Aili Pyhälä, Adjunct Professor

I have extensive grassroots-level experience in more than 25 countries immersing myself in, and engaging with, indigenous peoples and local communities, along with their knowledge systems, beliefs and practices. Alongside my academic work, I am a committed activist defending territories of life and their defenders, and in support of decolonized and decentralized governance systems. In trying to understand the roots of global processes of so-called “development”, I have also been drawn to understanding and explaining the nuances and universalities in cross-cultural perceptions of happiness and wellbeing.

I have on several occasions worked with national government and inter-ministerial policy groups in attempts to assist the incorporation of more holistic and integrated sustainability indicators (e.g. Ecological Footprint, Gross National Happiness) into decision-making. With 20 years of experience evaluating international cooperation projects worldwide, and following principles of permaculture, my current research looks at the ways in which the promotion and imposition of various forms of so-called “development” programmes – in the ways of mainstream systems of education, politico-spiritual governance, and natural resource management (including top-down conservation and food security strategies) - affect local cultures, environments, knowledge systems, and overall wellbeing. I am Honorary member of the ICCA Consortium, in which I sat in the Executive Committee/Council fo several years. I am also Member of the Centre of Indigenous Conservation and Development Alternatives (CICADA) and Ambassador for the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN).