Meet JYU alumni: Elli Latva-Hakuni
Elli Latva-Hakuni comes originally from Kokemäki, Isokyrö. After general upper secondary school, she got interested in environmental issues as her concern about the state of environment grew. She dreamed of a profession where she could work for the benefit of the environment and people, about work where one could leave a mark.
At first, Elli started environmental studies at the University of Helsinki, but along with a change in her life situation, she headed for studies in Jyväskylä. After her bachelor’s studies, she went on to complete a master’s degree in environmental science.
“I applied for a study place and got admitted. In a way, the Ģֱ chose me.”
Elli was 27 years old when she started studying in Jyväskylä, so her student life was a relatively quiet one. She liked the city and its close natural surroundings a lot. The campus was also a pleasant place for her.
“The best thing was the multidisciplinary setting in the faculty and JYU.Wisdom. For example, I studied social sciences and politics. Interest in sustainability themes was shared across disciplinary borders.”
As her studies progressed, her awareness of environmental and sustainability issues only grew stronger. Elli completed her master’s thesis for JYU.Wisdom. In it she investigated the climate effects of the student and workplace restaurant Semma as well as measures to decrease them. “I wanted to change the world,” Elli says.
After graduation, Elli Latva-Hakuni worked as a carbon footprint analyst at Green Carbon. She calculated carbon footprints and drew up carbon neutrality plans for the products and broader value chains of corporate customers.
Elli has also long been involved in environmental organizations. Owing to her experience from the academic sphere, corporate world and the third sector, she has a broad-based understanding of how to mitigate climate change and evaluate its effects.
Elli had a long-standing dream about leaving for work abroad. After the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, she got an opportunity to do volunteer work in Denmark for eight months as a sustainable development expert. Her work at a local folk high school consisted of planning tasks and teaching courses on various sustainable development issues. In Denmark, Elli lived in an eco-village where the lifestyle was environmentally sustainable in terms of recycling, energy production and food.
“I’ve long dreamed about communal life where I could experience living with as minimal an environmental impact as possible.”
After this volunteer work, Elli applied for an internship in Berlin, at the recently established Hot or Cool Institute. This new institute is an ambitious thinktank working to produce scientific knowledge about the sustainability transition, and the knowledge is addressed especially to policymakers. Elli works in a team of ten, including researchers coming from different countries and at different career stages.
“Even though I don’t hold a doctoral degree, I have had demanding research tasks and at the same time I’ve really learned a lot from the most experienced researchers. The views of a younger researcher are valued.”
Elli’s work includes making quantitative analyses, such as carbon footprints, lifespan reviews and scenarios. The German working culture differs slightly from the Finnish one. “There is plenty of bureaucracy and rules,” Elli says. “At the same time, everything is very systematic, and you get feedback for your work, sometimes quite directly as well.”
“Statistical analysis, academic writing and language learning, which during my studies sometimes felt like less-than-enjoyable requirement, have been really useful skills.”
Elli encourages students to go on exchanges however possible. She also advises students to apply for internships, as it is a good way to get a foot in the door. She recommends environmental sciences for everybody wanting to work for the benefit of nature and people as well as develop new ways of good life.
“Awareness of the state of the environment may feel psychologically hard but working for the transition to sustainable development and finding new solutions is meaningful and rewarding.”
