I am excited to step into the role of Head of Circular Economy at CLIC. I have a keen interest in innovations, technologies and systems for circular economy that mitigate and address our current pressing environmental challenges – climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and hazardous substances, as well as overexploitation of natural resources and increasing waste generation and mishandling. I have over 10 years of experience in the fields of RDI, business development, project management, and facilitating and coordinating technology platforms and industrial networks. I look forward to the new possibilities to collaborate for a more circular world!
My journey in RDI, sustainability, and material and environmental sciences has equipped me with a comprehensive understanding of circular economy. I hold a Master of Science degree from University of Oulu in environmental engineering (bioproduct and bioprocess engineering), as well as industrial environmental and energy engineering. I am currently finalizing my Ph.D. at the University of Helsinki in reusable packaging circulation optimisation.
Early in my career during my studies, I worked as a research assistant in the water and environmental engineering as well as fiber and particle engineering lab carrying out different studies and experiments. After finalising my Master’s thesis at VTT, I continued my career there for 8+ years working in various positions. For the last five and a half years, I have worked as a senior scientist and project manager at VTT, focusing on sustainable circular economy of materials & products, and fostering business development within the circular economy. My work experience has provided me with expertise in technology development and scale-up, innovation policy and management.
I have experience in coordinating several EU-funded RDI and customer RDI projects especially in cross- and multidisciplinary settings. The projects relate to sustainable circulation of materials and products, operational environment and legislative reviews, and generating policy recommendations. I have a deep understanding of EU strategies, policies and legislation, and their relation to system transitions. For the past 5 years, I have also been working on the European Topic Centre (ETC) reports for the European Environment Agency (EEA) on topics relating to circular economy, GHG emissions, plastics, bio-based plastics, microplastics, textiles, plastics and biodiversity, consumption and production. My work has involved leading successful EU project proposal preparations and coordinating numerous EU-funded (Horizon Europe, H2020, BBI JU/CBE JU) projects such as PRIMUS, TREASoURcE and BIOSWITCH. The TREASoURcE project is part of the European Commission’s Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI), and I got to represent the project in the network as the coordinator of the project. I also hold an IPMA (Internation Project Management Association) C-level certification for project management.
For 3 years, I coordinated the SusChem Finland National Platform, which is part of the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry. I have also had the pleasure to review Horizon Europe proposals for the European Commission, and I act as an IPMA Assessor for the IPMA certification of project managers.
In 2019, I was accepted to and completed the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Programme and was honoured the title ‘Circular Economy Pioneer’. That year, I was also a finalist in Finland’s Young Project Manager Competition. In 2018, I lead the development project of an awarded bio-based packaging solution developed by VTT. We were one of the winners of Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Materials Challenge competition. As part of the competition, we were funded to further scale the solution and its business model in the New Plastics Economy innovation accelerator programme organised by Think Beyond Plastic. Pitching the solution in other competitions, we were further awarded with the Sustainability Awards 2018 of the bio-based packaging category, and the EcoPack Challenge 2018.
Technologies are intriguing; however, I feel that the best part is to work with different people and learn from everyone’s’ expertise. Transitioning from linear economy to circular economy requires new collaboration and working together, it requires systemic solutions that cannot be created, implemented nor sustained alone. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to the novel and important work done at CLIC and the possibility to implement my passion for sustainable transitions. I eagerly await continuing the development the circular economy theme at CLIC and collaborating with and learning from all interested in CE!
In my free time, I have my hands full at our small old farm in Nurmijärvi. Whether it is enjoying the time with our horses or cats, starting a new gardening or renovation project, or fixing the tractor, excavator or other equipment or machines – there are always things to do! One of my ‘hobbies’ is to buy old equipment to be fixed and restored and then use them in our small farm to e.g., make hay for the horses or establish a potato field. I am also interested in trying to create biodiversity friendly environments, e.g., with living willow fences, hybrid cultivation to restore the soil condition, trying to create flowery meadows (surprisingly hard!), and having a variety of plants and flowers around our lot. I enjoy cooking and spending time in the nature and outdoors, especially at the best secret mushroom spots!
