Browsing by master's degree program "Ympäristömuutoksen ja globaalin kestävyyden maisteriohjelma (ECGS)"
Now showing items 41-60 of 129
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(2022)Environmental sustainability and environmentally responsible management have found their way as discussion topics in the Finnish contemporary art field. The contemporary art event Helsinki Biennial chose to make environmental sustainability as one of their corner stones of producing the event (Taskinen et al 2021). In this master’s thesis I assess the environmental responsibility of Helsinki Biennial and how its environmental actions reflect on the expectations of the contemporary art field in Finland from a managerial perspective. The research was conducted through autoethnographic and content analysis methods. This research will try to answer three questions 1. What environmental actions were taken and how were they selected? (R1) 2. How do the environmental action taken compare to the current expectations of environmentally responsible management in the Finnish contemporary art field? (R2) I am also interested in finding out 3. What types of hopes and concerns about future work are identified by Helsinki Biennial organizers and other experts in the Finnish contemporary art field? (R3) The results show that Helsinki Biennial compared well on the expectations of the field. Based on the answers of the interviewees, there is a lot of potential and moti-vation within the field which waits to be unleashed, for example through new financ-ing and travel policies and by increasing the knowledge and time resource of em-ployees. This study also found out about the future visions regarding environmental matters within the contemporary art field.
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(2023)Lichens are sensitive organisms widely used for environmental biomonitoring. Urban environments have been under heavy pollution, especially sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, due to human activity which has led to the disappearance of lichens in city centres. Regulations and technological changes have led to cleaner air and less deposition of pollutants, especially sulphur dioxide on the vegetation in both rural and urban areas. This in turn has led to recolonization of lichens in former lichen deserted areas. In this study epiphytic macrolichens on park maples were surveyed using simple tree-based random sampling in three parks in Helsinki, and in one park in Loviisa, Siuntio and Raasepori each. The sampling and surveying methods were selected based on the SFS standard “Ambient air. Biomonitoring with lichens. Assessing epiphytic lichen diversity”. Species identification took place on site and in Botanical museum (Finnish Museum of Natural History). The results from parks in Helsinki were used to estimate if lichens have recolonized the trees. In addition, the results from the other Uusimaa municipalities were used to assess how different is the lichen species assemblage when comparing the relatively more polluted region of Helsinki to the less polluted regions in Uusimaa. The study found that pollution levels in Helsinki have declined enough to enable recolonization, of which there have been signs already in 1990s and 2000. The study used lichen diversity value of defined functional groups as one of the statistical methods which gave new information about how the species tolerance or sensitivity to pollutants shapes the recolonization. Comparison between the study areas in Uusimaa region revealed that concentrations of nitrogen oxides steer lichen species assemblage in Helsinki. Lichen surveys in Helsinki are scarce. This study brings topical information about the lichen situation in Helsinki, and it uses an as yet relatively unknown method to extract information from lichen assemblage. Regular, comparable lichen surveys are needed to further research the pressure that human activities cause on urban nature. Such time series would help to monitor both the urban nature loss and the impact of climate change on the urban nature.
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(2023)This thesis explores the relationship between energy justice and demand response electricity pricing schemes in the residential market. As energy retailers make the transition towards demand response contracts, many opportunities arise for justice and injustice. It is vital that consumers are protected from arising injustices, and that the benefits of demand response schemes are distributed across the population. I use a popular energy justice framework to evaluate the demand response schemes of three European electricity retailers for their adherence to the principles of energy justice. The eight evaluative criteria are availability, affordability, due process, good governance, sustainability, intragenerational equity, intergenerational equity and responsibility. The three retailers are Tibber, E.ON Next, and Helen. Through this evaluation, I demonstrate that novel developments in energy systems by some energy retailers can positively inform the policies and practices of conventional retailers. There is room for growth in customer communication, stakeholder involvement, and smart home integration. My evaluation shows that retailers are yet to meet the aspirations of energy justice with their demand response schemes, but the potential for promoting justice clearly exists. I conclude with a set of recommendations Helen can take to meet the goals of energy justice in their electricity contracts.
