Team
Vanessa Riki is the team leader of the project. She is a freelance photojournalist with a background in civil and environmental engineering. She has seven years of experience in journalism and ten years in engineering. She has been working in both Finland and abroad. The focus of her work and camera has always been on people, society, infrastructure, culture and environment.
“I was in Jordan working when Syria war started and have been following the conflict of Syria ever since. I noticed that the environment has not been in the headlines in such a scale that it should be. I feel that good environment is the basic precondition for us human beings to survive and live a healthy prosperous life. It should be taken into account in every single decision, plan and action we take now and in the future. Environment should be kept in mind in crisis management and preparedness, in humanitarian work as well as building resilience and all future plans. This is why I started this project with this amazing team.
Hanne Mari Tarvonen is a journalist and a photographer with a passion for larger-than-life stories, different cultures and travel. She has studied journalism, foreign politics and media culture in the University of Tampere and worked as a journalist for the Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE and as a journalist & news anchor for the biggest daily newspaper of Scandinavia, Helsingin Sanomat & Sanoma Media. She likes to take big projects that deal with human rights issues, environment and wellbeing. She has lived in Finland, UK and Spain and her travels & projects have taken her chasing stories in different parts of Africa, South East Asia and Europe.
Veera Vehkasalo is a journalist with a background in social & cultural anthropology. Lives mostly in Helsinki, works especially on sustainable development & human rights. Editor-in-Chief of the Finnish street paper Iso Numero (Big Issue). ”Inequality, poverty and migration are more and more topical globally and even in Finland.”
Emma Nikander is a freelance journalist working on all kinds of environmental topics. She has studied journalism and sustainable development at University of Tampere. Her hometown is Tampere, but she has been living on the road with her caravan as well, working on wheels all around Europe. She is currently studying major’s degree in media, culture and society and focusing on environmental journalism, climate change and sustainable development in her studies.
She is passionate about nature and she’s trying to do her part for our planet. She values equity and wants to believe that equality is possible to achieve, and that’s why she is a journalist.
Linda Nyholm is a freelance journalist with a focus on international politics, environmental justice and human rights. She has worked in the foreign news department of Helsingin Sanomat, and has published in newspapers such as Voima, Ulkopolitist, Hufvudstadsbladet, maailma.net. She has worked in the West Bank as a journalist and as a human rights observer, and reported from countries such as Eritrea, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jordania and Estonia.
Having studied International Relations and European studies, Linda has worked for various human rights and environmental organisations such as Amnesty and Greenpeace, as well as worked as Vice Chair of the Finnish section of Amnesty International.
Nina Jaatinen is a journalist, with an educational background in cultural anthropology and East Asian studies (M.Soc.Sc), She has been living and working for 10 years in China as a freelance foreign correspondent. Her interests have especially been human rights, labor rights and different issues connected to societies and humanitarian crisis situations.
Ville Aho is a dynamic and result based programmer and web-developer. “ In best case scenario I see myself as a bridge builder that understands widely network communication and possibilities but is also very interested in developing the user based and communicative content.“
Petra Haapio is a freelancer theater director and pedagog. She has 15 years of experience with directing theater and dance as well as teaching acting to different age groups from adolescent to elderly people.
“ Important to me is to work with topics related to environment, multi-cultural and gender issues, migration and mental health. I am also interested in how theater art can be used to influence and presenting the changes in society and work as empowering the individual”
Scott Stapleton is our English teacher. He makes sure that we do right by the text to produce good and correct material to our audience.
Katja Kostiainen has been working as a Sound designer for 17 years within multidisciplinary media; film, document, commercial, radio and news and current affairs programs. Her professional skills consists from recording in the field to post production of sound. She has worked in Finland and abroad in different productions in South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Heli Pekkonen is a documentarist, cinematographer and a social scientist who has alongside with her work in moving image and media specialized in peace, conflict and development -related issues in Finland and abroad.