Nordregio Forum 2025
Speakers
Meet the speakers
Nordregio Forum brings together leading voices from across the Nordic region and further afield. This year’s exciting line-up includes policy-makers, researchers, practitioners and experts who offer diverse perspectives on how to navigate crises.
Explore the profiles below, to learn more about the people driving the conversation.
Ágúst Bogason
Senior Research Advisor at Nordregio
Ágúst Bogason is a social researcher with a particular interest in policy and governance of the Nordic countries and Arctic, sustainable rural development, the labour market, local participation in policy processes and tourism studies. He has an academic background in political science and environmental social sciences and favours working on the intersection between research, policy, practice and implementation.
Anne Katrine Ebbesen
Senior Communications Advisor at Nordregio
Anne Katrine has an academic background in rhetoric, specialising in campaign analysis, speechwriting and political discourse. Understanding exactly how language changes minds and behaviour, is what Anne Katrine is interested in. Most of her professional experience is from the fields of migration, human rights and public safety – designing strategies, writing/recording/editing content and leading projects.
Axel Eriksson
Communications Advisor at Nordregio
Axel Erikson is a communications specialist with a background in political science. Interested in current affairs and societal development. He is committed to making research more accessible to policy makers.
Elin Slätmo
Senior Research Fellow at Nordregio
Elin Slätmo is a human geographer specialised in regional and local planning, urban-rural relations and agricultural geography. Research interests in governance models, territorial and multi-level governance, energy transition, sustainable development, actor-structure relations, resilience and participatory methods.
Hedda Thomson Ek
Junior Research Fellow at Nordregio
Hedda Thomson Ek has an academic background in environmental science and policy, within both research and communication for sustainable regional development. She has contributed to research on nature-based solutions in urban landscapes, as well as socio-environmental challenges in rural areas. Hedda is especially passionate about ecosystem-based management approaches, green transitions, and building sustainable food systems.
Hilma Salonen
Senior Research Fellow at Nordregio
Hilma Salonen is a social scientist specialised in sustainability transitions, remote locations and energy politics. Her PhD focused on Russian regional development in the Arctic and how it links with renewable energy prospects, and now she is broadening her scope to include Finnish rural regions. Her research ambition is to explore how to make sustainability transitions more just by putting more focus on habits.
Lisa Rohrer
Research Fellow at Nordregio
Lisa Rohrer is a creative and critical thinker who dwells on social and cultural questions related to urban spaces. Her academic and professional experience has included mixed-methods research in topics such as urban design, identity and movement (mobility, migration, tourism), nature in cities, and urban planning language. She also has a background in editorial work.
Magnus Ekengren
Professor at Swedish Defence University, Stockholm
Magnus Ekengren is a former Swedish diplomat and was previously Deputy Director at the Policy Planning Unit of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where he dealt with EU enlargement and institutional reform, the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy.
Miia Itänen
Senior Communications Advisor at Nordregio
Miia Itänen is a communications specialist with experience in cooperation, EU affairs and regional development through interregional learning and sharing of experiences. She strives to facilitate connections and foster collaboration among people and organizations to spark new ideas.
Niko Kyynäräinen
Mayor of Lahti, Finland
Niko Kyynäräinen is the Mayor of Lahti, Finland, appointed in October 2023. He holds a Master’s in Political Science and has led major urban development initiatives in Turku, with further studies in urban management at Harvard University.
Rolf Elmér
Director at Nordregio
Rolf Elmér focuses on business and organizational development in an international context. Long experience in working with policy- and decision-makers within regional development and the labour market.
Sakari Puisto
Minister of Economic Affairs in Finland
Sakari Puisto is Finland’s Minister of Economic Affairs and a Member of Parliament representing the Pirkanmaa constituency, elected for a second term in 2023. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Cambridge and has worked in both academia and the private sector, including in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Thomas Niedomysl
Research Director at Nordregio
Thomas Niedomysl has a background as a researcher in regional development, with expertise in population dynamics and other key issues. He has practical experience addressing local and regional development challenges, combining academic insights with applied strategies.
Tine Gøtzsche
Moderator & journalist
Tine Gøtzsche is a seasoned moderator and journalist with over 20 years at Denmark’s national broadcaster, DR. She has hosted major political debates, international events, and cultural programmes, and now works independently, facilitating conferences and seminars across sectors. Tine brings clarity, professionalism, and multilingual fluency in Danish, English, French, and Spanish.
Zoriana Dvulit
Professor, Doctor of Economic Sciences at Lviv Polytechnic National University, Director of the Baltic University Programme (BUP) National Centre in Ukraine.
Zoriana Dvulit has extensive academic and project experience in the fields of sustainable development, international trade, and public policy. Her research and publications focus on sustainable development, post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, digitalization of management, and innovative approaches in business analytics.