Master's Award in Development Studies 2015 to Tomi Lounio from the University of Helsinki
UniPID and the Finnish Society for Development Research awarded Tomi Lounio the 2015 Master's Award in Development Studies at the Nordev seminar "A Changing Global Development Agenda?" in Gothenburg on the 5th of November. The winner received a prize sum of 1000 euros for his development studies thesis "Population Dynamics and Livelihood Change on Ukara Island, Lake Victoria", completed at the University of Helsinki.
UniPID and the Finnish Society for Development Research awarded Tomi Lounio the 2015 Master's Award in Development Studies at the Nordev seminar "A Changing Global Development Agenda?" in Gothenburg on the 5th of November. The winner received a prize sum of 1000 euros for his development studies thesis "Population Dynamics and Livelihood Change on Ukara Island, Lake Victoria", completed at the University of Helsinki.
In his thesis, Lounio studies an isolated Lake Victoria island community, the choice of which as a research environment is exceptional and innovative. A central research question, analysed through a historical overview, is the interrelationship between human population increase and food production as affected by external factors.
This was the fourth year of the Master's Award, and this year a total of 25 students participated in the competition. All works were initially evaluated by a team of representatives of UniPID and the Finnish Society for Development Research and after careful consideration, six theses went through to the final stage, to be ranked by the award selection committee. The selection committee was comprised of emeritus professor Olavi Luukkanen, who acted as the chair of the board, and emeritus professors Reijo E. Heinonen and Ullamaija Kivikuru. Using the same criteria as previous years to rank the theses, the committee gave special attention to the societal applicability and impact and innovativeness of the work.
According to the award selection committee, the topic of the winning thesis is scientifically well justified and contributes to the understanding of adaptation and diversification as mechanisms of livelihood strategies. Its results and conclusions in the form of policy implications are relevant not only for Tanzania but for other countries in Africa as well; they would deserve being published in an international scientific journal.
Two other outstanding theses were also awarded, receiving 250 euros each. The second prize was given to Noora Stenholm, also from the University of Helsinki, for her development geography thesis "Gendered perspectives on rehabilitation after involuntary resettlement in urban Sri Lanka" and the third prize was given to University of Turku graduate Paula Pankakoski for her thesis in East Asian studies, titled "Place and Belonging - an Ethnography of Rural Migrant Children in Beijing ".
The award is given annually to an accomplished Master's thesis related to global development or development studies.
Read the press release here (in Finnish).
Read more from the selected works:
