Dr Irma Kunnari from Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK, Finland) has over 25 years of experience in developing innovative student-centered and competence-based higher education. She works at HAMK Edu research unit, which main focus areas are professional competence for the future, teaching excellence, career counselling and lifelong learning, teacher education, competence management and leadership as well as new learning solutions and digital competence. Practice-based research and development activities are carried out as part of a national and international network with other universities, research institutes, vocational training and industry organisations. Export of expertise generated by the unit and international collaboration in research extends globally from Europe to Asia, Africa and Latin America.

As a teacher educator, pedagogical developer and researcher Dr Irma Kunnari has coordinated and facilitated numerous educational development projects and processes in national and international contexts where teacher learning and organizational learning has been integrated. For example, projects in Finland has been related to developing competence-based curriculum in multi-professional higher education, teacher competence development, the guidance of students’ professional growth and teacher tutoring, competence-based assessment, recognition of prior learning, industry-university collaboration, innovative digital tools and learning environments, work-based and passion-based learning. In the international context, she has been responsible for coordinating Erasmus+ Empowering ePortfolio process (EEP) – project (2016-2018) and currently leading Erasmus+ project Empowering Vietnamese VET Teachers for Transformation towards Education 4.0 (2019 – 2021) in Asian – European collaboration. She has also educated teachers and school leaders from numerous countries like Brazil, Thailand, China, Kazakhstan.

Her research interests are focused on teacher learning and educational change. She has studied educational innovations like holistic guidance practices, integration of learning and RDI (research, development, innovation) and teachers’ teamwork. She relies on practice-based research, where research is embedded in development activities. She is also very inspired in the positive psychology approach and interested in phenomena like pedagogical wellbeing, collective efficacy, resilience and job crafting. She is interested to unfold people’s and communities full potentials to build the new kind of relevance of higher education in the rapidly changing world.

Prof. Piero Dominici (PhD), Fellow of the World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS), is Director (Scientific Listening) at the Global Listening Center and Scientific Director of the Complexity Education Project; he teaches Public Communication, Sociology and Intelligence Activities at the University of Perugia. As scientific researcher, educator, author and international speaker, his main areas of expertise and interest encompass (hyper)complexity, interdisciplinarity and knowledge sharing in the fields of education, systems theory, technology, innovation, intelligence, security, citizenship and communication. Member of the MIUR Register of Revisers, (Italian Ministry of Higher Education and Research), and of the WCSA (World Complexity Science Academy), he is also standing member of several of the most prestigious national and international scientific committees. Author of numerous essays, scientific articles and books, his published works include (a selection): Per un’etica dei new-media [Ethics for the new media] (1996-1998); La comunicazione nella società ipercomplessa. Istanze per l’agire comunicativo [Communication in the Hypercomplex Society. Solicitations for Communicative Action (2005); La società dell’irresponsabilità [The Society of Irresponsibility] (2010); La comunicazione nella società ipercomplessa. Condividere la conoscenza per governare il mutamento [Communication in the Hypercomplex Society. Sharing Knowledge to Cope with Change] (2011); Dentro la Società interconnessa. Prospettive etiche per un nuovo ecosistema della comunicazione [Inside the interconnected society. Ethical Prospect for a New Ecosystem of Communication] (2014); Communication and Social Production of Knowledge. A new contract for the Society of Individuals, in «Comunicazioni Sociali», n°1/2015, Vita & Pensiero, Milano 2015; La filosofia come “dispositivo” di risposta alla società asimmetrica e ipercomplessa [Philosophy as a “Device” for Reacting to the Asymmetrical and Hypercomplex Society] in AA.VV., Il diritto alla filosofia. Quale filosofia nel terzo millennio?, Diogene Multimedia, Bologna 2016; [Post-Humanist Utopia and the Search for a New Humanism in the Hypercomplex Society] in «Comunicazioni Sociali», n°3/2016, Vita & Pensiero, Milano 2016; Dominici P., Oltre la libertà …di “essere sudditi”, in F.Varanini (a cura di), Corpi, menti, macchine per pensare, Casa della Cultura, Anno 2, numero 4, Milano 2017; Sicurezza è Complessità sociale in M.C.Federici, A. Romeo (a cura di), Sociologia della sicurezza. Teorie e problemi, Mondadori, Milano 2017, pp.49-65; The Hypercomplex Society and the Development of a New Global Public Sphere: Elements for a Critical Analysis, in, RAZÓN Y PALABRA, Vol. 21, No.2_97, Abril-junio 2017; (2017), Of Security and Liberty, of Control and Cooperation. Terrorism and the New Ecosystem communication. [Italian Sociological Review, 7 (2) [DOI: 10.13136/isr.v7i2.XX]; “Fake News and Post-Truths? The “real” issue is how democracy is faring lately”, in «Sicurezza e scienze sociali», V, 3/2017, FrancoAngeli, Milano 2018, pp.175-188; “Objects as systems. The educational and communicative challenges of the hypertechnological civilization”, in P.L.Capucci, G.Cipolletta (eds), The New and History. Art*Science, Noema, Ravenna 2018 - pp.121-133; “Oltre la linearità. Esplorare le connessioni…tra ordine e caos”, in Programmare il mondo. Sfida e opportunità, OTM, Media Duemila, n. 1 - anno 2018; “For an Inclusive Innovation. Healing the fracture between the human and the technological”, in, European Journal of Future Research, Springer, 2017; “The hypertechnological civilization and the urgency of a systemic approach to complexity. A New Humanism for the Hypercomplex Society” in, AA.VV., Governing Turbolence, Risk and Opportunities in the Complexity Age, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge 2017; Controversies on hypercomplexity and on education in the hypertechnological era, in, A.Fabris & G.Scarafile, Controversies in the Contemporary World, © John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2019.

