Browsing by Subject "Sweden"

The EC regulations for organic farming (OF), No. 834/2007 and 889/2008, apply in all EU countries but still, different rules are being implemented. Every country in the EU has its own certification bodies and certification systems, and the interpretation of the EC regulations for organic farming is done nationally. The purpose of this research is to fill a gap in the understanding how rules of organic farming differ between three countries in Europe: Finland, Sweden and Austria. In particular, this study aims to examine the role of the national interpretations of the EC regulations for OF at different stages in the food supply chain. The main interest lies in why these differences in interpretation occur, and what interpretations are made at what stage in the system. The methods chosen for answering the research questions is a literature review, a survey with qualitative interviews for gathering relevant topics from the field and finally a comparison of the EC regulations for OF and the national legislations and guidelines in Finland, Sweden and Austria for these topics. This study shows that there are many topics in OF where the EC regulations for OF leave room for variable interpretations and hence, it is unclear to the implementing authorities in the member states how to interpret these. The most significant result is that some of the differences in interpretation lead to the organic farmers being unequal across the countries. Even for statements with clear reasoning and precise instructions there can be significant differences in interpretation between the countries. Based on the results of this research I can state that the farmers in OF would benefit from a more harmonized landscape of OF rules on EU-level, as this would lower the inequality between farmers in OF in the different countries. One mean of doing this would be to reduce the number of statements of qualitative character.

The study explores the educational debate in Sweden by analysing how Finnish education and the Finnish school is discussed in the Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter. The aim is to investigate how education is discussed in Dagens Nyheter and in what way Finland is highlighted in the debate and what is said. The purpose is to clarify what Finland's function in the debate is. Is Sweden compared to Finland and if so, in what way? Is Finland seen as a role model or as something antiquated or something completely different? The dissertation is based on a general theory, Niklas Luhmann's systems theory and on the research theories, externalization, reference society and the role of the media in education policy by opening the contemporary diagnostic phenomenon, the Finnish school in Swedish media commentary. Previous studies have shown that it is common in today's globalized world to look at other countries in education policy and that large-scale international comparisons of education systems such as PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) have led to other countries' results becoming reference points and legitimizing arguments in global education policy. For the empirical study, data was collected from Dagens Nyheter's digital service and archive. The material consisted of a total of 38 articles published between 2010-2018 and the news source's own search engine was utilized by using the keywords "education", "school" and "Finland". During this period, two PISA results were published in 2012 and 2015, which also significantly "heated up" the debate. After the material collection, a thematic content analysis was performed of the identified articles. The articles that highlighted Finland and Finnish education could be categorized according to three different main themes that were recurring and central to the Dagens Nyheter debate. The articles covered in Theme 1: Swedish school policy and reform debate, Theme 2: Teachers, teacher training and teacher salaries and Theme 3: PISA, learning outcomes and assessment. In addition, the function of Finland in the debate could be categorized by subcategories in which Finland's function was seen as either 1) a role model, 2) something antiquated or 3) a reference but not an influence. The study's results suggest that when Finland is seen a role model, Finland's function is a positive reference in which various good aspects of the Finnish educational system are presented and projected against the Swedish system. In addition the results show that when Finland is seen as something antiquated, it is not about Finland's function being a negative reference but more about how Sweden makes excuses to Finland's PISA success in legitimizing its own decisions. Finally, the results show that Finland's function can also be seen as a reference but not an influence when observing Finland and comparing but neither in a positive or negative sense or that Finland is seen as one among other reference countries. One can also distinguish that the education debate was "heated up" especially when new PISA results have been published and that the debate in Dagens Nyheter has been most lively during the years 2011-2012. In summary, the study results indicate that Finland is raised in the debate and has a function as a reference but that the degree of intensity varies and that it is always linked to the ever-changing dynamic between countries and who is the one referred to at that particular moment.

