I am an impact-driven scholar, speaker, and consultant, affiliated with Aalto University's School of Science and serving as an unsalaried Visiting Scholar at Harvard University (Weatherhead Center) and Stanford University (School of Education). My 15 years of experience focus on designing and leading successful projects that blend rigorous science with practical application across organizations and communities.
My academic expertise (H-index 10) spans five disciplines—from open strategy and international management to science diplomacy and entrepreneurship. My fieldwork in extreme environments, such as North Korea and Lebanon, has been published in journals including Organization Science, Academy of Management Discoveries, and the Journal of Strategic Information Systems. I hold a PhD with honours (2013) and was awarded the prestigious Newton International Postdoctoral Fellowship (The Royal Society/British Academy).
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Core Focus: Open Strategy and Future Organizations (Integrating)
My current research and consulting focus on participation and self-management in strategy processes, exploring how organizations can navigate complexity through co-creative and future-oriented methods.
Aalto University & Oxford Collaboration: I am a Project Researcher in the Wallenberg-funded Open Strategy project, hosted by Aalto University School of Science in collaboration with the University of Oxford. This project studies the participatory strategies of creative communities (like Burning Man and Wikipedia) and leading Finnish tech companies (Reaktor and Futurice). Openstrategy.fi
Consulting & Knowledge Transfer: As a consultant (Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä LtD, 2001-ongoing), I facilitate knowledge transfer and future business prediction for organizations.
Global Institutions: Consulting for CERN Ideasquare (Swiss) on the design of planetary design programs and leading knowledge transfer hackathons between CERN and Klang Games.
Corporate Talks: Provided talks and workshops for companies including Alko (Fin) and Lunden Architecture (Fin).
Media, Keynotes, and Public Impact
My work has been featured in national and international media, including the Financial Times, and he has contributed as a columnist for Finnish media on topics such as science-based decision-making, innovation under uncertainty, and the intersection of art, technology, and society. The national news broadcaster YLE . In business, the main outlet Talouselämä has published a
I'm passionate about sharing science through media—whether through visual storytelling, curated exhibitions, or public science communication.
I frequently share research insights through public keynotes, workshops, and media contributions, linking science-based content with societal impact.
Academic Keynotes: Invited lectures and seminars at prestigious institutions including Princeton University, Stanford University, Berkeley UC, and University of St.Gallen.
Industry & Festival Keynotes: Delivered talks for practitioner audiences in tech and creative industries such as Slush, CERN Ideasquare, Chaos Computing Congress (CCC), Oslo Freedom Forum, BOOM (Portugal), and Ozora (Hungary).
Expert Media Coverage: Contributed as an expert columnist to leading Finnish national media outlets, including YLE (on the Korean Peninsula, Hezbollah/Gaza war, and Beirut explosion) and Talouselämä. My work on the Pyongyang Startup Seminar was featured in the Financial Times.
Societal Impact Events: Lead organiser of events focused on knowledge transfer and participatory decision-making, such as The Open Strategy Science-Practice Seminar (200 participants) and the Academic & Association Day in Reykjavík, where Nordic associations signed a Collaboration Manifesto.
Fieldwork in Extremes & Unique Initiatives
My work is defined by designing and executing complex initiatives in challenging settings, focusing on science diplomacy, education, and social impact.
Pyongyang Startup Week (DPRK)
Founder (2016-2017). This was the first-ever startup event in North Korea. The purpose was to enable science diplomacy and pilot new, more democratic, business education concepts.
WTSUP! Beirut
Co-founder/Lead (2018-2020). Initiative focused on transferring Nordic values of equality via entrepreneurship education, in partnership with the Finnish Foreign Ministry.
Academic Leadership in Extreme Contexts
Former Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship (2022-2023) at Universidad de los Andes (a Triple Crown accredited business school in Colombia). Also served as Associate Professor (volunteer) at Pyongyang University of Science & Technology (2012-2017).
Science-Art and Participatory Cultures
I am a multidisciplinary artist and researcher working at the intersection of human creativity, technology, and collective experience.
Burning Stories Scienceart Collective: Founder (2018-ongoing). This platform studies the global influence of participatory culture art communities (like Burning Man) by collecting and analyzing transformative narratives (n=350).
Mietekeskus: Founder (2024-ongoing). A novel concept launched at the Mitäs Mitäs festival blending science lectures with professional art to bring science closer to the public.
Art Dissemination: Research results are disseminated through science-art experimentations, including sound tracks (by artists Mikko Heikinpoika and Viljami Lehtonen), research animations (Kaskas Media), and AI-blended text data (with Swiss AI-startup GOPF).
Installations: Lead artist for the scienceart installation Lux in Fabula at Black Rock City, Burning Man (2022-2023). Co-lead of Space on Fire structure at Burning Man, which led to research on psychological safety.
Tech-Art: Lead artist of the Story Sharing Cubes techart project, piloting methodological data collection in art festival environments.
