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Senja Laakso

University Lecturer, ympäristöpolitiikka
Tampere University
senja.laakso [at] tuni.fi (senja[dot]laakso[at]tuni[dot]fi)
phone number+358504679128

About me

I am a University lecturer in Environmental Policy and Adjunct Professor (Docent) in Sociology of consumption and sustainability (2021, University of Jyväskylä). My research focuses on everyday life, (un)sustainable consumption, citizenship and participation, and sustainable wellbeing. I hold a PhD in Environmental Social Sciences (2017, University of Helsinki).

Fields of expertise

Social practice theory; transition theories; urban experiments; qualitative methods; participatory methods

Research career

Visiting research fellow, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex (2022)

Postdoctoral researcher, Centre for Consumer Society Research, University of Helsinki (2017-2022)

Visiting research student, Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of Manchester (2016)

Doctoral student, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki (2014-2016)

Research assistant, The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), Research Department (2011)

Selected publications

Laakso, S. and Aro, R. (eds.)(2022) Planeetan kokoinen arki. Askelia kestävämpään politiikkaan . Helsinki: Gaudeamus.

Laakso, S. and Lukkarinen, J. 2022. Actor Roles and Practices in Energy Transitions: Perspectives from Finnish Housing Cooperatives. In Karimi, F. and Rodi, M. (eds.) Energy Transition in the Baltic Sea Region. Understanding Stakeholder Engagement and Community Acceptance. Routledge.

Laakso, S., Matschoss, K. and Apajalahti, E.-L. 2021. What is clean and comfortable? Challenging norms and conventions in everyday life toward sustainability . European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, online. 

Laakso, S., Jensen, C.L., Vadovics, E. and et al. 2021. Towards sustainable energy consumption: Challenging heating-related practices in Denmark, Finland, and Hungary. Journal of Cleaner Production, 308, 127220. 

Laakso, S., Niva, M., Eranti, V. and Aapio, F. 2021. Reconfiguring everyday eating: Vegan Challenge discussions in social media. Food, Culture & Society, ahead-of-print, 1-22. 

Laakso, S., Heiskanen, E., Matschoss, K., et al. 2021. The role of practice-based interventions in energy transitions: a framework for identifying types of work to scale up alternative practices. Energy Research & Social Science, 72, 101861.

Kivimaa, P., Laakso, S., Lonkila, A. and Kaljonen, M. 2021. Moving beyond disruptive innovation: A review of disruption in sustainability transitions. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 38, 110–126.

Laakso, S., Aro, R., Heiskanen, E. and Kaljonen, M. 2021. Reconfigurations in sustainability transitions: systematic and critical review. Sustainability: Science, Policy and Practice, 17(1),15–31. 

Heiskanen, E. and Laakso, S. 2019. Editing out unsustainability from consumption: from information provision to nudging and beyond . In Mont, O. (ed.) A Research Agenda for Sustainable Consumption Governance. Edward Elgar, 156–171.