Who are we and our backgrounds? Why join the Urban Environmental Policy research group?
Originally from Italy, Francesco joined the group as a C-NEWTRAL doctoral researcher from University College Dublin. With several years of project management experience at an engineering firm and an academic background in urban planning and sustainable cities from the University of Florence and Aalborg University, his research naturally aligned with UEP’s focus on urban sustainability and policy analysis. The group hosted him for an academic secondment of a little over three months, split between late spring and autumn, offering the opportunity to step outside his home institution and engage deeply with a new research environment.
Alma arrived with a different trajectory. Trained as an architect and working as an urban project coordinator for the City of Brussels, she was already familiar with themes such as urban renewal, citizen participation and ecological transition, but from a very hands-on, practice-oriented perspective. After first encountering part of the UEP team a year earlier, she joined the group for a three-month internship, motivated by the desire to explore these same questions from within a research framework.
What did you like most about the UEP research group?
Despite our different backgrounds, we quickly discovered a shared appreciation for the group's working culture. Both UEP and our “home” professional environments are highly international and open, marked by generosity in exchanges and a genuine willingness to discuss ideas across disciplines. At the same time, the contrast between practice-oriented work and academic research was clearly felt.
For Alma, moving into a research context allowed for a more autonomous and reflective working rhythm, complementing her previous experience in fast-paced, practice-oriented municipal projects.
Instead, after a year and a half immersed in academic research, Francesco’s relocation experience felt natural, more as a change of scenery, atmosphere and the people around him: from studio-like academic environments to the UH Viikki campus, where sleek Nordic architecture and advanced environmental-focused labs create a research landscape that feels both modern and deeply connected to nature. Different setting, new colleagues, fresh energy, but a continuity in purpose that made the whole experience not only smooth, but genuinely enriching.
Within the research group itself, working in a multicultural and interdisciplinary environment was one of the most rewarding aspects of our stay. Researchers from diverse countries and disciplinary backgrounds created a space where ideas flowed easily, and discussions often emerged spontaneously, sometimes over coffee rather than in formal meetings. This diversity not only enriched the research but also shaped daily life in different ways, fostering curiosity, openness and mutual learning.
What did you like most about living in Helsinki?
Living in Helsinki became integral to the experience. For Francesco, it echoed memories of life in Copenhagen, with familiar Nordic rhythms and a strong emphasis on everyday quality of life, yet with a character all its own. What stood out most was the city’s intimate relationship with nature, water, forests, and green spaces seamlessly woven into the urban fabric.
Alma’s experience was more personal: being partly Finnish but having left the country at a young age, returning to Helsinki felt like coming home to a place both known and unknown. There was a shared sense that the city invites calm through its pace, its people, and its landscapes shaped by the sea and the surrounding islands.
For both of us, sauna culture quickly moved beyond curiosity, becoming a grounding ritual as an essential pause that reset both body and mind through the simple contrasts between the intense heat of the löyly and the chill, sometimes icy, embrace of sea or lake.
Of course, a big shout-out goes to the karaoke scene (irresistibly fun).
What would you say to someone interested in joining the UEP research group?
If there is one element about the UEP we both remember most fondly, it is undoubtedly the people. Beyond the academic framework, UEP offered a strong sense of togetherness. Supportive supervisors, an engaged coordinator and a warm, dynamic group atmosphere made collaboration feel natural and enjoyable. We often say the same thing when people ask us what to expect: in line with the Finnish culture, it won’t be loud, and it won’t be flashy (even though Finns might be, in fairness, exuberant in their own way). But it will be real. What it offers instead is a calm, open working atmosphere where innovation is kindly nurtured, collaboration flows naturally, and the surrounding nature quietly restores your focus and clarity.
As in many other scenarios, for anyone considering joining UEP, whether for a short stay or a longer collaboration, our shared advice would be simple: come with openness and curiosity to get the most out of it. The experience may unfold gently, but its impact can last far beyond your time in Helsinki.