Browsing by Subject "participation"

This research focused on sustainable community forest management and policy implications for the biosphere reserve of Luki in the DR- Congo. The purpose of this research was to find out opportunities and options to develop sustainable community forest management at the biosphere reserve of Luki. The research was conducted in the biosphere reserve of Luki located in the southwest of DR- Congo. The human activities threat the biosphere reserve of Luki to be under significant pressure of unsustainable management. The research revealed a number of options and opportunities to establish sustainable community forest management and policies needed to sustain forest ecosystem in the biosphere of Luki. The research uses a qualitative research methods, both primary and secondary data were collected during field work in 2010 through interviews and other various participatory methods. The interviewee includes different local forestry authorities and local community. The results of the research showed that, sustainable community forest management cannot be established in an environment where no effective policy instruments or law enforcement being in place. The results show that, due to political conditions in DR- Congo, the government has not been able to put certain measure to resolve tenure rights. This has remained a difficult issue and challenge that the government has not been able to find an immediate solution. The research recommends the need to develop a sustainable community forest management at the biosphere reserve of Luki. The government needs to clarify the forest code by clearly stating what government wants to do with its vast forest resources, especially in regard to the forest dependent people. A policy framework should be put in place as soon as possible in order for forest institutions to be able to function. The management strategy should be an inclusive process in order to promote equity and multiple use of forest resource at local community level.

Participatory budgeting is a democracy innovation that has become popular around the world during the past decades. The capital of Finland is one of the many actors running participatory budgeting. The Helsinki participatory budgeting initiative – called MyCity – defines equal opportunities for participation as one of the main principles and improving parity as one of the key goals for the initiative. This MA Thesis focuses on themes of parity in Helsinki participatory budgeting. The attention is on different parity goals set for the initiative as well as the realization of these principles. According to the literature, inclusion is vital for all democracy innovations, and can be approached in two ways: from equality and equity perspectives. The first emphasizes everyone’s right to be treated similarly in society. The latter one acknowledges that fairness in access and contributions can be achieved only when tuning into each individual’s background differences. The data for the study is twofold, it consists of public documents and interviews. Through document analysis of key policy documents, different equality and equity goals and actions are identified. Further analysis on how these goals complement and contradict is taken. In addition, five qualitative interviews of MyCity cooperation organization representatives were conducted. The methods used are qualitative. Both the policy documents and interviews are analyzed with content analysis. The analysis of the study demonstrates a harmony of equality and equity actions in the recruitment, ideation and co-creation phases of MyCity. In the latter two phases of the process, voting and implementation, equality and equity actions are contradictory. Equality holds the main emphasis in the cost of equity. The study discusses two scenarios for the result: firstly, dismissal of equity goals and the downsides of it: risking tokenism and increasing inequalities. And secondly, an alternative explanation is discussed: unintended lack of clarity in parity priorities. The cooperation organization interviews present the reality of participation for the least privileged citizens: participatory budgeting is largely inaccessible. Main themes identified from the interviews are: employee supported participation was possible for the least privileged, fears on majority citizen’s preferences surpassing the less privileged voices and superficial equality projects as hindrance. In the end, three recommendations to improve equity in MyCity are made: renewal of equity guidelines for the initiative; forming stronger cooperation alliances with the minority organizations; and adjusting the rules and scope of MyCity.

Background: Poor health literacy (HL) is associated to increased hospitalization and decreased seeking for screenings. Shared decision making can increase patient knowledge, decrease anxiety over the care process, improve health outcomes and reduce health care costs. Little is known about factors influencing health literacy and participation in treatment decision making in different population groups. Objectives: To investigate factors predicting HL and participation in the treatment decision making. Methods: A cross-sectional population online survey conducted in Finland in 2019 by Finnish Medicines Agency. Both health literacy and participation in the decision making were assessed by three statements that sum variables were created with score 1-5 (Cronbach’s alpha value 0.584 and 0.810). Age, gender, education, household income and most common chronic diseases were chosen as possible predicting factors. Two-variable Pearson’s chi-squared test was first used to find significant factors followed by logistic regression analysis to take into account several variables. Results: Of all the respondents (n=2104) 76.5% had good HL and 73.4% had willingness to participate in the treatment decision making. In the two-variable test older age (p<0.001), lower education (p<0.001), lower household income (p=0.001), higher number of chronic diseases (p=0.003), having cardiovascular diseases (p=0.003), diabetes (p=0.029) and cancer (p=0.001) predicted poorer health literacy. Male gender (p=0.001), not having chronic diseases (p=0.001), not having a musculoskeletal disorder (p=0.050) or mental health disorders (p<0.001) predicted poorer participation in the treatment decision making. In the logistic regression analysis older age and having cancer predicted poorer health literacy. Male gender and not having mental health disorders predicted less willingness to participate in the decision making. Conclusions: Older age and cancer predicts poorer health literacy and male gender poorer willingness to participate in the decision making. Further research should focus on investigating more in detail the contributing factors to these findings, and how health literacy in elderly and men’s involvement to the decision making could be improved.

