NACER

Our profile

NACER focuses on the academic field of art education, including research on visual art education in schools, educational institutions, and universities. Its work also extends to the wider field of visual arts, encompassing both traditional Indigenous and non-Indigenous art practices as well as contemporary collaborative art forms. In line with the university’s profile, NACER places strong emphasis on Arctic sustainability and ecocultures.

NACER promotes global responsibility and sustainability through research-based activities grounded in Northern and Arctic contexts. Its participatory research responds to changing sociocultural conditions in an era marked by ecological crises and urbanisation. The group explores future directions for sensitive, socially engaged initiatives that draw on visual arts, art pedagogy, and arts-based methods to support local communities and address global challenges.

Leaders

Mirja Hiltunen

Professor

Faculty of Art and Design

Mirja Hiltunen, DA, is Professor of Art Education and the head of the Art Education major at the University of Lapland. She focuses on critical arts-based practices in questions of social justice in the context of contemporary art education in the North. The place-specificity, performativity, and socially engaged practices are of particular interest to her. She has presented numerous international research papers and published her work in art education journals, books, and art exhibitions.

+358 40 484 4373 mirja.hiltunen@ulapland.fi Research profile

Maria Huhmarniemi

Associate Professor

Faculty of Art and Design

Maria Huhmarniemi, DA, is a Vice Dean and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Lapland. She is dedicated to art and research that enhances cultural sustainability in the Arctic and promotes Arctic art and art education. Huhmarniemi is UArctic Chair in Arctic Art and Design and she leads the Arctic Sustainable Arts and Design network (ASAD).

+358 40 484 4339 maria.huhmarniemi@ulapland.fi Research profile

Timo Jokela

Full-Time Teacher

Faculty of Art and Design

Timo Jokela, Professor Emeritus of Art Education at the University of Lapland in Finland, a former Chair of Art, Design and Culture and lead of the ASAD at the University of the Arctic. His theoretical studies, art and art-based development projects focus on the relationship between northern cultures, art and nature. Jokela has been responsible for several international and regional development and research projects in art and art education. He has presented his art in several exhibitions in Finland and abroad.

+358 40 739 6034 timo.jokela@ulapland.fi Research profile

Networks

NACER works in close collaboration with the Arctic Sustainable Arts and Design (ASAD) network, as well as with numerous schools, museums, teachers, artists, and organisations in the fields of art and art education.

Its national and international research and doctoral training partners and networks include the International Society for Education through Art InSEA, the Finnish Educational Research Association (FERA), the SIG groupArt and Skill Education Research as part of the the FERA, Interdisciplinary Network of Environmental and Sustainability Education Research SIRENE, the Finnish Association for Subject Didactic Research, the The Finnish Society for Research in Art Education (STTS), the Observatory for Arts and Cultural Education (Finland), the Taikusydän (Arts & Health Coordination Centre in Finland), Department of Art and Media at Aalto University, and the Sustainability Transformations Doctoral Education Pilot.

Projects

Thesis Defence News

Resources

Mobile Lab

Infrastructure to develop and research in the Arctic region.

Mobile Lab

For researchers