Previous study shows that reading motivation among Finnish children and youth has diminished. Recreational reading is known to be an essential factor in literacy development. With support of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, new ways of promoting reading are being developed. In Sweden, the municipalities formulate plans of reading promotion with the collaboration of various operators. In Finland, there is no similar system. There are no previous studies or reports to be found on the topic in Finland or in Sweden. This study examined the methods of reading promotion presented in the plans and their justification. The study aimed at considering whether there is something to be learned from the Swedish system in Finland. Plans of reading promotion of 17 Swedish municipalities were chosen as the data of this study. The method chosen was inductive content analysis. The actions of reading promotion described in the plans could be portrayed as efforts between four factors: the professionals, the parents, the children and the material. The professionals aim at both having an impact directly on the children, using methods that take place in children's groups, and indirectly by informing and supporting the parents. They try to improve the achievability of the material by bringing the library close to the children and by offering reading that is suitable by its contents and suitably easy for each reader. The professionals also aim at improving their own actions and cooperation. The viewpoint of the librarians stands out in the plans. Cooperation with the educationalists does not seem to be widely used in planning, purchasing material or agreeing on the distribution of work. The methods are usually adult-centered. The methods, where the child becomes a subject instead of being an object, stood out clearly: the children were given an opportunity of either collaborating in purchasing the material and making it achievable or influencing each other by developing the library environment and by networking. Significant qualitative variation was found in the plans. This report offers ideas of reading promotion for an elementary school teacher and can be helpful in formulating plans of cooperation of school and library. Comparing the reading interest of Finnish and Swedish children and finding out the effects of planning on reading motivation would further contribute to the findings of this study. That information would make it more possible to evaluate if the Swedish system is worth introducing in Finland.

Goals: It’s been stated that one possible reason for faster revival of Swedish economy compared to Finnish after financial crisis could be found in the differences of wage formation and Sweden’s more flexible wages. The essential difference in wage formation between the countries is in meaning of wage norm that is reference point in Sweden and minimum raise in Finland. The goal of this thesis is to provide new data of wage flexibility in Sweden and also compare wage flexibility between Finland and Sweden during 1996‒2018. Aim is also to ponder whether Finland could learn something from Swedish wage formation model. Methods: Swedish data set belong to IFAU and it consists wage information of workers between 15- and 65-years-old. R. Uusitalo has given the Finnish numbers for this thesis, and they are from Statistics Finland data set that covers workers of all ages. The used analysis are surveying the basic statistics and distribution graphs, and regressions. Analysis only include full-time workers. Results: Waged were found rigid in both countries during 1996‒2018, and especially downward rigidity was pronounced. Distributions were skewed to the right, and there were more extreme values than in normal distribution. Finnish wages were more flexible than Swedish ones during the whole survey period: distributions were wider, kurtosis smaller and extreme values were higher. More over Swedish wage changes centered much more tightly towards median wage change. After financial crisis Swedish wage changes clustered even more around median wage increase and phase of wage increases decelerated in a manner that allowed median wage change to stay above inflation rate, and real wage growth continued during 2010’s. Median wage change fluctuated considerably more in Finland according to economic situation and inflation. There was some clustering around median after financial crisis, but not as much as in Sweden. There was a positive and powerful connection between companies’ economic success and wages in both countries. There was also a connection between companies’ economic success and wage change in both countries, but coefficients and coefficients of determination (R2) were so modest that practically wage changes seem to be quite rigid regarding companies’ economic success. Conclusions: It’s possible that stricter wage discipline and rigidity in Sweden found in this thesis has actually assisted Sweden to recuperate economically from financial crisis. It seems that Finland has not been able to follow the benchmark such as set in Sweden. It appears that there is even grated wage solidarity in Sweden after financial crisis, and that is something Finland could learn and take advantage in the future.