Objectives: In my thesis, I studied the fourth, the fifth and the sixth graders views about the conceptions of the influence at school. In the thesis it was also surveyed what kind of matters the pupils wanted to influence at school. Furthermore, it was studied what kind of influencing skills pupils thought they have. The theory part of the thesis consisted in an overview to the children's and youth's different kind of needs for participation as well as an overview to the curriculum system which forms the base of the school work was studied. In addition, in the theory part of the thesis the democracy expressed at school and the awakening of the children's interest in civic matters were studied. Methods: The thesis was a survey-research and structured questionnaires were used when information was collected. The research group consisted of 112 pupils who studied at the fourth, the fifth and the sixth grades in the primary school situated in the Southern part of Finland. The data was analyzed with the quantitative research program SPSS. At first different numbers such as averages and standard deviations were examined and after that factor analyses were used. Correlation examination was also used. Results and conclusions: The results showed that the pupils had a positive image about their own influencing skills and they trusted their own opinions. They felt that it was important to have influence on they own matters as well as on the common matters at school. However many of the pupils felt that they didn't have possibilities to influence what happens at school during the school day. In addition, the pupils didn't want the teachers or the headmaster to decide solely how the work at school was carried out. The things that the pupils wanted to influence the most were the lunch and the snack at school, the seating arrangement in the classroom, the visits carried out at school and the optional subjects. According to the results it's possible to draw a conclusion that the pupils' participation at school is necessary. The pupils value the possibilities to take part in and seem to understand that it is needed them to contribute themselves so that it is possible to enjoy more the time spend at school. It's also possible to draw a conclusion that although the possibilities to participate are valued there is a lack of real enthusiasm to participate. This is why it seems that there is a need for different kinds of ways to participate since the current ways to participate at school lack to motivate many pupils. Also the work of student body needs to be improved since many of the pupils didn't want to participate to the work of student body although they thought the work done by the student body was important.