In April of this year (on the 7th of April 2019, to be precise), Professor Piero Dominici, Scientific Director of the international research group “Complexity Education Project” of the University of Perugia, where he is faculty member and researcher, and Director of Scientific Listening for the Global Listening Center, was named "Fellow" of the World Academy of Art & Science for scientific and research merits. The World Academy of Art & Science, known to be one of the most prestigious scientific and academic institutions in the world, brings together 650 scientists, researchers and scholars from across the world who have achieved particular distinction in various sectors of research and in different disciplinary fields.

Among the scientific accolades received by Professor Dominici, it should be remembered that his treatise "Inside the Interconnected Society. Ethical prospects for a new ecosystem of communication” (published in 2014 by FrancoAngeli, Milan and due to be released in a new 2019 edition entitled "Inside the Interconnected Society. A culture of complexity for inhabiting the boundaries and tensions of the hyper-technological civilization" with the addition of new chapters and updates), has received the prestigious International Elisa Frauenfelder Award in the “Culture and Innovation" section. The award, presented on January 31st, was granted by an international scientific committee.

PhD in Methodology of Research in Educational Contexts

Associate professor in “Methods and didactic of movement activities” at Department of Human, Philosophical and Education Sciences of the University of Salerno (Italy).

Since 2006 she has carried out the following scientific and academic activities:

1. Lecturer (main topic: how to teach physical education in primary school and in the other educational contexts; addressed to bachelor’s and master’s degrees students in Exercise and Sport Science and Science of Primary Education)
2. Principal investigator of research project funded by University of Salerno on topic about assessment of motor skills, active ageing and prevention of falls, teaching/learning processes in physical education, with particular reference to childhood and in the school context
3. Scientific Manager of the “Physical Education, Sport and Movement Activities” research and didactic Laboratory at Department of Human, Philosophical and Education Sciences of the University of Salerno (Italy).

The scientific interests are expressed in the scientific products concerning mainly the educational and training aspects of the movement activities.