Research fields

• Public Administration
• Governance
• Local and regional development

Links:

https://www.helsinki.fi/sv/svenska-social-och-kommunalhogskolan/forskning/forskningsprofilen

• FO-RUM
• Political Science at SSKH

Major research fields:

• innovation, reform policies and new organizational forms in the public sector
• ‘the project’ as organization form and the temporal dimension in politics
• municipal and regional development

I am professor of local administration at the Swedish School of Social Science at the University of Helsinki. I have a background as political scientist specialized in public administration and as associate professor (docent) at the Åbo Akademi University. In recent years my research and teaching activities have focused on innovation and change in the public sector, on local and regional development and on temporary and informal modes of organizing (such as projects, programs, partnerships and networks) as means for societal steering and coordination.

Some years ago, I was one of the initiators of the research centre FO-RUM – Governance, Regional Development and Environment at the Swedish School of Social Science. Since 2017, the activities continue within the recently established research network ‘Democracy, Political Participation and Institutional Change’. My research focus on the theme ‘Project proliferation and Governance’, which is continuously developed in collaboration with Nordic and European research partners. In terms of teaching, I am currently engaged in developing the curriculum on leadership at University of Helsinki. Recent research projects:

• Promoting capacities for innovation and change: Project driven innovations in a Nordic governance context, funded by The Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) 2016-2018.
• The Democratic Impact of Administrative reforms – temporary Governance Instruments in Regional Development. Funded by the Academy of Finland 2012 – 2014
• Effects of Administrative Reforms on Linguistic Communities (Förvaltningslösningars språkliga konsekvenser). Funded by Svenska kulturfonden 2008-2012

• Member of the evaluation research program established for the structural reform of Finnish municipalities (Paras-ARTTU), 2008 – 2014
• One of the initiators to the European research network SUSTAIN on governance and temporary organisations. The network consists of researchers from 10 European countries and the US 2005 –. http://sockom.helsinki.fi/forum/SUSTAIN/network.html
• The internal effectiveness of municipalities (with University of Tampere) Funded by the Finnish Work Environmental Fund 2006-2008
•  Welfare and local democracy in Sweden for 60 years. Co-operation project between University of Helsinki (Political science) and Mitthögskolan in Östersund (Sweden) 2005 – 2011