left is Juha Kaskinen, Director of the Finland Futures Research Centre, and on the right is Research Coordinator Riikka Saarimaa.
“The company aims to use natural resources wisely by replacing primary raw materials with recycled materials on a large scale. A large industrial scale could enable a significant change in the production of agricultural inputs and the material efficiency of industry. This contributes to creating a more sustainable future,” says Juha Kaskinen, Director of Finland Futures Research Centre of the University of Turku.
In addition to the first prize, the panel also awarded two honourable mentions to the following: NPHarvest and cranial implant innovation Armadillo. NPHarvest has developed an innovative technology that enables the efficient recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater. With new methods, these polluting nutrients can be turned into valuable, reusable resources. Since 2016, the technology has been developed in research projects at Aalto University in collaboration with various partners.
The second honourable mention was awarded to the cranial implant innovation referred to as Armadillo. It is a new product in the healthcare sector for the repair of bone damage to the skull. It is particularly suitable for use in conflict zones and rural areas of low- and middle-income countries with inadequate healthcare infrastructure. The innovation has been developed in a research collaboration between Aalto University, the University of Turku, and start-up company Ambrocio Oy.
The justifications state that all three solutions contribute to ecologically and/or socially sustainable development objectives and are based on multidisciplinary research collaboration.
The Pentti Malaska Futures Award was distributed at the international Futures of Technologies – Mutual Shaping of Socio-Technical Transformations conference organised in Turku by the Finland Futures Research Centre of the University of Turku on 11 June 2025.
The members of the panel deciding the winner were Markus Granlund (Dean, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku), Laura Höijer (Research Director, Ministry of the Environment of Finland), Laura Ihanainen (Senior Sustainability Manager at Kesko and Professor of Practice, Department of Marketing, Hanken School of Economics), Miia Martinsuo (Professor, Industrial Engineering and Management, Faculty of Technology, University of Turku), Soili Mäkinen (Advisor, S Mäkinen Advisory Ltd), and Juha Kaskinen (Director, Finland Futures research Centre, University of Turku).
The next Pentti Malaska Futures Award will be distributed in 2027.
The Award honours Professor Pentti Malaska’s (1934–2012) lifework in futures research. Pentti Malaska was a professor of business mathematics and statistics at Turku School of Economics. He established the Finland Futures Research Centre in 1992. Malaska was a radical, visionary thinker whose research interests crossed a wide range of academic disciplines from mathematics and electrical engineering to philosophy, ecology, and strategic management. His work boldly crossed sectoral boundaries between the academic world, business world and societal influencing.
The Award was established in 2017 with a donation from Medical Counsellor Sakari Alhopuro. Alhopuro is an alum of the University of Turku, an Honorary Doctor of Turku School of Economics, and a major supporter of entrepreneurship education, research and education in medical technology and health economics, and biodiversity research.
Soilfood Ltd: www.soilfood.fi
NPHarvest: npharvest.fi
Ambrocio Ltd: www.ambrocio.fi
