YLP 2026 Speakers

Eeva Hellström works as a Senior Lead in foresight and training at Sitra, focusing particularly on the future of the economy. She believes that there are more alternative futures for the economy than we might anticipate, as long as we approach it boldly, with diverse perspectives and a willingness to challenge conventional thinking. Eeva also has over 20 years of experience in multidisciplinary vision, strategy, and interaction processes, as well as societal training. Read full bio here. LinkedIn.

Young Leadership Programme 2026

10:00 | Session 1: System view, futures thinking and the forest sector, Eeva Hellström, Sitra

Alisa Puustinen is the chief specialist, foresight and strategy at the Finnish Forest Centre. LinkedIn.

Young Leadership Programme 2026

THURSDAY 27 August | Entrepreneurship, foresight and anticipatory innovation

14:00 | Session 7: Forest organisations navigating the change, Alisa Puustinen, Finnish Forest Centre

Dr Anne Ackermann combines academic qualifications and research experience in social and natural sciences spanning European Politics, Communication, and International Forest Ecosystem Management. She has extensive professional experience in science-based and societal-impact initiatives, start-ups, political consultancy, strategic communication, stakeholder engagement, and university-level teaching. Based in the Forest Innovation for Impact team, she promotes bioeconomy development through forest sector innovation acceleration. Past work addressed integrated wildfire management, forest soils, carbon farming, biodiversity footprinting, multifunctional forest use, and others. Adopting a holistic socio-ecological approach, she makes contributions to science communication, human-technology-environment interactions, environmental psychology, forest pedagogy, and research ethics in EFI’s work. LinkedIn.

EFI Young Leadership Programme 2026

Tuesday 25 August 2026 | Inside and beyond regional innovation ecosystems

14:00 | Session 5: Opportunities in trans-regional innovation, Anne Ackermann, EFI

Hanna Ojuva is the chairperson of Joensuu Entrepreneurship Society Ry JoES. LinkedIn.

Young Leadership Programme 2026

9:00 | Session 6: Entrepreneurs, start-ups, local platforms and facilities

Janne Eerola, HUB Joensuu and City of Joensuu
Hanna Ojuva, Joensuu Entrepreneurship Society Ry JoES
Mikko Järvilehto, Business Joensuu 

Janne Eerola is the hub representative of Joensuu Entrepreneurship Society Ry JoES. LinkedIn.

Young Leadership Programme 2026

9:00 | Session 6: Entrepreneurs, start-ups, local platforms and facilities

Janne Eerola, HUB Joensuu and City of Joensuu
Hanna Ojuva, Joensuu Entrepreneurship Society Ry JoES
Mikko Järvilehto, Business Joensuu

Jarno Hämäläinen brings over 20 years of expertise in forest bioeconomy consulting and forest information services. Currently working as a Key Account Manager at Business Joensuu, Hämäläinen is an expert in forest resource inventory and remote sensing. His primary areas of expertise are collecting and analysing forest resource data using remote sensing technologies and solutions for biomass energy use. LinkedIn.

Young Leadership Programme 2026

9:00 | Session 4: Regional innovation ecosystems Forest Joensuu & Innovation Joensuu

Lauri Sikanen, Natural Research Institute (Luke)
Jarno Hämäläinen, Business Joensuu
Juha Purmonen,  Photonics Centre

Päivi Pelli has built her way to futures thinking and system change in the forest sector through an interdisciplinary path. She has a background in Business Studies. In addition to the forest sector-related analysis in EFI, such as forest policies, regional collaboration, foresight and research agendas, she has worked as a civil servant for regional development and interregional programs. Her PhD at the University of Eastern Finland focuses on evolving product-service systems and sociotechnical change, which she examined in the context of industrial wood construction. She is keen on working further in questions related system changes, participatory approaches to widen radars about possible futures, and analytical frames to improve interdisciplinary as well as cross-sectoral practices. LinkedIn.

Young Leadership Programme 2026

Monday 24 August | Setting the Scene: A Systems View of Innovation and Futures

14:00 | Session 2: Forest industries in times of change, moderated by Päivi Pelli, EFI
This session provides perspectives on traditional forest-based industries and their downstream industries, and on how large companies build their innovation capacity and innovation systems in response to a changing operating environment.

Teppo Hujala is a Professor at the University of Eastern Finland. He conducts multidisciplinary research on changes relating to, for example, policy instruments, business models, and services. In addition, he teaches futures thinking, foresight methods, and qualitative research. Teppo participates in international research networks and promotes open science and knowledge co-construction. LinkedIn.

Young Leadership Programme 2026

Monday 24 August | Setting the Scene: A Systems View of Innovation and Futures

16:00 | Session 3: Framework for innovation & futures thinking / Futures tools, Teppo Hujala, University of Eastern Finland (UEF)