Teresa Haukkala to lead the new Sustainable Energy Business research group at the University of Oulu
Haukkala studies sustainability transitions at the intersection of science, technology, energy, and society. She holds a doctoral degree from Aalto University, where her dissertation focused on Finland’s low-carbon energy transition, in particular the adoption of solar power.
“My work combines business, policy, and innovation to promote societal change toward sustainability”, Haukkala says.
A significant new initiative for the University of Oulu
The new research group launches as part of an EU co-funded project. The project “Added Value from Sustainable Energy Business” aims to ensure that green transition investments take root in regional business ecosystems in a way that generates added value and new growth business. This will be achieved by producing knowledge on how added value is formed, the regional factors that influence it, and the related entrepreneurship, as well as by building networks and securing long-term operations.
“This is a major new opening for us. Linking global value chains with Finnish ecosystems is a key means to achieve new competitiveness, employment, and sustainable growth. Our goal is to create a knowledge base, operational models, and tools that support the optimization of green transition value chains, while also promoting regional, national, and international cooperation”, says Professor Matti Muhos, Director of the Kerttu Saalasti Institute at the University of Oulu.
According to Haukkala, the activities of the new research group support Finland’s national goals in implementing its Climate and Energy Strategy. The group will also analyze in the new project how global value chains can relate to local actors and regional resources. This helps ensure that the benefits of the green transition remain in the region, supporting local entrepreneurship and innovation. Furthermore, the knowledge produced by the group – such as analyses of regional value chains and added value – will serve as a tool for companies, municipalities, and policymakers in making strategic decisions and designing sustainable energy policy.
An international career provides a strong foundation for leading the new group
Before entering academia, Haukkala worked in communications and journalism and also has experience in foreign policy. She has worked at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and served as Communications Manager at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. She later pursued doctoral studies at Aalto University School of Business, focusing on solar photovoltaics and Finland’s energy transition. During this time, she also contributed actively to public debate, for example as an expert for the Parliament of Finland’s Committee for the Future and as a member of The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra’s Sustainable Economy Forum.
While still completing her PhD, Haukkala was recruited as a researcher at Tampere University in a project studying resource-efficient and climate-neutral electricity systems. From there, she moved on to a postdoctoral researcher position at Aalto University School of Business, focusing on the transition to a sustainable textile system. Her path then led her to Paris, France – first to one of the highly selective, prestigious grandes écoles of France, École polytechnique and later to another prestigious university Sciences Po (Institut d’études politiques de Paris), where she carried out postdoctoral research on wicked problems of sustainability transitions, EU circular economy policy, and the impacts of crises on the energy transition and European energy policy.
“I spent almost three years in France. In addition, I have lived for shorter periods in the UK (London, Oxford, and Scotland) and the USA (Washington DC), and during my studies I spent half a year in Sweden as an exchange student at the Stockholm University Section for Journalism, Media and Communication Studies”, Haukkala says.
Matti Muhos highlights Haukkala’s strong and versatile expertise as well as her networks, which are well aligned with the requirements of the Research Director role in sustainable energy business.
“She has solid experience in interdisciplinary research spanning energy, sustainability, the green transition, and business development. Her professional background, particularly in solar energy and more broadly in the energy business, combined with her valuable stakeholder networks, is unique. Her dissertation, which addressed the complex challenges of the energy transition through the case of solar power adoption in Finland, clearly demonstrates her deep knowledge of the field”, Muhos says.
“I look forward to developing sustainable energy business through research, but also to advancing it in practice and building a new interdisciplinary research group around this theme. I hope to foster strong collaboration with regional and international actors, support the creation of regional added value, and promote the embedding of green transition investments into local ecosystems. The Kerttu Saalasti Institute at the University of Oulu conducts societally impactful research, and I am delighted to contribute to this mission through research, practical development, and engagement”, Haukkala concludes.
Read more about the project:
Added Value from Sustainable Energy Business (ARVO)
Read more about Teresa Haukkala:
Teresa Haukkala´s researcher profile, University of Oulu
Photo: Minna Kilpeläinen