This episode we sit down with Dr. Aili Pyhälä, lecturer in Development Studies at the University of Helsinki. She takes inside her more than 20 years of work as an activist and a researcher in indigenous and other communities facing the threat of extractivist practice. She shares with us her stories and lived experiences from the field. We explore the gray area between extractivisms and alternatives and look at extractivism as an alternative when it is in the right hands. She also shares with us her thoughts on decolonizing academia and how research projects can and should be designed.

Read more about Aili’s academic work https://www.helsinki.fi/en/people/people-finder/aili-pyhala-9131642

The organizations Aili highlighted:

· The ICCA Consortium - https://www.iccaconsortium.org/

· Centre for Indigenous Conservation and Development Alternatives (CICADA) - http://cicada.world/

· Global Ecovillage Network - https://ecovillage.org/