University of Helsinki

Welcome to the Ruralia Institute!

Ruralia Institute is an independently administrated multidisciplinary expert institute at the University of Helsinki. The mission of the Institute is to improve the welfare of rural people and develop the sources of livelihood in the rural areas through research, development, education and training.

The activities of the Ruralia Institute are multidisciplinary research, education and research based innovation development. On its activities Ruralia Institute creates new operations models and innovations based on the combination of scientific competence and practical knowledge. The development activities of the Institute serve economic life, foster innovation activities and support regional development.

Ruralia Institute does regional, national and international cooperation. Our partners in cooperation are various faculties and Schools of the University of Helsinki, other Finnish and foreign universities and institutes.

Ruralia Institute constitutes of two units: Mikkeli and Seinäjoki. In total the institute has about 80 employees.

Update your knowledge on Non-Wood Forest Products and their health effects and meet experts and colleagues

Welcome to an international conference NON-WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS, HEALTH AND WELL-BEING which will be held in Espoo, Finland 12th – 13th of November 2013!

The conference provides the latest information on NWFP innovations, highlights current research and further research needs, introduces new commercial possibilities related to natural products and also provides an excellent opportunity to enhance international links among researchers and other actors related to the topics!

The program is interdisciplinary combining speakers from different fields, e.g. from biotechnology, food chemistry, medicine and forest sciences. The first day concentrates on nature-derived bioactive compounds and their possibilities. The second day offers a comprehensive overview on themes of availability of raw materials, quality and flavors of natural products and regulation affecting new business possibilities. Keynote speeches are held by international experts, including Professor Zhang Bolin from Beijing Forestry University, senior researcher Rolf Nestby from the Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, Professor Pauli Guido from University of Illinois and Paul Breslin, the professor of nutritional sciences from Rutgers University. Besides the speeches the conference includes a poster exhibition to which you can propose your poster. See the detailed program: www.helsinki.fi/ruralia/nwfps-conference2013/pdf/nwfp_program.pdf

The full price for the conference is 120€ including the conference, material, lunches, conference dinner and coffee. It is also possible to register only for either of the two days at the price of 80€. Student fee for the whole conference is 80€. The participants are responsible for organizing their travel and accommodation by themselves. The registration deadline is 25th of October 2013 and the registration can be done via e-form: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/44268/lomake.html

For further information, please visit:
www.helsinki.fi/ruralia/nwfps-conference2013

Warmly welcome!!!

It´s need for joint knowledge between beauty care, hairdressing and the nonwood forest-products sector

Growth in the demand for natural products creates a new need for knowledge of beauty care. This need for knowledge related to natural products in beauty care and the hair sector has not been previously studied. In addition, the possibilities for cooperation between beauty care, hairdressing and the non-wood forest-products sector has not been studied.

This review focused on beauty care, hairdressing and the non-wood forest-products sector. The publication revealed the need for joint knowledge between beauty care, hairdressing and the nonwood forest-products sector. In the light of the review, the number of skill needs were seen to increase. Those skills, moreover, were related to the use of natural products, and on to the service products based on them, as well as skills related to networking various sectors.

The study showed the need to integrate the education of eco-hairdresser and eco-cosmetologist into the part of preparatory training for competence-based qualifications, first as components of the qualification, and then later as an independent qualification, or as optional modules. The need for shared knowledge became widely apparent concerning the use and collection of natural products and the production of natural products in all sectors under review. Especially the need for knowledge of product safety and legislation was seen as highly significant in all sectors of the review.

Other issues that were raised include the common need for knowledge of sustainable development concerning all three sectors as well as developing cooperation with sectors other than these in the future raised up. In order to create concrete possibilities to enhance the cooperation between different sectors, for example meetings were seen as being important both in the educational and in the business fields.

