Browsing by department "Geotieteiden ja maantieteen laitos"

This thesis explores territorial stigma in the Helsinki capital region from residents' perspective. The aim of the study is to find out, whether there are stigmatised neighbourhoods in the region. Another purpose is to analyse what kind of neighbourhoods are stigmatised and what kind of people experience the stigma. In this study people are considered to experience the stigma if they are unwilling to tell where they live. The analysis focuses on the socioeconomic structure of the neighbourhoods and the socioeconomic status and the cultural orientation of the residents. The primary research data is a survey about the wellbeing of residents in the Helsinki metropolitan region conducted in 2012. The experience of the territorial stigma is determined based on the agreement with a statement 'I don't like telling where I live'. Statistical data about the structure of neighbourhoods is provided by Statistics Finland. The study is quantitative, and the main research methods include descriptive analysis, comparison of means and factor analysis. In addition, GIS methods are used to combine and visualise the data. The results show that territorial stigma is an existing phenomenon in the Helsinki capital region. There are mainly two types of stigmatised neighbourhoods: areas with either a very low or high socioeconomic profile. However, the stigma is not very strong since even in the most stigmatised neighbourhoods only a clear minority experiences it. On the individual level the stigma does not seem to be related to respondents' socioeconomic status but rather to their cultural orientation. The respondents who don't like telling where they live find challenges, success and personal development less important than the other respondents. Not all low and high-profile neighbourhoods are stigmatised, however. It seems that the stigma is a problem mainly in those neighbourhoods that have a significantly bad or an elite reputation. In the light of international research the stigmatisation of low-profile neighbourhoods is not a surprise. What makes the Helsinki region an interesting and special case is the stigma attached to living in elite neighbourhoods. The reason for this phenomenon might lie in the 'Finnish mentality' that stresses normality and modesty. This study focuses solely on the existence of the territorial stigma. Previous international research shows that living in a stigmatised neighbourhood may have a negative impact on many aspects of life including social relationships and employment. Therefore it would be important to study the consequences of the stigma and the possible ways to prevent them in the Helsinki capital region as well.

This thesis examines the concepts of accessibility in the process of urban planning. Conducted thesis emphasises the political aspect of the planning and is focused on the use of power. The objective of this thesis is to develop a new approach to accessibility debate. By examining the use of power, this thesis highlights the notion of accessibility as a process, its ongoing nature and the importance of local-historical context. The adapted conceptual framework consists of intertwined theoretical concepts which are related through their connection to the political aspect of urban planning and marginalization. The main perspective is the power analytics by Michel Foucault. Research questions, developed based on literature, are examined with the help of the project of Matkakeskustunneli in Tampere, Finland. Data obtained from this project consists of eight interviews of the key project actors during the beginning of the project of Matkakeskustunneli. Early stages are analyzed with narrative method. The results are presented as local stories on micro level and as research findings on macro level. According to the results, the planning concept of accessibility is dynamic and projects are custom-made. The key in accessibility research is to understand actual political and administrative behavior in each case because of the unique nature of the planning processes. The conducted brings forth that the accessibility should be understood as a part of process of urban planning and special attention should be paid to the local-historical planning context. The empirical results from the project of Matkakeskustunneli indicated that the forming the subject of accessibility requires more attention. This will expand the understanding of those (hidden) starting points which affect to the procedures and planning policies. Moreover, this study argues how the planning of accessibility should be understood as a two-part planning process where each actor has a different position and emphasis and the key points of planning of accessibility are formed in both actor arenas. Results of this thesis also demonstrates how power relations and the use of power affects to accessibility planning in a positive way allthought it requires favorable context.

