Browsing by study line "Ihmis- ja kaupunkimaantiede ja alueellinen suunnittelu"

This Master’s thesis examines a project implemented in the municipality of Parkano in northwestern Pirkanmaa in which a new school and cultural campus, Kaarna, was built. There are approximately 600 comprehensive school students and 100 high school students studying in Kaarna. The campus also serves as a center for sports, culture and leisure activities. The campus represents a multifunctional school design model, in which different functions and services are integrated into the school. Such “community center schools” have become more common in Europe in recent years and are gradually gaining popularity in Finland as well. Typically, the aim of multifunctional school is to provide comprehensive support to the local community and to meet the challenges of area’s regional development. While in urban areas the role of schools is considered important especially in preventing segregation, in rural areas the regional significance of schools is more attached to maintaining regional vitality. Despite the differences between urban and rural areas, the core idea is the same: to strengthen and expand the local roles of schools and to support the wellbeing of local communities through schools. This thesis examines the opinions of the educational actors of the municipality of Parkano on the role of their new school in local development. The study aims to understand how the actors responsible for organizing the municipality’s educational services see their possibilities and ability to plan and implement educational services using local circumstances and needs as a starting point. In addition, the study examines whether the educational actors see the local role of the school meaningful solely in the education of children and young people, or do they think that the school also plays a significant role in supporting the overall development of the municipality. The thesis aims to take part in the discussion on how schools can promote vibrant communities and residential areas in rural Finland, and on the other hand, what kind of challenges are involved. In this thesis, the phenomenon is approached through place-based development of schools and community development. The primary data of the study consists of seven expert interviews conducted using the thematic interview method. All three school principals, two municipal officers and two members of municipal council attended the interviews. The description of the case was produced using fact-finding method, and the interviewees’ own views were interpreted using thematic analysis. Alongside with the interview data, information from statistics and the municipality’s own official documents was used to help build the case description. The findings of the study show that in Parkano, the opportunities to implement place-based educational services are generally seen favorable. According to the study, taking local needs into account in the planning of educational services requires, among other things, strong social capital between local educational actors and active co-operation with various actors in the surrounding area. The school was seen to play an important role in promoting the wellbeing of the entire community. The school not only meets the educational needs of the surrounding community, but also plays a key role in the leisure activities of the residents, builds social capital between different actors, improves the image of the municipality and maintains the vitality of the area. A school that is responsive to the needs of its community can also produce positive development outside the school walls. Consequently, the vitality and the resilience of the surrounding community reflects back to school. On the other hand, the study also showed that place-based development of schools will not solve the challenges of regional inequality arising from the wider societal development processes. For example, the positive effects of the school on population development of the area were seen limited.

The question of reunification, or ‘the Taiwan issue’, stands as one of the paramount geopolitical conundrums of the 21st century. China asserts that Taiwan is an inalienable part its historical geo-body and socio-cultural chronicles under the unifying idea of ‘Chineseness’. Nevertheless, since Taiwan’s democratization process began to thrive in the 1990s, perceptions of national identity have diverged drastically from those in mainland China. Corollary, the appeal for reunification in Taiwan is almost non-existent, and hence achieving peaceful unification under the ‘one country, two systems’ proposal seems highly unlikely. Furthermore, the United States assumes a pivotal role in cross-strait geopolitics, intricately tangling the question of Taiwan into the broader scheme of great power politics. This thesis examines the intricate dynamics of the Taiwan issue by analyzing the practical geopolitical reasoning of the PRC intellectuals of statecraft over Taiwan. The theoretical and methodological foundations of this study draw from critical geopolitics and critical discourse analysis. The primary empirical research materials comprise the three Taiwan white papers published by the PRC. In addition, the analysis is supplemented by other official documents as well as vast array of research literature published on cross-strait geopolitics. Building upon Ó Tuathail’s theorization of practical geopolitical reasoning, the paper presents the ‘grammar of geopolitics’ of the Taiwan issue from the perspective of the PRC. Within this analytical framework, three guiding geopolitical storylines were identified: 1) Historical Sovereignty, 2) National Unity under ‘Chineseness’, and 3) Separatism and External Powers as Antagonist Forces. The results reveals that the CCP has constructed the imperative of reunification as an historically and geographically bound inevitability. Nevertheless, China's increasing geopolitical anxiety over achieving the objective of reunification with Taiwan is evidential in its discourses. This increasing geopolitical anxiety is likely to compel the CCP to adopt more coercive actions in the near and mid-term future if it deems it necessary. Given the developments in Taiwan, Sino-U.S. relations and domestically in China, it seems probable that pressure on Taiwan will continue to mount throughout the 2020s. Much of the strategic calculations and geopolitical discourses constructed regarding the Taiwan issue can be attributed to the CCP's concerns about its own legitimacy to rule. Within its geopolitical discourses, the issue of reunification is rendered to an existential question for China and arguably it constitutes a significant part of the modern CCP’s raison d'être. China’s increasing self-confidence as a superpower is continually trembling the dynamics of international affairs and the geopolitical landscape, particularly within the Indo-Pacific region. Consequently, the project of Chinese geopolitics remains an unfinished business, and warrants further contributions from researchers in the field of critical geopolitics.

