Aili Pyhälä is Adjunct Professor in Global Development Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Fluent in 8 languages, she specializes in human-nature relations and Indigenous peoples’ knowledge and rights. She has extensive grassroots-level experience working with multiple indigenous and local communities around the world, as well as inter-ministerial work with national institutions in more than 25 countries. She has researched and worked with a number sustainability and wellbeing indicators, and has close to 20 years of experience evaluating development cooperation projects worldwide. Her previous research looks at the promotion (or imposition) of notions such as "happiness", “sustainability”, and “development” across cultures, knowledge systems, and socio-environmental settings, and the implications thereof. She is also a teacher-trainer in permaculture and ecovillage design, specialising on social tools for building community.