Teuvo Peltoniemi (born 1950) is a Finnish writer, journalist, researcher, educator, and eHealth developer specialized on addictions. Since the 1970s he has been contributing by research and journalism to increase public awareness in Finland for many taboo societal problems, like general speed limits, family violence, sexual abuse of children, situation of children of alcohol abusing parents, and net addiction. After retirement he now writes about social issues in his blog at Iltalehti evening paper, and in science journals and books as well as maintains two sites on the Finnish Utopian Communities. and Early life and education Peltoniemi was born in Finnish Lapland. He has higher academic degrees in sociology and mass communication from Universities of Tampere and Helsinki. His M.A. dissertation is about the change of drinking habits of students in Kemi and his Licentiate dissertation about the Helsinki Alcohol Treatment Agency ("PAVI"). As journalist he has been producing for the Finnish Broadcasting Company news as well as radio and TV documentaries about social, scientific and emigration history topics. He has worked also at the University of Tampere and at various academic and government research institutes. In 1979 he had a research scholarship at the Addiction Research Foundation in Toronto, Ontario. Past activities Until retirement (2010) Peltoniemi was the communications director of the A-Clinic Foundation, a Finnish addiction treatment organisation, as well as editor-in-chief of the Finnish journal on addictions, Tiimi, and of a Finnish web and mobile portal on addictions, AddictionLink. He was also developing Finnish and European prevention projects, like in Finland the still continuing Lasinen lapsuus ("Fragile Childhood") activities that started already in 1986. He is the founder and honorary president of the EU network Prevnet on addictions-related eHealth, and a founding member and past president of Encare Network for children affected by risky environments within the family. He was also expert for many COE Pompidou group prevention projects of the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe e.g. Exass. Awards Teuvo Peltoniemi has received a number of national and European awards related to his work, like (personal awards:) in 2011 the State of Finland Life Achievement Award for "exemplary and unconventional public information work" referring to his role of early pioneer on many taboo social problems; the "2007 Science Journalist Award" by the Finnish Association of Science Editors and Journalists; and the "2006 Press Officer of the Year" award by ProCom – Finnish Association of Communications