Understanding local people’s perceptions towards tourism is important to minimize the negative impacts of tourism and to promote sustainable tourism. This thesis researches residents’ perceptions towards tourism, tourism development and tourism impacts in the city of Pokhara in Nepal. The thesis utilises Doxey’s irritation index and social exchange theory as the theoretical framework of the research. Based on Doxey’s irritation index, local people’s attitudes towards tourism shift from positive to negative as the time goes by and tourism develops. Based on the social exchange theory used in tourism studies, local people’s perceptions towards tourism are more positive the more the locals benefit from tourism and interact with tourists and tourism. This thesis aims to also understand what kind of place image local people have of Pokhara and how residents’ place image is connected to the perceptions they have towards tourism in Pokhara. As earlier tourism research has suggested, local people’s place image and perceptions towards tourism are connected and the more positive place image locals have, the more positive their perceptions towards tourism are. This thesis research is based on qualitative methods. The research data was collected with a qualitative questionnaire distributed online for the residents of Pokhara. Open-ended questions were used in the questionnaire, so that the participants could express their place image and perceptions towards tourism with their own words. The data was analysed by using qualitative content analysis. The results of this research indicate that the majority of the participants is satisfied with the tourism situation in Pokhara. The participants are especially content that tourism creates employment and earning opportunities for local people in Pokhara. However, a few participants expressed some irritation towards tourism situation in Pokhara due to different reasons. Despite some of the more negative perceptions towards tourism, almost all of the participants supported future tourism development in the area. Similarly, almost all of the participants thought that positive tourism impacts in the area are greater than the negative impacts, even though the participants also identified several negative tourism impacts, mainly regarding the environmental degradation and westernisation of local culture, habits, and values. On the contrary to the suggestions of the Doxey’s index, locals’ attitudes towards tourism have remained mostly positive even though tourism has developed in Pokhara in the past decades. Also, the results regarding local people’s involvement with tourism and tourists compared to their perceptions towards tourism are not completely in line with the earlier tourism research using the social exchange theory. The results of this research indicate that participants’ perceptions towards tourism are not always more positive the more residents benefit from tourism and interact with tourism or tourists. On the contrary, the perceptions towards tourism might be even more often negative among the participants who have contact with tourism and tourists than those who have not. The results also indicate that the participants have mostly a positive place image of Pokhara. Even though approximately half of the participants had both positive place image and positive perceptions towards tourism, positive place image will not always automatically result in positive perceptions towards tourism among the local people.

Achieving goals set for sustainable development and a prosperous life for future generations requires a collective effort, including from people on a private level, national governments, and private organizations alike. Sustainable development is often divided into three pillars, the environmental, economic and social pillars. One sector at the center of this is the agri-food sector, where social sustainability appears to be receiving little attention along its value chains. Oats, a staple product for Finland and Sweden, are considered a sustainable product from environmental and health perspectives, as well as potentially from an economic standpoint, but again social sustainability in the oats value chains is missing from the discussion. This thesis sets out to assess to which extent the social dimension of sustainability is addressed in these oats value chains. Using a mixed methods approach, the thesis explores the different measures used for assessing aspects of social sustainability. Measuring progress in sustainable development is often done through the use of indicators, which many of them are derived from the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Indicators are meant to reveal areas where progress has not been made and policy should be targeted for development. Large organizations are reporting their contributions in annually published sustainability reports. For this, sustainability aspects need to be measurable, which requires converting real-life phenomena into measurable indicators, often quantifiable numbers. This is especially difficult for some social aspects. There is a risk policymaking loses its focus of pursuing development beyond the indicators, but instead is only trying to answer to the indicators. The thesis is applying a qualitative mixed methods approach. First, published sustainability reports are assessed, followed by indepth, semi-structured expert interviews. The research material consists of two published sustainability reports, an unpublished sustainability report comparison document, as well as 11 interviews. The data was gathered in March, April and May 2022. The interviews were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis and divided into themes for analysis. From an objective general standpoint, the oats value chain stakeholders valued all three dimensions of sustainability equally, but through the use of examples of activities the same did not translate into the organizations’ daily activities. Actions and programs were more focused on environmental and economic aspects, and the absence of social sustainability examples in initial responses proposes a slight disregard toward the social dimension. Still, organizations introduced a variety of methods in place for assessing social issues, especially internally. Organizations in the oats value chain are looking to make an impact for a more sustainable future, but measuring performance presents challenges, especially on the social side. Categorizing aspects of social sustainability under different dimensions of sustainability is complicated.

