Katri Tukiainen

Katri Tukiainen has an M.A. and an M.P.Sc. from Paris-Sorbonne University. She thinks of herself as an ”old Africa hand,” or in other words, a seasoned veteran of development cooperation in Africa. Working in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malaysia, she became acquainted with children’s’ rights and found her calling in working with child soldiers. With the help of a grant from the Kone Foundation, Tukiainen is working on her doctoral dissertation at the Tampere Peace Research Institute on the role of child soldiers in conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa.

During her time at the Saari Residence, Tukiainen wants to trade in the four walls of her research space for social interaction and is looking forward to meeting arts and science professionals from different disciplines with great enthusiasm and interest. After all, multi- and interdisciplinarity in academic research are here to stay. As a friend of painting herself, Tukiainen has used drawings, for instance, in her interviews with child soldiers for her research on the subject. Minos, a dog adopted from Greece, who is a true world traveller and has experience in living in Mali, for example, accompanies Tukiainen during her residency in November and December. We’ll see you at the Saari Well!