Nora
Fagerholm
Areas of expertise
landscape values
3D virtual landscapes
Biography
I am Associate Professor in Human-Nature Interactions and Sustainability at the University of Turku and head of the Sustainable Landscape Systems Research Group (https://sites.utu.fi/landscape/).
I hold a PhD in Geography (2012) from the Department of Geography at University of Turku. I spent my main post-doctoral research phase 2014-18 at the University of Copenhagen, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management. In 2018, I have also spent a post-doctoral phase at Aalto University, Department of Built Environment. In 2018-19, I was university lecturer in geoinformatics at University of Turku.
Ongoing reserach projects:
Multispecies well-being and accessibility of urban nature in densifying cities (JustTrees, 2025-26, funded by the City of Turku Urban Research Program, https://sites.utu.fi/justtrees/)
Urban Biodiversity Parks - Co-creative platforms for enhancing biodiversity, learning and community involvement in urban ecological regeneration (2024-27, funded by EU-UIA, https://www.urban-initiative.eu/ia-cities/turku/home)
Multispecies transitions of cities and regions (MUST, 2023-26, funded by the the Strategic Research Council operating under the Research Council of Finland, vice-director, https://must-project.fi/)
Transformative Cities: Coupling citizen-inspired geospatial and transformative governance methods to promote carbon neutral and climate resilient cities by 2035 (2023-25, funded by the Reserach Council of Finland through the NextGenerationEU instrument, sub-project PI, https://transformative-cities.eu)
Regions for climate change resilience through Innovation, Science and Technology (RESIST, 2023-27, funded by Horizon2020, sub-project PI, https://resist-project.eu/)
Previous projects:
Wellbeing benefits of urban green infrastructure mapped through participation and 3D virtual landscapes (GreenPlace, 2019-24, Academy Reserach Fellow project funded by the Reserach Council of Finland, principal investigator (PI), utu.fi/greenplace)
Interdisciplinary analysis of ecological and social complex feedbacks and relations linked to coastal tourism: the case of the Archipelago Sea Biosphere Reserve (Intestour, 2022-24, funded by Maragarita Salasa grant, supervision of postdoctoral researcher Liliana Solé Figueras)
Drivers and Feedbacks of Changes in Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity (CHARTER, 2020-24, funded by Horizon2020, sub-project PI, www.charter-arctic.org/).
Editorial roles:
Associate Editor of Landscape and Urban Planning (2024-)
Editorial Board member of Sustainability Science (2020-), Landscape and Urban Planning (2019-24), and Landscape Ecology (2019-24)
Teaching
I have teaching experience since 2006 at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. I have been teaching in the fields of sustainability, PPGIS/PGIS, GIS, remote sensing, cartography, urban planning, landscape management, spatial planning, regional and development geography and sustainable development at the universities of Turku, Copenhagen, Dar es Salaam and Vaasa.
Current courses:
MAAN6070 Kestävä kehitys maantieteessä/Sustainable Development in Geography, 5 ECTS (responsible teacher)
MAAN7772 GeoAI and Participatory Mapping for Sustainability Transformations, 10 ECTS (responsible teacher)
MAAN7082 Maantieteellinen asiantuntijatyö/Geography Specialist Work, 2 ECTS (responsible teacher)
MAAN7011 Maantieteen teorian ja metodologian luennot/Lectures in theory and methodology in geography, 5 ECTS
MAAN7010 Erikoistuminen maantieteessä/Specialisation in Geography, 5 ECTS
MAAN7052 Maantieteen kollokvio/Geography Colloquium, 3 ECTS
MTDK1213 Tieteen yhteiskuntavastuun projekti/Project in Social Responsibility of Science, 5-10 ECTS (https://sites.utu.fi/tyvi/en/)
I also supervise Master's and Doctoral theses.
Research
I am a geographer and landscape researcher whose work has primarily focused on place-based assessments of people's perceptions of ecosystem services and landscapes. I have expertise in participatory mapping, often referred to as Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) or Participatory GIS (PGIS).
My research interests center on a holistic understanding of human–nature interconnectedness in a spatial context, situated at the interface of the human and natural sciences. This entails a strong place-based and mixed-methods approach, addressing social, ecological, and technological dimensions to support a transdisciplinary perspective in spatial planning and the management of landscapes, resources, and nature. Recently, I have focused particularly on exploring the diverse values of urban nature and promoting multispecies justice in land use planning.
I am one of the founding members of the Participatory Mapping Institute (established in 2020, www.participatorymapping.org), a global network of researchers and practitioners committed to advancing the field of public participation and participatory mapping beyond the current state of the art.