Ilmastotavoitteiden saavuttamiseksi Suomella on tavoite lisätä uusiutuvan energian osuutta. Tuulivoima on nostettu merkittävään asemaan tavoitteiden saavuttamiseksi. Tuulivoimarakentamisen kehitys alkoi nopeutua merkittävästi 1980-luvulla, ja Suomessa myöhemmin vasta 2000-luvun vaihteen jälkeen, etenkin syöttötariffin seurauksena. Tuulivoimaan suhtautumista on alettu tutkia ensimmäisten tuulivoimapuistojen pystytyksen jälkeen, kun projektien havaittiin kohtaavan vastustusta tuulivoimateknologian yleisestä kannatuksesta huolimatta. Tästä kehittyi tuulivoiman hyväksyttävyystutkimus, joka on pyrkinyt selittämään tuulivoiman kohtaamaa vastustusta monitieteisesti. Tässä tutkielmassa selvitetään tuulivoimaan suhtautumista Suomessa tarkastelemalla vuonna 2011–2022 Helsingin Sanomissa ja Maaseudun tulevaisuudessa julkaistuja tuulivoima-aiheisia mielipidekirjoituksia diskurssianalyysillä. Mielipidekirjoituksista löytyi neljä diskurssia: 1) ympäristödiskurssi, 2) terveysdiskurssi, 3) teknis-taloudellinen diskurssi ja 4) sijoitteludiskurssi. Diskurssien sisällöt käsittelevät uusiutuvien energiateknologioiden sosiaalisen hyväksyttävyyden kolmiomallin kaikkia ulottuvuuksia, eli paikallista, yhteiskunnallis-poliittista sekä markkinalähtöistä hyväksyntää. Vahvimmin mielipidekirjoituksilla haluttiin vaikuttaa paikallisen hyväksynnän ulottuvuuteen, jossa oletukset tuulivoimapuiston vaikutuksista kodin lähiympäristöön, sekä kokemukset oikeudenmukaisuudesta ja reiluudesta ovat olennaisia. Mielipidekirjoitukset toimivat vaikutuskeinona ja tapana saada äänensä kuuluviin jo ennen mahdollisen lähiympäristöön sijoittuvan tuulivoimahankkeen lakisääteisiä osallistamisprosesseja.

