I am Professor of Adult Education and Director of the Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning (CRADLE) at University of Helsinki. I am also Professor Emeritus of Communication at University of California, San Diego.

I apply and develop cultural-historical activity theory as a framework in studies of transformations and learning processes in work activities and organizations. I am known for the theory of expansive learning and for the interventionist methodology of developmental work research.

My most recent book is From Teams to Knots: Activity-Theoretical Studies of Collaboration and Learning at Work, published by Cambridge University Press in 2008.

I have received an honorary professorship from University of Birmingham in UK and an honorary doctorate from University of Oslo in Norway. I have currently visiting appointments at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan, at Lancaster University in UK, at University of Oslo, and at University of Warwick in UK.