Juho Kähkönen

Juho Kähkönen is a researcher in International Relations and International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Lapland. He researches Arctic politics and climate change. His research spans areas such as climate change mitigation, just transition, and climate resilience. Kähkönen has published on the green transition of tourism, transport, and logistics in the Arctic, demonstrating his profound understanding of the region's unique challenges and opportunities. He participates in the Fulbright Arctic Initiative IV program and will visit Ilisimatusarfik (University of Greenland) and Dartmouth College in 2025.

Kähkönen's influence extends beyond academia. He has delivered keynotes to prestigious institutions such as the British Parliament (APPG Polar Regions) and the Finnish Climate Change Panel, as well as to various international and regional stakeholders. He is a Board Member of the Finnish International Studies Association (FISA) and served as a board member of the University of the Arctic (UArctic) 2021-2024 and the Arctic Society of Finland 2018-2024. He has visited and lectured, for example, at the United Nations University for Peace and the Arctic University of Norway. Kähkönen is a Fulbright alumnus and studied with excellent grades in Australia, Brazil and the U.S. He has been interviewed by Helsingin Sanomat, Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) and several other media.

Before his academic career, Kähkönen led two large EU consortiums (2 + 1 million euros), which implemented the European Green Deal on energy transition and mining in most potential regions across the Union. He has also worked in tourism on four continents.

Kähkönen was born and raised 250 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle and has extensive local knowledge of the North.

Arctic politics, climate change mitigation, just transition, and climate resilience