While waste is becoming an increasingly contested issue on a global level due to sustainability concerns, informal waste management, or waste picking, has been a major livelihood around the world for decades. In urban areas of the Global South, the informal sector accounts for 50 to 100 percent of all waste collection. In Kenya, virtually all recycling is done by the informal sector. Despite the significance of the work the informal sector is doing, they are usually stigmatized by the public and disregarded by policymakers. Due to this contradiction, this thesis concentrates on analyzing the construction of the problem of informality in Kenyan waste management policies. The thesis utilizes the ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’ -approach by Carol Bacchi in its analysis. The WPR-approach is a poststructuralist approach to critical policy analysis. Within the context of the approach, the word ‘problem’ does not carry the negative connotations it usually does, as it is merely used to refer to what is intended to be changed through policymaking. The approach consists of six questions that are applied to uncover how we are governed through the way issues are problematized through policy discourse. The WPR-approach views power as productive, and concentrates on how practices and relations produce subjects, objects and places. These practices become explicit through policy analysis. Additional data was retrieved from Kenyan media outlets, as media is another position of power in the context of the WPR-approach. Another additional data source was an individual interview done with a key informant. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on critical geography, and particularly on the concept of primitive accumulation, originally coined by Karl Marx, and its latter conceptualizations. Through this critical framework, the thesis interrogates how primitive accumulation is sometimes reproduced by the state, through governing (e.g. policymaking), and how the global ideal of development may sometimes be utilized to accommodate market interests. Within this framework, waste is conceptualized as a form of urban commons under contestation. The results of this research indicate that privatization is seen as a solution to inefficiency and sustainability issues in waste management, while informal waste management is not a priority within the political agenda, though the policies include some notions of integrating waste pickers into formal waste management services. The position of waste pickers in the policies is constructed through the problem representations of poor livelihoods, adverse health effects and inefficiency, despite the fact that most recycling in the country is done by the informal sector. Simultaneously, the policies present waste as an underutilized resource in the generation of employment and wealth, especially through incentivizing private sector involvement. The research found some contestations of the position of waste pickers as marginalization in the media in narratives that emphasized the livelihood as a viable option, but the sector is rarely covered by the media. Within the critical framework of this thesis, these results are discussed as a form of primitive accumulation, or accumulation by dispossession, reproduced by the state through policymaking. The underpinnings of this discussion also include the notion of how the global ideal of development is sometimes utilized, in spite of local conditions, to reproduce primitive accumulation, e.g. through appropriating waste as a form of urban commons and creating extremely low-cost idle labor power, while noncapitalist systems and skills are disregarded. Jätehuollosta ja uusiomateriaalista on tulossa enenevässä määrin kiistanalainen aihe globaalilla tasolla kestävyyshaasteiden takia. Samanaikaisesti epävirallinen kierrätys on ollut pitkään merkittävä elinkeino ympäri maailmaa. Globaalin etelän kaupunkialueilla 50-100 prosenttia jätehuollosta toteutetaan epävirallisen sektorin toimesta. Keniassa käytännössä kaikki kierrätys tapahtuu epävirallisen sektorin toimesta. Työn merkittävyydestä huolimatta epäviralliseen jätteiden keräämisen elinkeinoon liitetään usein vahva stigma sekä yhteiskunnan että päättäjien toimesta. Tämän ristiriidan vuoksi tutkielmassa tarkastellaan epävirallisen kierrätyksen elinkeinon ongelmallisuuden diskurssia Kenian jätehuoltopolitiikassa kriittisen analyysin avulla. Tutkielman metodologinen viitekehys perustuu Carol Bacchin kehittämään poststrukturalistiseen diskurssianalyyttiseen lähestymistapaan. Lähestymistapa koostuu kuudesta kysymyksestä, joiden avulla tarkastellaan sitä, miten politiikan kautta rakennetaan ’ongelmia’ ja näiden ongelmien rakentumiseen käytettyjä diskursseja. Lähestymistavan yhteydessä sanaan ’ongelma’ ei liitetä sen tavanomaista kielteistä merkitystä, vaan sillä viitataan asioihin, joita politiikan kautta yritetään muuttaa. Bacchin lähestymistapa näkee vallan toimintana, jonka tarkoituksena on politiikan kautta rakentaa hallitsevaa tietoa, merkityksiä ja subjekteja. Lähestymistavan tarkoituksena on kyseenalaistaa ja purkaa näitä rakennelmia. Politiikkadokumenttien lisäksi tutkielmassa käytettiin lähteinä kenialaisia medialähteitä sekä yhtä avaininformanttihaastattelua. Tutkielman teoreettinen viitekehys perustuu kriittiseen maantieteeseen. Viitekehyksen kautta elinkeinon rakentumista politiikkadokumenteissa tarkastellaan erityisesti Karl Marxin alun perin kehittämään primitiivisen akkumulaation käsitteeseen liittyvien nykyteorioiden kautta. Viitekehyksen kautta tarkastellaan myös käsityksiä siitä, miten valtio ja valta tuottavat primitiivistä akkumulaatiota esimerkiksi politiikan kautta. Lisäksi tarkastellaan sitä, miten käsitystä globaalin kehityksen ihanteesta käytetään joskus markkinoiden hyödyksi. Tutkielman tulosten perusteella on selvää, että politiikan pyrkimyksenä on