Skip to content

Leadership for Change

New kinds of leadership skills are in demand at local, national, international and global levels. Master students at Tampere University tackle the questions of changing leadership in this blog.

The Leadership Symposium notes: International security – the outlook for Finland

"As I listened to the keynote speech given by Sir Mark Lyall Grant , the Former National Security Advisor to the British Prime Minister, I was left wondering about the magnitude of change that we are all facing in 2022. I was left with questions such as what kind of world are we leaving behind for the generations to come, and whether we are able to tackle the multitude of conflicts and issues we are facing today. Should there be new ways of tackling these issues?", LFC student Aino Anttila asks in her reflections concerning the panel 'International security: The outlook for Finland' at the annual Leadership Symposium, organized in Tampere University in September.

The Leadership Symposium notes: Social change and its typologies in the context of a Finnish mega-project in Uruguay to exploit natural resources

At the annual Leadership Symposium, organized by Tampere University's Faculty of Management and Business, one of the panels was dedicated to the topic of Finnish forestry megaprojects in Latin America. The panel hosted Saara Tahvanainen, vice president in stakeholder relations at UPM-Kymmene, professor Teivo Teivainen and research assistant Emiliano Sosa Barrios from University of Helsinki, and doctoral researcher Lara Gonzalez Porras from Tampere University. UPM-Kymmene, a Finnish forest industry company, is currently implementing a mega-project in Uruguay to develop a pulp factory, and this project is creating an important change in Uruguayan society. LFC student Yasmine Bounouara reflected on the panel's topic looking into four perspectives: character, magnitude, focus and level/scale.

The Leadership Symposium notes: The transformation of Finland's security outlook

The beginning of the new academic year was marked by the annual Leadership Symposium, this time themed around the topic of security. The expert presentations and panel discussions included many interesting speakers from Finland and abroad. This essay, written by the LFC student Katrina Mäki-Soini, focuses on the panel discussion 'International security: the outlook for Finland', evaluating panelists’ discourse on change and transformation by utilizing the framework of typology of change. The panel was moderated by professor of practice Valtteri Vuorisalo from Tampere University and it included speakers Sir Mark Lyall Grant, former National Security Adviser to the British Prime Minister, professor Ann-Marie Ekengren from University of Gothenburg, researcher Eneken Tikk from Erik Castrén Institute and professor Juha Vuori from Tampere University.

Niklas Kaskeala: "The climate crisis is also a leadership crisis"

Who’s responsible for solving the climate crisis? That was the question in the first slide and the opening of Niklas Kaskeala’s LFC Lecture, organized by the first-year students of the Master's Degree Programme in Leadership for Change. Quite a shocker, but that was precisely the point – to incite debate as well as to provoke communication and critical thinking among the participants. In his talk, Niklas Kaskeala discussed the role of leadership – and lack of it – in the climate crisis. He also told about the initiative of Compensate, which aims to offset carbon emissions by compensating for unavoidable emissions and directing funds to high-impact carbon projects. Previously, Niklas Kaskeala has worked as Funding Coordinator for the Crisis Management Initiative and Executive Director of the Finnish Foundation for Media and Development. He is also a Founding Board Member of a non-profit organization Protect Our Winters Finland.

Marja-Riitta Ketola: “More than any crisis of the last decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has redefined childhood on a global scale”

We had the pleasure of hosting Marja-Riitta Ketola, executive director of UNICEF Finland, at Tampere University as she delivered a lecture titled 'Challenges Facing Children’s Rights Following the COVID-19 Pandemic'. In addition to the lecture topic, Ketola further incorporated information and insights about other recent challenges, such as the war in Ukraine. Sharing her thoughts, Ketola delivered an authentic and passionate lecture and encouraged the audience to engage and contribute with thoughts and questions.

Ismo Ulvila: "Climate, energy, and security politics go hand in hand"

The Master's Degree Programme in Leadership for Change had the honor of welcoming Ismo Ulvila as one of the guest lecturers of the LFC Lectures series. His background is admirable: he has worked globally in diverse negotiating tasks and issues connected to climate and trade policies. Currently, he is the Head of Communications at the European Commission's Representation in Finland. It is fair to say that our speaker had many valuable insights on the UN climate process, global climate finance and the EU's energy security issues, from which we got to learn during the LFC Lecture.