Global climate change is predicted to have a major impact on northern temperate and arctic zones climates. Rainfall and temperatures are likely to increase in the future decades. Increasing erosion is one of the major threats linked to these phenomena. In Finland specifically, winter months are expected to face the most radical change in climate. This master's thesis aims to answer the following questions: how much does erosion increase in changing climate, what are the factors that either increase or control erosion rates, and how well does the physically based SWAT- model behave in the settings of Southern Finland. Two gauging stations inside the study area were used to calibrate and validate the physical SWAT- model (Härkälänjoki and the lower-part of Lepsämänjoki). Total of 16 parameters controlling runoff were used. NS & R2 as well as P- & R-factors were chosen to quantify and measure model behavior. In the calibration period, the R2 & NS values for Härkälänjoki were 0,29 and -0,05, and for Lepsämänjoki 0,40 and 0,34. In the validation period, the R2 & NS values for Härkälänjoki were 0,30 and -0,57, and for Lepsämänjoki 0,54 and 0,21. In the calibration period, the P & R-values were 0,33 and 0,24 for Härkälänjoki and 0,32 and 0,29 for Lepsämänjoki. In the validation period, the P & R values were 0,42 and 0,57 for Härkälänjoki and 0,50 and 0,63 for Lepsämänjoki. The results of R2 and NS and the other criteria indicate that Lepsämänjoki responded better to model calibration and validation, being satisfactory. Values for Härkälänjoki were generally unsatisfactory. The RCP8.5 scenario used in this thesis increases erosion by approx. 94% compared to the validation period. However, spatial variability is considerable. Average annual erosion in the climate change scenario was 1,22 t/ha. Winter months contribute most to the total annual erosion. Areas covered by evergreen forests and located near the edges of the study area experience least erosion, while areas near the downstream of the river experience the most erosion. SWAT model behaved reasonably well, and worked well with high-quality GIS data. However, the model still needs some further adjustment and development in order to have more consistent and user-friendly interface.

The Structural Funds of the European Union includes both strong and soft governance of the Union. In strong governance the state reforms their legal system and institutions functions based on the obligations of the Structural Funds. Soft governance, in contrast, is focused on the inhabitants of the unions, who then are governed indirectly by transmitting them the union´s values and by inciting. This thesis deals with the soft governance that is included in the Structural Funds. Additionally, the focus is on the innovation funding share of the Structural Funds. The theory framework of the thesis is governmentality literature, which states that governing consists of rationality and technology of government. Rationality means transmitting values and mindsets, and technology of government means the practical tool to do this. In the Structural Funds the distribution of funding forms the technology of government. There are several kinds of these technologies. This thesis focuses on the technologies of agency and productivity, as well as, transmitting regimes of practices. The Structural Funds program of Finland and the areal plans for the term 2014-2020 form the study material. The first part of the study is content-based, and it examines what kind of actors and what kind of acting the Structural Funds target. The second part of the study is theory-bounded, and it combines the results of the first part with the technologies presented in the governmentality literature. A new feature of this thesis is the division of actors into second and third parties. The second parties are the distributors of the funding, all of whom the European Union can govern directly, that is, using strong governing. The third parties are those actors who have the possibility to apply for the funding, but whom the Union cannot control directly. The only possibility to affect their acts is to induce, which is soft governing. The purpose of this division is to make clearer the difference between the two modes of government, strong and soft, in the second part of the study. The distributors of funding and their actions were not very visible in the study material. Both the distributors and their actions were referred mostly in general terms, if any. The most important actions required from the applying participants were to internationalise, specialise, and innovate, although innovation was also a defining feature when choosing the study material and therefore an obvious study result. All of these three actions were seen in the study material only in a positive light, although a lot of research has done where innovations have cut down those actions the Structural Funds are developed at the beginning: jobs and decreasing the differences between areas. In the study material the emphasis on the individual's responsibility, especially, in matters of obtaining training and skills represented the technology of agency. However, this was much more common in the programme documents related to the Social Fund than to the Regional Development Fund. The participants in these projects supported by the Social Fund should also benefit the companies that were funded by the Regional Development Fund. Ultimately, all the required features and results of the projects are the result of people's activities. The technology of performance was strongly present in the study material. The distribution of the funding is entirely based on the existence of predetermined numerical objectives and the funding applications must demonstrate how they can meet these objectives. Transmitting the regimes of practices was represented in the material by the presence of regions as subjects and the participation of the public organizations, along with the companies, in the project funding competitions.