modernisoida Kenian jätehuolto erityisesti yksityistämisen kautta. Tällä hetkellä lähes kaikki kierrätys Keniassa tapahtuu epävirallisen tahon toimesta, mutta tahon huomioiminen politiikassa on vähäistä, vaikkakin politiikkadokumenteissa on myös viitteitä aikomuksista integroida epävirallinen sektori osaksi virallista jätehuoltojärjestelmää. Vaikka kierrätys Keniassa perustuu epävirallisen sektorin toiminnalle, elinkeino näyttäytyy politiikassa marginalisoitujen ihmisten pienimuotoisena toimintana. Ongelman rakentumista perustellaan politiikassa kehnon elinkeinon, haitallisten terveysvaikutusten ja tehottomuuden diskurssien kautta. Samanaikaisesti jätehuolto ja kierrätys näyttäytyvät politiikkadokumenteissa mahdollisuutena vaurastumiseen ja työllisyyden parantamiseen, ennen kaikkea yksityisen sektorin sitouttamisen kautta. Kenialaisessa mediassa epävirallisen kierrätyksen elinkeinosta puhutaan hyvin vähän, vaikkakin mediassa korostui myös elinkeinon mahdollisuudet toimeentulon kannalta. Tuloksia pohditaan tutkielman kriittisen viitekehyksen kautta primitiivisen akkumulaation muotona, jota valtio tuottaa politiikanteon kautta. Pohdintaa tukee myös käsitys kehityksen globaalista ihanteesta, jota voidaan hyödyntää primitiivisen akkumulaation edistämisessä esimerkiksi yhteiskäytössä olevien resurssien taltiointiin. Samalla prosessi sivuuttaa ei-kapitalistisia taitoja ja järjestelmiä, ja luo reservissä olevaa halpaa työvoimaa.

Social and economic inequalities are growing in Europe in local, regional and national scales while they are decreasing between member states of the European union (EU). Inequalities are visible in geographical space, which can be one factor explaining these differences between places and people. Spatial disparities and growing inequalities are source of political and social tensions, which can be menace for European countries as well for the EU’s legitimacy. These issues are addressed by the EU’s territorial cohesion policy. Spatial awakening in policymaking and establishment of territorial cohesion as the third objective of the EU’s cohesion policy in 2009 by the Lisbon Treaty has increased awareness of territorial approach in the EU policymaking. The Territorial Agenda of the EU (TAEU) was published in 2007 as a guideline for achieving territorial cohesion. However, studies show that results of this non-binding and open-method-of-coordination based policy have been relatively modest despite its usefulness and ambitious policy objectives of reducing inequalities and increasing overall competitiveness of Europe. Moreover, many meanings of territorial cohesion and lack of a proper definition has been topic of political and academic debates. The key document of territorial cohesion, the Territorial Agenda of the EU was recently renewed by the European network of regional development policymakers and spatial planners. At this context of policy renewal, I am studying what kind of role the Territorial Agenda of the EU has in achieving territorial cohesion, which is the main objective of the agenda. Territorial cohesion is known as a slightly contradictory policy goal, due to its sometimes (but not always) conflicting spatial realities of the two policy objectives: reducing inequalities and increasing competitiveness. Moreover, elusiveness and many meanings of the concept have been seen as the central challenges of the agenda. Meanings of territorial cohesion and associated imaginaries to the EU territoriality are investigated in this thesis. Additional research questions are linked to a policy evaluation, where aspects of effectiveness, impacts and utility are studied. The study is based on an online survey, which targets the Network of the Territorial Cohesion Contact Points (NTCCP) members and other relevant stakeholders from different geographical scales and levels of governance. The survey is composed by quantitative and qualitative questions which are analysed by mixed methods. Theoretical background originates from social constructionism, Europeanisation and critical geopolitics. The results show that the Territorial Agenda of the EU has a strong role in achieving of territorial cohesion and stakeholders have high expectations of its impact, effectiveness and utility. Overall, the agenda is perceived as a useful guideline with lot of potential for achieving territorial cohesion in Europe. However, some of the stakeholders acknowledge well weaknesses of the agenda and are more realistic about its role, effectiveness, impacts and utility. Moreover, stakeholders share a relatively common understanding of the EU territoriality as networked and relational space. They associate similar meanings to territorial cohesion as a concept, even the concept remains still quite vague. The central finding is that the environmental and social dimensions of territorial cohesion are emphasized over the economic dimension and that strong impacts are expected in environmental related themes. The results illustrate how the EU’s soft power works and how even a non-binding low policy of the EU, which is operationalized voluntary by different level stakeholders, can be effective for creating the EU territoriality and achieving territorial cohesion. Processes of Europeanisation and soft practices such as sharing good practice, policy harmonisation, coordination and cooperation are main means to achieve territorial cohesion. Nevertheless, some stakeholders remain realistic and acknowledge the obstacles of non-binding policy implementation and prefer to wait if ‘what is ought to be done’ ‘is actually done’ during the next ten years. In addition, the study outlines some policy recommendations to improve the agenda and implementation. For example, stronger engagement of stakeholders, participation of citizens and the third sector and increase of willingness to work as the EU’s agency are suggestions to be enforced.

