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Driving resilience through knowledge

Research & Innovation

Advancing urban resilience through collaborative research, open geospatial data and innovation that moves from the university into practice — across Tanzania, Africa and beyond.

African Research and Education Day explored new horizons in Finland-Africa partnerships

28

Researchers

350

Publications

3,741

Citations

30+

Partner institutions

Thematic areas

Explore our research themes

Six themes connect our publications, projects and courses.

Climate Change & Adaptation

96 publications · 2 projects · 4 courses

Urban Flooding & Drainage

97 publications · 1 project · 4 courses

Geospatial Data & Technology

83 publications · 3 projects · 8 courses

Urban Planning & Land Use

61 publications · 0 projects · 0 courses

Water, Sanitation & Health

53 publications · 1 project · 0 courses

Community Resilience & Engagement

57 publications · 2 projects · 0 courses

Our research team

Meet our researchers

Explore the people and expertise behind our research.

All
Professors
Senior Researchers
Post-doctoral Researchers
Doctoral Researchers
Researchers

Professors

Dr. Abubakar Diwani Bakari

Dr. Abubakar Diwani Bakari

Professor · State University of Zanzibar

Tanzania
Research & Innovation expert
Dr. Dorothea Deus

Dr. Dorothea Deus

Professor · Ardhi University

Tanzania
33 publicationsh-index: 6ORCID ↗
Dr. Ernest Mauya

Dr. Ernest Mauya

Professor · Sokoine University of Agriculture

Tanzania
Research & Innovation expert
Dr. Jukka Käyhkö

Dr. Jukka Käyhkö

Professor · University of Turku

Finland
132 publicationsh-index: 21ORCID ↗
Dr. Petteri Alho

Dr. Petteri Alho

Professor · University of Turku

Finland
177 publicationsh-index: 35ORCID ↗
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Prof. Niina Käyhkö

Professor · University of Turku

Finland
93 publicationsh-index: 21ORCID ↗
Sanna Maki

Sanna Maki

Professor · University of Turku

Finland
Research & Innovation expert

Senior Researchers

Antero Järvi

Antero Järvi

Senior researcher · University of Turku

Finland
Research & Innovation expert
Dr. George Matto

Dr. George Matto

Senior researcher · Moshi Cooperative University

Tanzania
32 publicationsh-index: 5ORCID ↗
Dr. Juma Lungo

Dr. Juma Lungo

Senior researcher · University of Dar es Salaam

Tanzania
33 publicationsh-index: 11ORCID ↗
Dr. Mahadia Tunga

Dr. Mahadia Tunga

Senior researcher · University of Dar es Salaam

Tanzania
21 publicationsh-index: 2ORCID ↗
Dr. Mary Khatib

Dr. Mary Khatib

Senior researcher · State University of Zanzibar

Tanzania
7 publicationsh-index: 1ORCID ↗
Dr. Mercy Mbise

Dr. Mercy Mbise

Senior researcher · University of Dar es Salaam

Tanzania
23 publicationsh-index: 5ORCID ↗
Dr. Theofrida Julius

Dr. Theofrida Julius

Senior researcher · Sokoine University of Agriculture

Tanzania
17 publicationsh-index: 5ORCID ↗
Dr. Zahor K. Zahor

Dr. Zahor K. Zahor

Senior researcher · University of Dar es Salaam

Tanzania
Research & Innovation expert
Dr. Zakaria Ngereja

Dr. Zakaria Ngereja

Senior researcher · Ardhi University

Tanzania
17 publicationsh-index: 4ORCID ↗
Happiness Huka

Happiness Huka

Senior researcher · Moshi Cooperative University

7 publicationsh-index: 4ORCID ↗
Nelly Babere

Nelly Babere

Senior researcher · Ardhi University

Tanzania
25 publicationsh-index: 6ORCID ↗

Doctoral Researchers

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Akseli Tolvi

Doctoral researcher

0 publicationsORCID ↗
Cosmas John

Cosmas John

Doctoral researcher · Sokoine University of Agriculture

Tanzania
Research & Innovation expert
Khairiya Masoud

Khairiya Masoud

Doctoral researcher · State University of Zanzibar

0 publicationsORCID ↗
Massoud Hamad

Massoud Hamad

Doctoral researcher · State University of Zanzibar

Tanzania
2 publicationsORCID ↗
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Msilikale Msilanga

Doctoral researcher · Resilience Academy

7 publicationsh-index: 1ORCID ↗
Venla Aaltonen

Venla Aaltonen

Doctoral researcher · University of Turku

Finland
11 publicationsh-index: 2ORCID ↗

Post-doctoral Researchers

Gideon Marandu

Gideon Marandu

Post-doctoral researcher · Ardhi University

Tanzania
4 publicationsh-index: 1ORCID ↗

Oliver Tomassi

Post-doctoral researcher · University of Turku

6 publicationsh-index: 2ORCID ↗

Researchers

Amedeus Raphael Kimaro

Amedeus Raphael Kimaro

Researcher · Ardhi University

Tanzania
Research & Innovation expert
Hassan Omar

Hassan Omar

Researcher · State University of Zanzibar

Research & Innovation expert

Collaborative initiatives

Research in action

Projects that turn research into practical tools, open data and skills.