The rise of the scientific theories and race biology at the beginning of the 20th century was one of the main factors that caused the Sámi people to be marginalized, as they were characterized as “inferior” for the rest of the Nordic citizens. They were photographed, measured, and the remains of their ancestors were exhumated and taken to universities to serve as material and evidence for the racial theories of the time. The purpose of this thesis is to study and emphasised the arguments used during the discussions about the repatriations of the human remains in both cases to understand the outcomes and the impacts on the Sámi societies. To understand the development of both process and their outcomes, a comparative analysis of different medias covering the subjects at this time was done, following the ideas of Asgeir Svestad and Kjell-Åke Aronsson, in order to synthetize the information and reach a conclusion. Since the 1970’s, Sámi peoples have been fighting for their rights and self-determination in multiple fronts, notably by demanding the repatriation of the remains of their ancestors to their lands. The Rounala case in Sweden and the Neiden case in Norway are two examples of repatriation among the Sámi communities. Both were covered by the medias and rised numerous discussions about the handling of the human remains as part of cultural heritage in the context of colonialism. Different opinions were expressed about the potential reburial of the remains and the possibilities further to analyse the bones to learn more about the Sámi history. The development of the cases led to the reburial of the human remains from Neiden and the remains from Rounala to be archived in the Ájtte museum in Jokkmokk for several years.

During the mid-19th century, Sweden was almost a completely unknown country in the Czech Lands due to the geographical distance and the lack of historical relations, aside of the Thirty Years’ War. However, from the 1860’s onwards, there was a visible increase of Czech interest in foreign countries, including Sweden. The objective of this thesis is to analyze how the portrayal of Sweden developed between 1848 and 1914. This is done by analyzing of the general reasons behind the increase of interest in foreign countries and with an in-depth look at the increase of Czech interest towards Sweden. The method used in the thesis is historical research, which critically analyzes primary sources, such as travelogues, articles in newspapers and magazines, and historical fiction published between years 1848 and 1914. The primary sources are compared to each other in order to establish similar and ambivalent themes in the portrayal of Sweden. The general interest in foreign countries is explained as a consequence of an overall modernization process, which started already during the last third of the 18th century and influenced industrial, political, social and cultural developments in the Czech Lands during the 19th century. The increase of interest in Sweden was initially the result of the overall interest in foreign countries from the 1860’s onwards, but which later developed into a genuine interest by the Czech intelligentsia. The research of primary sources shows that there was no homogenous portrayal of Sweden, but two different perspectives of how Sweden was portrayed in the Czech printed sources. The first one, the traditional one, connects Sweden mainly to the Swedish invasion of the Czech Lands during the Thirty Years’ War. This theme appears in a great number of historical novels, where Swedes are portrayed predominantly in a negative way. The second perspective developed through travelogues, written by Czech tourists and travelers who visited Sweden. The Thirty Years’ War is presented as something that happened a long time ago and which has nothing to do with the contemporary Swedes, praised for their friendliness, kindness, neatness and manners. By the beginning of the 20th century, the portrayals of ruthless, looting warriors coexisted with the modern portrayal of Sweden, which presented Swedes as “the French of the North,” with great advancements in the fields of engineering, women’s rights, arts and literature and children’s education.

Youth climate activism has accelerated on an unprecedented scale since 2018 and of the rising popularity of international activist movements Fridays For Future and Extinction Rebellion. Gender and age affect all social positions, but the meaning of girlhood is scarcely studied in the context of youth climate activism. This thesis aims to address this gap and offer valuable perspectives on girls’ experiences of agency and girlhood in climate activism, which is a powerful way to practice active citizenship. This thesis delves into girls’ gendered and age-specific positions in the youth climate movement and explores the boundaries activist girls experience due to their girlhood. The material consists of interviews with 13 girls from Finland, Sweden, and Denmark who are active on climate matters. For the purpose of the analysis, the participants are categorised as climate activists and climate agents, depending on their self-perceived position and forms of action. I study the positions of power and their connection to different cultural positionings by using an intersectional approach in the analysis. I present the ways climate activism is practiced by the participants, both in the public and private spheres. The participants are in different parts of their activist journey and have different experiences of age-related boundaries. Being a girl also produces boundaries for agency both in social and public arenas. The boundaries are often set by adults, but the participants experience their parents being a great support, even when the boundaries for activists are negotiated. Critical voices towards activism usually come from adults outside the movement or in a school environment. School climate/environment groups are also important arenas for young people to get engaged in climate activism. The strong involvement of girls is normalised in the movement, which the participants reflect on resulting from girls’ socialisation to care about other people and the environment. Regardless of the emphasised inclusiveness of the movement, some gendered boundaries and obstacles, such as the cultural notions of girls as individual heroes and experiences of not being safe, remain and need to be overcome to act.