Second-home tourism or leisure living is an individually and societally significant form of activity in Finland. Approximately every other Finn regularly uses leisure-oriented second homes, causing considerable mobility and temporal variation in regional populations. Combined with permanent dwelling, leisure living is a multi-local living arrangement where the forms of housing interact. While individual factors associated with housing are generally well-understood, the role of permanent residence and especially the living environment in the background of second home tourism and related individual decision-making remains a less-explored phenomenon. This thesis examines the significance of permanent residential environment in relation to leisure living in Finland. Second home tourism is approached as a form of multi-local living and factors influencing it are studied mostly from the perspective of individual decision-making. The thesis seeks to answer whether the characteristics of permanent residential environment explain the amount of leisure living in Finland. This question is addressed by statistically analyzing the connection of the living environment and other factors with the individual's time spent in leisure homes. Additionally, the thesis considers how the characteristics of residential environment can be measured and addressed in general. The thesis is a part of DeCarbon Home research project and utilizes a survey (n=1446) conducted in spring 2022 as its primary data, supplemented by geospatial data representing the residential environments. After preliminary examinations, the final multivariate model tested the statistical relationship of a total of 18 explanatory variables to the number of nights an individual spent in leisure homes. Explanatory variables included four variables describing the residential environment, ownership of leisure home, as well as a comprehensive set of factors related to housing, demographics, and socio-economic status. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression was employed as the modeling method due to the overdispersion and zero-inflation of the response variable. The results indicate that the perceived general type of the permanent residential environment and more local building density are associated with leisure living in Finland. Living in a denser and more urban environment is linked to a greater amount of time spent in leisure homes. Other significant predictors include owning a second home, higher age, and an appreciation for the tranquility of the living environment. The results support previous observations regarding the connection between urbanity and density with forms of recreation that complement or compensate for deficiencies in the permanent residential environment. However, the naturalness of the residential environment does not explain the amount of leisure living. Individual preferences and choices as well as limiting factors related to housing makes it difficult to empirically demonstrate the real impact of residential environment on individual actions. The thesis does not establish a direct causal relationship between the characteristics of a permanent residential environment and leisure living. Still, the residential environment is stated to have a prominent role in the multi-local living arrangements. Experiential knowledge regarding residential environment is found essential alongside more objective indicators. The thesis highlights the importance of viewing housing as a whole, where areas and forms of living are interconnected. Land use planning should consider the connection between permanent residential environment and leisure living and its comprehensive consequences for individual well-being and different regional structures.

The purpose of my study was to review and analyze the contents of sustainability reports. In more detail, my study looked at four Finnish design companies and the UN sustainable development goals (SDG) that appear in their reports. Previous studies have shown that corporate responsibility is a growing trend in the world due to increased pressure from society, which is why sustainability reporting has also become more common among different companies. Although there are guidelines for how companies and organizations should prepare reports, they are very variable in terms of content due to their free form. Since the reports are very informal, they may contain greenwashing, which is why it is interesting to study how companies of the same type publicize their sustainability goals in their operations. In addition, the SDGs have generated a lot of conflicting opinions among different researchers, especially because of their superficiality, so examining them from a critical perspective is interesting. Although a lot of research has been done in the field of corporate responsibility and SDGs, there is not much research especially on the sustainability of Finnish design brands. The purpose of my study was therefore to tackle this shortcoming and find out which SDGs Finnish design companies follow in their operations and whether it can be assumed based on this that a certain company type follows certain SDGs. Corporate responsibility and especially sustainable development are often divided into three areas: environmental, social and economic responsibility. In my study, all areas were examined as part of the contents of the sustainability reports. In terms of method, my study was conducted with qualitative methods, utilizing qualitative content analysis. The collection of research material was carried out by analyzing the company’s public sustainability reports and their contents. The target group of my study consisted of four companies that are known for Finnish design: Finlayson, Fiskars, Marimekko and Pentik. My research was a case study, and the methodological orientation of the research was interpretive policy analysis. The research results showed that the target companies' reporting was influenced by the UN's SDGs. The responsibility activities of the companies were guided by sustainability commitments and the SDGs support their implementation. The reference frameworks used by the companies had no significant effect on the monitored goals. Recurring topics were environmental responsibility, social responsibility and financial responsibility. These were especially visible in the most followed goals: 8 (decent work and economic growth), 12 (responsible consumption and production), and 13 (climate action), which are well connected to different areas of corporate responsibility. The goals can be seen to be connected to the type of company, but there are also noticeable exceptions in the goals followed.