The aim of this study is to find out about away trips that Finnish ice hockey supporters make within Finland. The idea is also to find out if destination cities of the trips could better benefit from traveling hockey fans. The study aims at finding the basic frame by which the fan organizations choose their destinations, the motives of those who participate and visitors' perceptions of services available at the destination ice halls. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used. Not many earlier studies about the topic exist. Literature about sport tourism concentrates mostly on people doing the sports themselves. Academic literature about sport fans, in turn, is usually about the psychological side of fandom. Several studies of Finnish ice hockey fans exist though. Also their point of view is often psychological. Many of Finnish studies are also only thesis-level works. Because of lack of earlier research about the topic, this work can be seen as a baseline research. Fan organizations choose their travel destinations mostly based on game schedule. Trips are mainly made to games played on Saturdays. On other days of the week the destination should be within a short distance. Distance to destination isn't very important on Saturdays unless the destination is very far away. Visiting fans don't spend much time at the destination city on a regular trip. Usually the fans enter the ice hall straight after stepping out of the bus and return soon after the game. However, overnight trips might interest the fans especially if the destination is far away. Previous experience about destinations also affects the choices fan organizations make. Most important reasons for participating in a trip are especially seeing the favorite team play and supporting the team. Traveling itself as a process isn't an important factor while making the decision to travel yet there could be interest to go on overnight trips more often than fans currently do. Also company affects travel decisions as people prefer going to games with friends or acquaintances. SM-Liiga ice halls seem to have all the different service types away trippers need. There's not much demand on a variety of services as visiting fans mostly buy just drinks of food. Supply of these services is good but visitors are less happy with quality, variety and price of the products sold. An important factor for game experience are the seating arrangements at the ice hall. They were found to correlate with happiness with overall game experience. Ice halls are considered safe and security works well. All in all visiting fans are happier with the service they receive at the ice halls than with the services itself. To improve their service in the eyes of visiting fans, the hosts should pay attention to variety of food and drinks and offer visitors seats that are suitable for their needs. Host organizations and local stakeholders could benefit from offering visiting fans moderately priced packages that could include for example transportation, game ticket, a meal and accommodation or some of these services. This way they could get visitors spend more money at the destination city and at the same time income would spread to a larger number of stakeholders.

Northern and high-altitude environments are expected to change dramatically due to climate change which strongly affects vegetation. Regarding to this, there has been interest on investigating how climatic factors affect vegetation distribution. One of the widely used methods to study species environment relationship is spatial species distribution modelling, in which the aim is to estimate suitable niches for species. However, only a few comprehensive distribution predictions for whole species groups have been made at a fine resolution and covering large extents. In the case of arctic-alpine plants Fennoscandia offers a good research area in terms of northern location, variable topography and wide climatic gradients. In this thesis the aim was to discover how climate affects the distribution and species richness patterns of arctic-alpine vascular plants. Relationship between arctic-alpine vegetation and climate was investigated by producing distribution predictions for each species based on important climatic variables and topography. Species data included observations from national species portals of Sweden and Norway, as well as field observations from three test regions Kevo, Northwestern-Lapland and Rastigaissa. The explanatory variables used were efficient temperature sum, water balance, minimum temperature of the coldest month and relative height. The species distribution predictions were produced using a 1 km2 grid covering whole Fennoscandia. Four different modelling methods (GAM, GLM, GBM, RF) were used and the predictions done with two different data sets. First the models were calibrated using only the observations from species portals, and the predictions were evaluated at the Lapland´s test regions. On the second modelling round the whole data was used in model calibration. From the modelling results both individual species distributions and the distribution of the whole vegetation group were investigated, as well as the relative importance of the explanatory variables. Then individual species distribution predictions were combined to visualize and study arctic-alpine species richness and its hotspots. Distribution of arctic-alpine vegetation was affected most by efficient temperature sum and minimum temperature of the coldest month. However, the relative importance of the variables varied for different species. Also the differences in the calibration data affected the results. Mainly species´ predicted distributions are located on areas where growing season is short and winter temperatures are low, even though there was some variation in the responses caused by the latter variable. Temperature variables were also significant in explaining species richness and its hotspots. It was shown that species richness focuses to the coldest areas and benefits from a bigger topography gradient. The results of this thesis show that climate defines both the distribution and the richness of arctic-alpine vegetation in Fennoscandia. However, resolution of one square kilometer does not fully capture the heterogeneity of the arctic-alpine area since temperature and moisture conditions vary greatly locally, for example depending on snow cover. Research on different scales is still needed to understand complicated species environment relationships.