Resilience Academy for BLUE-ZAN
Ongoing
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland · via Syke (ICI)

Resilience Academy for BLUE-ZAN

A 2026–2027 project, funded by Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs through the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), in which the Resilience Academy builds a group-based student internship model between SUZA and Zanzibar’s government institutions for collecting and managing coastal and marine geospatial data.

View project →
Resilience Academy for ProWAS-SASA
Ongoing
GIZ (BMZ + EU) · Team Europe Initiative

Resilience Academy for ProWAS-SASA

A 2024–2026 GIZ-funded (BMZ and EU / Team Europe) project where the Tanzania Resilience Academy builds open geospatial data, digital skills and community-youth solutions for climate-resilient water management in Tanga and Mwanza.

View project →
GeoICT4e
Completed
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland · EDUFI (HEI-ICI)

GeoICT4e

A 2020–2024, €2.44M Finnish-funded (HEI-ICI) eight-university partnership transforming geospatial and ICT education at Tanzanian universities through multi-competence, challenge-based learning.

View project →
Tanzania Resilience Academy
Ongoing
World Bank / TURP · GIZ

Tanzania Resilience Academy

A World Bank–funded, Tanzanian university partnership that builds youth digital skills and open climate-risk data for urban resilience.

View project →

From ORCID profiles

Most cited publications

Explore publications shared through our researchers’ ORCID profiles — most cited first.

Powered by ORCID
articleClimate Change & Adaptation2022
Climate change in the Baltic Sea region: a summary

H. E. Markus Meier, Madline Kniebusch, Christian Dieterich et al. · Earth System Dynamics

286

citations

articleUrban Flooding & Drainage2010
National scale assessment of climate change impacts on flooding in Finland

Noora Veijalainen, Eliisa Lotsari, Petteri Alho et al. · Journal of Hydrology

217

citations

articleGeospatial Data & Technology2023
Brain–computer interface: trend, challenges, and threats

Baraka Jacob Maiseli, Abdi Talib Abdalla, Libe Valentine Massawe et al. · Brain Informatics

169

citations

articleUrban Flooding & Drainage2017
Channel dynamics and geomorphic resilience in an ephemeral Mediterranean river affected by gravel mining

Mikel Calle, Petteri Alho, Gerardo Benito · Geomorphology

121

citations

articleUrban Planning & Land Use2014
Accessing water services in Dar es Salaam: Are we counting what counts?

Kapongola Nganyanyuka, Javier A. Martínez, Anna Wesselink et al. · Habitat International

115

citations

articleClimate Change & Adaptation2015
Where do the treeless tundra areas of northern highlands fit in the global biome system: toward an ecologically natural subdivision of the tundra biome

Risto Virtanen, Lauri Oksanen, Tarja Oksanen et al. · Ecology and Evolution

101

citations

No publications listed yet

Publications appear here when researchers connect their ORCID iD and choose to be listed on their My Research page.

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From our research

Research stories

Presenting Data-Scarce Cities at IOER 2026
ResearchSep 2026

Presenting Data-Scarce Cities at IOER 2026

Last week I had an opportunity to attend the DLGS Summer School and the 4th IOER Conference, “Space & Transformation.” I went there to talk about two things I have spent much of my PhD thinking about: how a city like Mwanza can assess flood risk when the data it needs barely exists, and how […]

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Flood risk mapping in Dar es Salaam: The case of Tandale, Dar es Salaam
ResearchJun 2020

Flood risk mapping in Dar es Salaam: The case of Tandale, Dar es Salaam

Introduction Being a bachelor student from The University of Turku, doing a thesis is part of my studies. My name is Ohto, I am a student from The University of Turku. My interests have always been working on the Tanzania project in order to contribute to the communities in Tanzania. This is why I decided […]

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Research Pilot Survey – Dar es Salaam
ResearchMay 2020

Research Pilot Survey – Dar es Salaam

A key part of resilience is understanding how individuals, households, and communities will respond to a changing climate. In the Msimbazi Valley of Dar es Salaam, many people have become […]

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A Handbook for Community Urban Risk Mapping
ResearchApr 2019

A Handbook for Community Urban Risk Mapping

The activities undertaken by Ramani Huria over the last four years stood as a model for a Handbook for Community Urban Risk Mapping. By helping communities to map residential areas, roads, streams, floodplains, and other relevant features, projects like Dar Ramani Huria bring disaster prevention and response to areas that were previously off the map, […]

Read more →

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