Kaupungistuminen on nopea ilmiö maailmanlaajuisesti. Kaupungistuminen johtaa myös muutoksiin maankäytössä, mikä usein näkyy kaupunkien tiivistymisenä viherrakenteen kustannuksella. Viherrakenteen ilmalaatuun liittyvistä vaikutuksista on tehty paljon tutkimusta, mutta tutkimuksien tulokset aiheesta ovat ristiriitaisia. Maisterintutkielma käsittelee viherrakenteen vaikutuksia ilmanlaatuun kaupungeissa. Työ pyrkii kartoittamaan mitkä taustalla olevat tekijät vaikuttavat viherrakenteen ilmanlaadullisiin seurauksiin. Lisäksi työ tarkastelee voiko tuloksia soveltaa suomalaiseen kaupunkisuunnitteluun ja jos voi niin millä tavoin. Tutkielma suoritetaan käyttäen systemaattista kirjallisuuskatsausta, joka tiivistää ja arvioi jo valmiina olevaa tutkimusaineistoa sekä kartoittaa epävarmuusalueita. Kokoavan tutkimuksen avulla voidaan selvittää ovatko tutkimusten tulokset esimerkiksi yhteneviä sen osalta, että viherrakennetta kannattaa integroida kaupunkeihin ilmaa puhdistavan vaikutuksen takia Tutkielman aineistona toimii hakulausein sekä sisäänotto- ja poissulkukriteerein huolellisesti ja kriittisesti valitut tieteelliset tutkimukset. Tutkielmaan valikoitui 51 alkuperäistutkimusta. Aineiston analyysissä käytettiin sisällönanalyysiä, joka tarjoaa mahdollisuuden tarkastella asioiden välisiä yhteyksiä, yhtäläisyyksiä ja eroavaisuuksia. Valikoidut tutkimukset koottiin tiivistetysti taulukkoon tutkimuksen läpinäkyvyyden lisäämiseksi. Aineiston sisällönanalyysin perusteella käy ilmi, että viherrakenteen vaikutus kaupunkien ilmanlaatuun on pääosin positiivinen. Neljännes tutkimuksista viittaa siihen, että sillä voi olla myös ilmanlaatua heikentäviä vaikutuksia. Erityisesti viherseinillä ja -katoilla havaitaan eniten ilmanlaatua parantavia ominaisuuksia. Toiseksi tulevat puut, pensaat ja nurmi, ja kolmanneksi suuremmat viheralueet kuten metsät ja puistot. Viherseinät ja -katot aiheuttavat vähiten haitallisia vaikutuksia, kun taas suurimmat haitat liittyvät puihin, pensaisiin ja nurmikkoon. Tulosten vaihtelevuus johtuu erilaisista tutkimusmenetelmistä, tutkimusajankohdista, ilmastollisista olosuhteista, vuodenaikojen vaihtelusta, ilmansaastepitoisuuksista alueella, vuorokaudenajoista, kasvuston sijainnista, viherrakennetyypistä sekä kasvilajeista. Tulosten soveltaminen suomalaiseen viherrakentamiseen on haastavaa, sillä tutkimusten ilmasto-olosuhteet eroavat merkittävästi Suomen oloista. Samankaltaisiin suomalaisiin olosuhteisiin valikoitujen tutkimusten mukaan viherkattojen ja puistojen suosiminen kaupunkirakenteessa, metsien säilyttäminen vilkkaampien teiden varrella ja viherseinien hyödyntäminen katujen varsilla voivat osittain parantaa ilmanlaatua.