Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark is Professor of Law at Åbo Akademi University. In the spring of 2024, she is completing ongoing projects at the Åland Islands Peace Institute. She is a lawyer, juris doctor and associate professor (docent) of international law at Uppsala University. She was director of the Peace Institute from 2007 until the beginning of 2024. Sia has worked at and with civil society organisations, universities and research institutions around the world. In 2002-2006 and 2010-2014, she was an expert member of the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on National Minorities and its President 2012-2014. In 2019, Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark was appointed conciliator at the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark’s areas of interest and expertise are minorities, indigenous peoples, territorial autonomy, the Åland example, the interplay between international and national law, as well as issues of collective security, demilitarisation as a tool for security, methods of peaceful conflict resolution and rules on the international use of force.