It has been argued that due to the specific characteristics of small islands, traditional concepts of sustainability cannot be applied to these territories. Instead, there is a need for a tailored approach. This thesis examines an approach for assessing small island sustainability, called habitability. The concept was created on the island of Kökar and then further developed by The Archipelago Institute at Åbo Akademi University. Habitability is described as a tool for developing islands and smaller communities, characterized by their presence to water. The framework states that sustainable societies must be habitable to survive, develop and keep their resilience. The habitability concepts aim to be an inclusive and transparent process, engaging the local island community and gathering local knowledge for the report. The thesis examines the habitability method across four research concepts: Citizen Science, Sustainability, Community Engagement, and Purpose. Local coaches from islands that have completed their reports were interviewed using a semi-structured interview style. Findings indicate that the method's reliance on local knowledge proves applicable and has several strengths. There were variations in sustainability discourse across sites, from a system-perspective to addressed criticism towards the concept of sustainability. In these cases, the report was proven supportive in talking more openly about sustainability issues. Community participation was mainly active, with the coaches emphasizing the importance of leadership and cooperation in driving change. The perceived purposes for the report were increasing knowledge, acting as a tool for future action and empowering islandness, aligning with proposed sustainability assessment purposes. The report's role in informing decision-making and potentially catalyzing political engagement is highlighted. Implications suggest that the habitability concept, grounded in local knowledge and community engagement, offers a rather flexible and participatory approach for assessing small island sustainability. However, challenges remain regarding data ambiguity and could possibly be improved through stakeholder training and follow-up. Further research is encouraged on participant diversity, motivations, and possible influence of project objectives on the results. In conclusion, it would be important to empower local knowledge and build collective resilience in addressing island sustainability challenges.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change devised the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, but this agreement was to be just the starting phase in restricting emissions, and a more comprehensive agreement would come right after the first term of the Protocol. The Copenhagen Summit in December 2009 was to be the meeting where a new agreement would be adopted. However, preliminary negotiations leading up to the Summit revealed that consensus was very hard to reach. Despite these disagreements, the Copenhagen Summit was rallied to be the one where the world shows commitment to the cause and unites to fight climate change. By the time the Summit started, the gap between expectations and reality was enormous. The Summit was not a success. Developing countries were adamant that the main negotiating track had to be a second term for the Kyoto Protocol. The US President Barack Obama was under domestic pressure to make sure that the US only commits to an agreement that includes all the largest polluters. China was holding on to the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' and refused to agree to binding emission restrictions and international monitoring. The deadlock did not unravel until the Chair of the Summit gathered an informal negotiation group as a last minute plea. This high-level group drafted an Accord that was not based on the work of the UNFCCC working groups and presented it to the Plenary meeting on the last night of the Summit. Various developing countries announced immediately that they would not accept the Accord and so the Summit compromised to 'take note' of the Accord instead of adopting it. No binding agreement was reached. The aim of this Thesis is to examine the Copenhagen Summit as a failure and to discuss the most evident problems of the Summit in relation to theories of power, participation and compliance. All the subsidiary and working groups of the Summit are examined individually in order to get a comprehensive idea of the structure and the proceedings of the UNFCCC negotiating process. Major disagreements are discussed in relation to the structural level, and the dramatic events of the last days are examined in detail in order to get an idea of what finally sunk the possibility of a success. The way the Summit ended directs the Thesis towards a discussion about inequality and differentiated responsibilities in relation to participation and compliance in a policy field that could well be seen as a multi-level Prisoner’s Dilemma. As many of the developing countries pleaded to the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities', discussion on structural constraints of international environmental policy forms a large part of the analysis. Lukes’ three dimensions of power give a framework for the study of power at the institutional level. The inequality of the UNFCCC participants is explained through the historical development of the world order, using the narrative of the world-systems theory. The Thesis concludes with a discussion addressing the most evident problems of the UNFCCC institution and ends with a suggestion. Climate change is an issue of human security and therefore a full securitisation of climate change might enable the Security Council to get involved in the policy-making process. Although acknowledging the problem of democratic deficit in the Security Council, the Thesis proposes that by using an economy of esteem, the permanent members of the Security Council might feel obliged to use their authority to ensure that human security will not become threatened because of the effects of climate change. This would not be more democratic or transparent but might bring more results than the UNFCCC at its present form.

Environmental problems are usually complex in nature, encompass uncertainties and affect multiple actors and groups of people in multiple ways. Hence, managing these problems requires transparent decision making that takes into consideration diverse values, perceptions and knowledge of those groups. Decisions that are made in a participatory decision-making process are more likely to express public values and local knowledge than decisions made in top-down management processes. Collaboration has become a ubiquitous concept within the context of participatory planning and environmental management. It is used in describing a wide array of participatory approaches and it is often used as a tool in managing wicked problems. However, participatory approaches do not guarantee better success in solving environmental problems. Hence, it is crucial to deliberate what kind of approach is used and what kind of situations it suits. This master’s thesis examines Metsähallitus’ participatory natural resource planning (NRP) process through the concept of collaboration. The study encompasses two mutually supporting parts: a case study about Metsähallitus’ natural resource planning process for Southern Finland 2017-2022 and an equality analysis encompassing altogether four cooperation groups from natural resource planning processes. The aim of the study is to find out how trust building, commitment, social capital and stakeholders’ opportunities to influence decision-making were realized in the NRP process of Southern Finland. In addition, aspects of equality in natural resource planning are examined. Data of the case study consists of seven qualitative semi-structured interviews. Data is analyzed according to the principles of qualitative content analysis. Data of the equality analysis consists of six NRP cooperation groups’ participant lists and the data is analyzed with quantitative content analysis. Based on the results, opportunities to participate actualize most efficiently in the operational level of the cooperation group. The methods used and facilitator’s contribution enhance the realization of equality within the cooperation group. Stakeholders reported a few defects concerning equal processing of values and interests. For example, topics regarding forestry overweighs other topics. The representativeness of stakeholders was considered good. Representatives of public agencies are most frequently participating of all stakeholder groups. Every fifth participant was a woman. What comes to social capital, one of the main results was increased mutual understanding among stakeholders that resulted from learning from each other in the process. Stakeholders’ perceptions of their opportunities to influence decision-making were labeled partly by contentment and realism, but partly by a low level of expectations. Opportunity to influence in decision-making is a remarkable factor for commitment and motivation to participate. The context of NRP-process also affects the planning and its results, but further research on this topic is needed and I propose this as one future research topic. More research is also needed to evaluate on how one of the main principles of collaboration, sharing decision-making power, affects natural resource planning and its results, if adopted.