The purpose of this study was both to establish Finnish geography teachers' experiences on and opinions of the active teaching method flipped classroom, and to examine the impact of the method on high school students learning outcome in natural geography. The aim was to aquire information on how familiar geography teachers are with flipped classroom and what qualifications they have on using an active teaching method that requires technological knowledge. The experiences and opinions about flipped classroom of geography teachers (n=49) were charted using an e-mail survey. The teaching experiment (n=32) was implemented as a field experiment in a first year geography class at a high school in Southern Finland. The results were analysed using a statistical analysis program and presented through graphs and citations. The survey shows that Finnish geography teachers are familiar with flipped classroom but that only a few of the respondents use the method in their work. The most common excuses among the teachers for not using flipped classroom, or not being interested in learning new teaching methods, is a lack of time and resources. The teachers' technology skills are good and they agree on the fact that geography education is better when technology is implemented in the classroom. The teaching experiment shows that the teaching method used didn't affect the students' learning outcomes substantially but a small negative impact was nevertheless shown. Active education methods need to be implemented in the Finnish classrooms in order to meet the goals of the new curriculum. Digitized matriculation examinations, new curricula and a new distribution of courses places new demands on geographical education. Geography is, fortunately, a subject that easly allows different educational ideas and methods to be used.

Fluid inclusion studies on pegmatitic bodies are performed to gain insight on the conditions during the formation of the pegmatites as FIs can be seen to directly mirror the fluids that were present during the formation of, most commonly, the quartz in the pegmatite. Continued progress in the methodology of measurements specifically of HFSE from FIs with relatively new methods Laser Ablation – Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry enables us to measure elements that previously have not been able to be quantified. The study reports the pressure-temperature conditions and trace-element compositions of the two pegmatite bodies Altim and Tamanduá formations using microthermometry and LA-ICP-MS on fluid inclusions and shows the major and trace-element composition of the muscovite and feldspars with Electron Probe Microanalyzer (EPMA) and LA-ICP-MS respectively. The rare-element pegmatite bodies Altim and Tamanduá are located within the Borborema Pegmatite Province (BPP) in North-eastern Brazil. The BPP is emplaced within the Northern Domain (Northern Tectonic Sub-Province) of the Borborema Province as a 75 by 150 km large area trending NNE-SSW direction, along the eastern part of the Seridó belt. The rare-element pegmatites are considered to have been formed from the highly undercooled residual melts of the granitic intrusions. The G4 leucocratic pegmatoid granite and the GR3A and GR3B pegmatitic granites are considered to be the source of the pegmatites in the BPP as their ages are the closest match to the 509–525 Ma age measured from the pegmatites. The fluid inclusion analyses were performed on the quartz from the different zones (I–IV) of the pegmatite bodies where zone I is the outermost zone and zone IV the quartz core and from the euhedral quartz found from miarolitic cavities in the pegmatite. The Altim samples are mostly fluid rich, L 80% + V (+ S) (L:Liquid; V:Vapor; S:Solid) inclusions and some of the larger (primary) inclusions within the euhedral quartz samples show multiple S. The Tamanduá samples show larger diversity of Fluid Inclusion Assemblages (FIA); aqueous-carbonic, monophase vapour, vapour-rich two-phase and FIA with immiscible liquids (possible phase separation). The immiscible liquids have possibly been formed through boiling of the fluids within the pegmatite providing a possible deposition mechanism for the columbite-tantalite ore minerals found in the Tamanduá locality. The two pegmatite bodies have clearly different major and trace-element compositions with specifically elevated Zn content in the Altim pegmatite body which clearly defines the two pegmatite bodies as two different formations. Furthermore, the salinities for the two pegmatite bodies have a clear division with low–moderate aqueous-carbonic FI in the Tamanduá and moderate–high salinities in the Altim pegmatite body. The two pegmatite bodies appear to have no connection to each other through a connected evolutionary history and the Tamanduá pegmatite appears to be the more highly fractionated of the pegmatites. LA analyses on fluid inclusions provided trace-element data for the previously poorly reported HFSEs Nb and Ta showing concentrations of 0.1–3.2 ppm (excluding extreme outliers) with Nb/Ta average abundance ratios between 1.5 and 3.5. The highest concentrations of Nb and Ta directly correlating with the highest concentrations of Al.

