Meet Janni Kunttu

Look behind the scenes – meet some of the experts that make EFI work!

My name is Janni Kunttu.  I’m a researcher at the European Forest Institute and manage FORBIO- and FutureForest2040 -projects, which focus on foresighting future scenarios and their sustainability impacts in the field of forest -based (circular) bioeconomy. It’s funny because in my master’s degree I specialized in forest management and ecosystems, but during my doctoral studies I became more or less a “generalist” with the future study focus.

I’m 28 years old and I live in Joensuu. Horses, dogs and cats are close to my heart as well as science.  On my free time I enjoy long walks with my dog (or horse riding) in forests.

I made my PhD dissertation (within FORBIO -project) on topic “wood utilization scenarios and their sustainability impacts in Finland”. The thesis explored a variety of wood utilization scenarios in Finland and assessed their possible future benefits and trade-offs in environmental, economic and social sustainability, forming plausible pathways to actualize preferred outcomes reflecting different priorities in the goal setting. I could say my field of research is quite wide, and actually focuses on the synergies between different factors/fields in our operational environment. That’s why my research is pretty much anything from quantitative modelling to qualitative participatory methods and consumer studies.

My favourite tree is Pinus cembra (Swiss pine) because it has such a nice fluffy look.

Janni had her public examination of a doctoral dissertation in the field of Forestry on Friday April 3, 2020.

^{Photo: Janni's - University of Eastern Finland, ©patpitchaya - stock.adobe.com}