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Simon Haikola is an Assistant Professor and Head of Unit at Linköping University's Theme Technology and Social Change (THEME), which operates within the Department of Theme (TEMA). His research examines Swedish environmental policy and the value conflicts it generates, analyzing how state approaches to environmental regulation create tensions across geographical and institutional levels, and how these conflicts drive institutional change.
His educational background includes a Doctor of Philosophy in Technology and Social Change from Linköping University (2012), a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from Borås University, and a Bachelor's degree in Literary Studies from Lund University.
Haikola's research centers on the political dimensions of environmental governance, with specific focus on mining politics, negative emission technologies, high-speed rail development, and wind power planning in Sweden. He investigates how environmental policy creates new conflicts while attempting to resolve existing ones, examining the tension between neoliberal economic frameworks and climate action, particularly in Swedish transport policy. His work often employs discourse analysis to understand how policy narratives shape environmental governance across different scales.
Analysis of Haikola's recent publications reveals a strong focus on wind power conflicts in Sweden (multiple 2024 articles), with an evolving research trajectory from mining politics (2018-2019) to negative emission technologies (2020-2021) and energy policy transitions (2022-2025). A consistent theme across his work is the examination of how environmental policy creates new conflicts while attempting to resolve existing ones.
Haikola serves as Director of Studies for Theme Technology and Social Change and teaches in the Environmental Science Program and History of Technology courses. His research is supported by multiple significant grants from the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation, Swedish Energy Agency, Formas, and The Swedish Research Council (VR), including projects on municipal planning for wind power and mines, climate emergency temporality, carbon neutral industry approaches, and negative emissions technologies in Sweden and Tanzania.
He is actively involved with the Center for Climate Policy Research (CSPR), the Environmental Humanities Forum, and the Linköping University Negative Emission Technologies (LUNETs) initiative, collaborating extensively with researchers like Jonas Anshelm and Mathias Fridahl in interdisciplinary teams spanning political science, environmental studies, and sustainability research.