The term 'Third World women' has its connotations back in the history reflecting both the juxtaposition of developed and developing world, and the dichotomy based on sex. It is still a widely used concept in current everyday life. The women of developing countries are portrayed under one category as Third World women in news, journalism and textbooks. As a term Third World women is understood in context of certain geographical locations and stagnant representations of people. In core are also their victim roles in relation for example to religion, culture or men. The aim of this master's thesis is to examine representations of the Third World women in Finnish development journal. Temporal changes in representations are discovered by observing the forty-year long publishing history of Kehitys -journal (former Kehitysyhteistyö). The main premise of this thesis is the idea of social constructionism. In social constructionism actions and thoughts are seen creating the social reality and language used both reflecting and creating it. The thesis questions media's representational power to name, illustrate and portray women in developing countries. This is done by utilizing theories of feminism, postcolonialism and development studies. Caroline Moser's and Janet Momsen's listings about the policy approaches on Third World women can be held as the frame work of this thesis. They have categorized global trends in development discourses relating to women. By comparing these approaches, trends in feminist and development theories, with the Finnish development journals, linkages between context and place specific representations of the Third World were found. Even though Finnish trends in Third World women's representations were less varying, still universal relations were able to be discovered. By conducting critical discourse analysis and content analysis of the women related articles in Kehitysyhteistyö and Kehitys -journals during the publications period from 1969 to 2009, it was possible to find five different kinds of discourses: women in development discourse, welfare discourse, efficiency discourse, misery discourse and life story discourse. Within these discourses main changes were in the ways to write and position women. Changes occurred for example in the themes relating to women and in their subjective narration. During forty years, the representations of the Third World women have changed back and forth, but it seems that the current trend in development journalism in Finland is highlighting the subjectivity and expertise of women. Women's own interests and thoughts are getting more exposure and the representational top-down dictation is decreasing while giving the floor to personal depictions.

Mid-Proterozoic mafic dyke swarms in southern Finland are associated with rapakivi magmatism. The dyke swarms are commonly referred to as “Subjotnian” (1.64–1.54 Ga), being older than the rift-filling Jotnian sandstones. Mafic rocks from five dyke swarms located in Åland, Satakunta, Häme, Suomenniemi and Sipoo were studied in this thesis. An X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis was made of 110 rock samples from 101 mafic dykes and one mafic intrusion. The analyses were made of the same rock samples as previous paleomagnetic studies. Overall, the Subjotnian mafic dykes in southern Finland are hyperstene-normative tholeiitic basalts or basaltic andesites with varying MgO contents (3–15 wt%). Some dykes show alkaline features with higher total alkali and/or Nb/Y values. They vary from quartz- to olivine-normative types. The dykes of the Åland swarm form two geohemical groups. The division is accompanied with a switch in magnetic polarity and distinct virtual geomagnetic pole positions. These observations imply that two separate magmatic events/pulses that have an age difference have taken place in Åland. The Satakunta dykes form two geochemical groups of which the other includes presumably Svecofennian dykes that show high Nb/Y values at given Zr/Y ratios. The dykes of the Häme swarm form three geochemical groups. Although some Suomenniemi dykes show geochemical and paleomagnetic affinities to Häme dykes, they probably represent a distinct igneous event of the event that formed the nearby Häme swarm. The Sipoo dykes are very homogeneous in their geochemistry and can be distinguished from the emplacement events that formed the other Subjotnian swarms. The Subjotnian dyke swarms in southern Finland that are believed to have emplacement ages of >1.63 Ga (Häme, Suomenniemi and Sipoo swarms in S-SE Finland) generally have higher Nb/Y (and Zr/Y) values than the dyke swarms that are believed to record younger magmatic events at <1.58 Ga (Åland and Satakunta swarms in SW Finland). Some Satakunta dykes, however, have geochemical and/or paleomagnetic implications that suggest they have an older Subjotnian age than the dated 1.57 Ga dyke in Satakunta. Further chronological work on the Satakunta dyke swarm is needed to verify the age of the dykes. Many of the Subjotnian dykes show a secondary magnetization component, called the “B-component”, whose direction is always close to, but distinct of, the Present Earth Field (PEF) at the sampling location. There was no correlation between the B-component and the magma types of the dykes. The B-component occurs mostly in dykes that are very altered. Thus, the results support previous suggestions that the B-component formed due to hydrothermal alteration of the rocks and the subsequent formation of new magnetic minerals.