Alva Bruun

Alva is Senior Programme Adviser at the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI). She works in the higher education unit/global team, overseeing the implementation of a development cooperation programme (HEI ICI) funded by the Finnish government, aimed at capacity building of institutions in the Global South. She also works on Erasmus+ Strategic partnerships. From 2014–2016, Alva served the UN Development Programme (UNDP) under the Resident Coordinators’ Office in Malaysia, implementing a rights-based approach to development programming in an inter-agency setting. Prior to this, she worked with development cooperation projects in higher education for four years and in university administration (doctoral studies) for two years. She was a consultant for private foundations supporting equal access to education, carried out work for NGOs and student unions and was involved in various research projects. Alva holds two Master’s degrees: one in international law (human rights) from Abo Akademi University in Finland and another in international development (human geography) from the Grenoble Alpes University in France. She has been active in the EAIE Expert Community Cooperation for Development since 2011, and as the Chair from 2014–2018. She is the EAIE’s representative in the Scholars at Risk network working group: ‘Protecting Values in International Partnerships’.