In the third episode of the convivial conservation podcast, Sanna Komi, PhD researcher, and Prof Anja Nygren, the Finnish team of the CONVIVA – convivial conservation research project, share with Dr Judith Krauss (University of Sheffield, CONVIVA post-doc) what CONVIVA Finland has been up to (recorded in June 2021).

Sanna and Anja, both from the University of Helsinki, describe their research and knowledge exchange efforts around human-wolf interactions in Lieksa in eastern Finland. Sanna explains their wolf conservation project to me like I am eight years old (02:20), gives us a glimpse of her in-depth fieldwork finding out more about the challenges of living with wolves, but also what potentials there may be for conviviality (05:00). Sanna equally explains her efforts at knowledge exchange, seeking to feed back to and get feedback from those who were part of her research (12:00).

Next, Anja and Sanna let us in on their current joint paper-writing project, conducted in a convivial spirit transcending the conventional supervisor-supervisee relationship: reflecting on Sanna’s fieldwork through an other-than-human lens, they call for a political ecology of responsibility (16:10), including the key takeaways (28:30). We hear about Sanna’s intentions of thinking through her case-study from the vantage points of what ‘nature’ is and how the ‘post-truth’ era as well as generational differences affect views and knowledges of human-wolf interactions (29:40).

Finally, we end on something hopeful (38:15), which definitely includes Sanna’s project of bringing her research together with her third solo album (33:00)! Please find Sanna’s music here: open.spotify.com/artist/0UjtiwAIQXyBw6OlNRZsJV

The CONVIVA - convivial conservation research project is funded by NORFACE/The Belmont Forum.

Image by Anne Leroy, all music by KO:MI.

Thanks very much for listening!

More info: conviva-research.com/convivialconservation.com/@convivconserv