The first aim of the review was to discover how to employ knowledge of natural products in the vocational qualification of beauty care and hairdressing. The second aim was to discover how to employ knowledge of the natural-resources sector, in order to collect and produce natural products for beauty-care use. The results of this publication can be used for content development in the vocational upper secondary qualification and specialist vocational qualification in beauty care, hairdressing and natural resources sectors.

The Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) funded this review and it was administered by Svenska Framtidsskolan Ab. The working group was comprised of experts from beauty care, hairdressing and the non-wood forest-products sector. The publication was conducted through the surveys of hairdressing and beauty care and by requesting the views of experts in various sectors. In addition, previous studies, current practices in Finland and in Europe, and their directions of change was examined.

Further information:
Project Manager Birgitta Partanen, +358 44 538 2248, birgitta.partanen@helsinki.fi

Link to publication (In finnish): www.helsinki.fi/ruralia/julkaisut/pdf/Raportteja103.pdf.

Five new Ruralia Visiting Scholars in 2013-2014

The University of Helsinki, Ruralia Institute Visiting Scholars Programme is a new opportunity for experienced scholars in the field of multidisciplinary rural research to visit Ruralia Institute for a period of one to three months, supported with a monthly grant of 2300 € during the academic year 2013-2014.

The names of the Ruralia Visiting Scholars in 2013-2014 are:

Maria Letícia Galluzzi Bizzo, Department of Social Nutrition, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Francisco Diaz Bretones, Social Psychology Department, University of Granada, Spain

Agatha Herman, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Plymouth University, United Kingdom

Colin R. Johnson, Indiana University, Department of Gender Studies, United States

Egil Petter Stræte, Indiana University, Centre for Rural Research, University Centre Dragvoll, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway

Ruralia Visiting Scholars can conduct research and interact with the researchers of Ruralia Institute and the academic community of University of Helsinki. During the academic year 2013-2014, Visiting Scholars are working on e.g. the research of rural development and governance, sustainable food chains, rural entrepreneurship and regional history.

In 2012-2013 Ruralia Institute hosted following Visiting Scholars:

Julie Smith, Centre for Food Policy, City University London: Read Julie's story about her visit to Seinäjoki Unit.

Adrian Morley, The ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability & Society (BRASS), Cardiff University

Alexander Nikulin, Russian Academy of National Economy and State Service

See more information: Ruralia Visiting Scholars

Update your knowledge on community based tourism

Update your knowledge on community based tourism - meet experts and colleagues working with the problematic from all around the world!

Welcome to international Communities as a part of sustainable rural tourism - success factor or inevitable burden? -conference, which will be organized 10th-11th of September 2013 in Kotka, Finland!

This conference aims to provide the latest information and practical experiences on community based tourism. Communities take a central role of the development of this type of tourism and, in rural areas especially, entrepreneurs typically need community support for successful tourism destination development. In the conference programme there will expert presentations from 16 different countries highlighting how communities can be successfully included in rural tourism development, what the benefits are to them and practical level challenges. In addition, there are three different post-conference study tours available, one to Finland, one to Estonia and one to Russia. Therefore, the conference provides an excellent opportunity for participants to share their experiences and learn from each other!

Take a change and update your knowledge on the topic easily ! The registration dead line for the conference is 18th of August 2013. The price for the conference is 150 € including the conference, material, lunches, conference dinner and coffee. The participants are responsible for organizing their travel and accommodation themselves. The fees for the study tours vary from 100€ to 250€. Further information and registration on the conference web pages

The conference is organized as a joint effort of COMCOT–partners together with the Finnish Rural Network, Leader Network and the Development Association Sepra

Further information:
Anne Matilainen, University of Helsinki, Ruralia Institute
+358 50 4151 15, anne.matilainen@helsinki.fi

Scientific Seminar on Organic Food - open, critical and collaborative approaches

Was in Mikkeli, Finland, 1-2 November 2012 The multidisciplinary seminar was directed to researchers, students and professionals interested in food research including multidisciplinary areas such as life-sciences and socio-economic sciences.

Seminar presentations are now available as pdf-files webpages.