Irmeli Mustalahti

Irmeli Mustalahti is a Professor of Natural Resource Governance at the Department of Geographical and Historical Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies, University of Eastern Finland. She chairs the Responsive Natural Resources Governance (RNRG) research group and has extensive experience in environmental conflict resolution, participatory methods, and collaborative natural resource management.

Her research focuses on the intersection of forest policy, climate change adaptation, and equity in environmental governance. She leads multidisciplinary projects like ALL-YOUTH (2018-2023) examining youth-environment interactions and MAKUTANO (2019-2023) developing environmental collaboration frameworks in Tanzania. She has secured funding from the Academy of Finland and Strategic Research Council of Finland.

Mustalahti co-developed the Environmental Collaboration and Conflict Resolution course series since 2015, involving international researchers and PhD supervisors. Her work spans Tanzania, Nepal, Mexico, Laos, Indonesia, and Russia, addressing REDD+, FSC certification, FPIC (Free, Prior, and Informed Consent), and bioeconomy challenges.