The purpose of this research is to find out how children’s participation comes about in local pre-school curriculums. Secondly I want to find out how educators’ role to support children’s participation comes about in the local pre-school curriculums. Children’s participation is important from several points of views – from individual to the whole community’s viewpoint. This is why it’s important to make children’s participation visual also in pre-school, so that children can grow and be supported to become influencing adults. The new local pre-school curriculums and the rising culture of participation makes children’s participation a topical and interesting phenomena to research about. As research material were seven local pre-school curriculums from large Finnish cities. All of these curriculums are based on National Pre-school Curriculum (2014). Material was ana-lized with theoretical content analysis and quantification. Results show that it is clear that in pre-school children’s participation is an important empha-sis. From the material there was found plenty of mentions about children’s participation and the role of an educator to it. Children’s participation was emphasized in the execution of ac-tivity. However, these mentions were really general, and the more specific forms and ways concerning children’s participation were left to be planned by the units where pre-school is organized. When the different roles of educator’s and the phases and qualities of participation are made visible enable its use in daily activities. This supports the progress of the participation’s cul-ture. As a follow-up research it would be worthwhile to research children’s participation through observing.

Purposes. This is an ethnographic case study about elementary school teacher as a listener of a child's voice and about children as ethnographers in the classroom. The current study aims to make visible factors that limit listening child's voice at school and especially in the interaction between the teacher and the student. It also describes children's views and thoughts about school. This study is a part of consortium research "Children tell of their well-being - who listens?" (TelLis, a project number 1134911). Methods. The study was conducted at the school during four weeks at spring 2013. The data was gathered using children as ethnographers -method and consists of 57 classroom diaries written by fifth and sixth grade students and reflected by their four elementary school teachers. In addition, data includes children's drawings, teacher's interviews before the study, two teacher's group interviews and observation notes. In this study I describe teachers as listeners of students' voice during children as ethnographers -period. I ask, what kind of knowledge teachers find in children's classroom diaries. I also ask, how teachers make use of classroom diaries at their work. Analysis is based on qualitative content analysis. Findings and conclusion. Teachers found knowledge of students' culture and knowledge of their action, thoughts and opinions in classroom diaries. In addition, teachers looked for knowledge to evaluate competencies and developmental needs of students' and the class. Teachers used classroom diaries primarily as a tool of evaluating and educating children, but also as a tool for listening children and educating themselves as professionals. According to content analysis, listening to child represented mostly listening based on evaluating and educating children and themselves. There was less listening based on developing the school and the least listening based on encountering a child. Because of teachers' strong aims of evaluating and educating, listening to child was limited. The current study shows, that despite of several factors limiting listening to child's voice in society, school community and class community, teacher with his/her aims, views and actions has an emergent role as a listener of a child's voice. Teachers should create especially those kinds of listening moments that are based on encountering a child naturally and humanely.

The increase of multilingual children in Finnish ECEC has highlighted the need to assess its inclusivity and effectiveness in educating and caring for children from various backgrounds. As early childhood is a crucial time for the development of language, social-emotional skills, and experiences of participation, it is essential that all children are effectively supported in developing these skills and provided with experiences of belonging. This study aims to investigate multilingual children’s participation opportunities during a shared reading and discussion activity. Eleven video-recorded shared reading sessions from different ECEC groups were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Finnish was the language of instruction in all groups. Multilingual children’s behaviour was examined in reference to three categories: active engagement and participation, passive engagement with little participation, or interfering behaviour with limited engagement and participation. Based on these observations, groups were divided into three categories depending on if they were considered to have a lot, some or little participation and engagement for multilingual children. Teachers’ methods for facilitating participation and engagement were also investigated, which resulted in 6 main themes and 19 categories being identified. The analysis revealed that most multilingual children actively participated in the activity, and teachers used multiple methods to facilitate participation and engagement. However, there were several groups where some children did not participate actively and received little support and attention from the teacher. Children’s multilingual competence was also rarely made visible during the sessions, as Finnish was the only language used in all groups. While the findings were generally positive, the lack of support for some multilingual children’s participation and the prevalence of monolingual practices indicate that the use of language-aware and inclusive methods could be developed especially in reference to shared reading.