From the Arctic Circle to the Andes: Growing into Global Experts in Bogotá

Authors:

Miska Ekström
Heini Huhtamella
Silja Korhonen

The authors are law students at the University of Lapland Faculty of Law.

Introduction

Participants of the VIDA Study Visit, including inter alia Professor René Urueña (1st from left) and the doctoral researchers Artha Dermawan (2nd from right) and Dino Girardi (4th from right, back) from the University of Lapland, as well as Docent and Assistant Professor Yovana Reyes Tagle (6th from right)
Photo by Yinna Figueredo

In November 2025, we had the privilege of taking part in the VIDA Study Visit: Digital Paths, Living Memories at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. What was planned as an academic study trip quickly evolved into something deeper: a shared journey of intellectual growth, cultural humility, and international professional development. 

Over one intensive week, we engaged with scholars, policymakers, and institutions working at the intersection of Indigenous rights, digital cultural heritage, intellectual property, and transitional justice. Through lectures, site visits, and collaborative work, we gained new knowledge, skills, and understanding of international justice – learning where law, memory, and technology collide.

Talking about Indigenous cultural heritage in a post-conflict society, inside institutions like the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and the National Center for Historical Memory, moved our understanding beyond the classroom and into real-world practice. We confronted hard questions, such as:

• What does ethical data governance really mean in practice?
• Who controls digital heritage and how? 
• How can law protect living cultures without freezing them?
• Who can rightfully be said to represent the views of Indigenous peoples?

The CARE and FAIR principles stopped being just acronyms and became practical responsibilities that guide how we approach these questions. 

Three journeys, one shared transformation 

Our Finnish trio arrived in Bogotá with very different personal histories, but it soon became clear that this diversity was our greatest strength.

Heini Huhtamella, Miska Ekström,
and Silja Korhonen
Photo by Artha Dermawan

Miska, who has experience at both of Finland’s highest courts, the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, has also studied social sciences at the University of Helsinki and completed a minor subject at the National Defence University. Prior to the course, he travelled for several weeks across Colombia with local friends. This combination of institutional experience and firsthand familiarity with Colombian society provided local insight, anchoring our academic discussions in concrete realities rather than abstraction.

Heini, a Sámi student, contributed perspectives rooted in Indigenous lived experience from the Arctic. Seeing Sámi cultural heritage discussed alongside Andean contexts was not just academically meaningful, but profoundly human. The dialogue moved from “comparative law” to shared responsibility.

Silja, fresh from five weeks of travel across Latin America, connected Colombia’s transitional justice and Indigenous governance debates to broader regional dynamics, reminding us how deeply interconnected these issues are across borders.

During the study visit, we strengthened our research skills, expanded our international academic networks, and earned 5 ECTS credits. The experience also supported our professional and personal growth and allowed us to build lasting friendships. Most importantly, we grew as people: we learned to listen before speaking, to question technological “solutions,” to sit with discomfort, and to work across cultures, disciplines, and worldviews. 

Bogotá with its altitude, history, contradictions, and warmth taught us resilience and perspective. On the last day of our journey together, standing atop Monserrate and overlooking a city shaped by both conflict and creativity, it became clear: global expertise is not built in isolation. It is built through encounters.

Looking forward 

This experience reinforced what we now carry into our hearts and careers: that being an international expert today means balancing legal precision with cultural sensitivity, technical knowledge with ethical responsibility, and ambition with humility. 

We are grateful for the institutions, scholars, organizers, and fellow students who made this journey possible – and for Colombia, which welcomed us and challenged us in equal measure. 

The VIDA project is set to continue with future study visits to Lima, Peru, and Rovaniemi, Finland. We encourage all students to apply, as these visits offer a unique opportunity to gain international expertise in topics that are often overlooked.  

From the Arctic to the Andes, we’re just getting started!