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(2022)Urban greenspaces are valuable resources for humans and are an integral part of the urban landscape. They are also popular sites for various social and cultural activities, such as dog walking. Dog ownership rates are increasing globally at a rapid rate, hence increasing the dog populations within urban cities. The increasing number of dogs could potentially have negative consequences to the quality of urban parks. Furthermore, there is a lack of research on the impacts of dogs on urban environments. The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the impacts of dogs on path-side soils in urban greenspaces. Soil samples were collected from both Helsinki and Lahti. The impact of dog urine was studied by comparing path-side soil samples between areas with high dog activity (i.e., parks) and similar areas with low to no dog activity (i.e., cemeteries). Soil samples were collected three times during the growing season in 2021 at three different treatments: close by 1) an evergreen tree, 2) a lamppost, and 3) a lawn area. The samples were analyzed for soil pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, soil moisture, NO3--N, and NH4+-N. Net N mineralization and net nitrification rates were also calculated. The results indicated that dog urine is a significant contributor to the input of nitrogen in urban parks. Soil NO3-N and NH4+-N concentrations were significantly higher in parks than in cemeteries and exhibited clear seasonal trends. Soil pH was generally lower and electrical conductivity higher in parks than in cemeteries. Poles and trees exhibited the greatest concentrations, suggesting that the impact of dog urine is highly localized around path-side objects. None of the treatments in cemeteries showed little to no changes throughout the growing season. Lastly, the net nitrification rates were significantly higher in parks during spring and summer. In contrast, net mineralization rates were generally higher in cemeteries than parks. These results confirm that urban planners need to take into consideration the impact of dogs to mitigate any potential negative consequences to the quality of urban parks.
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(2022)In recent years, the science community has increasingly emphasized the influence of behavior, lifestyles, and culture on greenhouse gas emissions. Finland’s emissions per capita (~10 tCO2/yr.) are amongst the highest in the world, and it has been calculated that to comply with the Paris Agreement and to limit global warming to well below 2 °C, Finnish households should reduce their carbon footprint by 70 % by 2030. This requires drastic lifestyle changes, especially regarding mobility, housing, and nutrition. However, knowing this is not enough to change behaviors. Human behavior is influenced by several different internal and external factors such as knowledge, values, and social structures. This master’s thesis is a case study conducted in the Environmental Change and Global Sustainability (ECGS) master’s program at the University of Helsinki with the aim to enrich theories about pro-environmental behavior by providing insights on the future aspirations of sustainability science students, who have both extensive knowledge and experience in the field of sustainability. The data for this study was collected through an anonymous, online questionnaire with four open-ended questions. In total, 61 out of 274 ECGS students answered the questionnaire, after which qualitative content analysis with both inductive and deductive elements was applied to analyze the results. The results confirm that ECGS students are indeed well aware of the most impactful lifestyle changes for reducing personal carbon footprint. Despite their extensive knowledge on sustainability, the students’ future aspirations still come quite close to the dominant cultural vision of a good life in Finland. The implications of these findings once again confirm the importance of facilitating sustainable ways of living through changes in societal structures, discourses, and norms.
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(2023)Due to population growth, urbanization, and increase in life expectancy, the urban population is growing, and by 2050 68% of the global population is expected to live in urban areas. Even though the air quality in urban settings has greatly improved in recent decades due to increased legislation, restriction, and monitoring, the negative health impacts associated with pollutants have not completely diminished. Air quality varies on a local scale due to urban form and function, that creates differences in experienced exposure among individuals. These exposure differences among socio-economic groups have been studied, but no clear consensus has been found, as the results have been very diverse and even contradictory. Therefore, conducting local level studies is important in order to identify local patterns of exposure and to recognize them in urban planning. However, previous literature on the topic in Finnish context is lacking. This thesis studies interpolated air pollutant exposure among one susceptible socio-economic group – the elderly – and aims to identify possible hotspots of both in Helsinki, Finland. The distribution of the elderly and air quality is assessed through Moran’s I calculations. Global Moran’s I is used to assess for spatial autocorrelation, and local Moran’s I is applied to identify local clusters. To further examine the relationship, correlation coefficients are calculated through Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. According to the results, there is a weak positive correlation between the elderly and air quality, indicating that generally air quality tends to be worse when the number of elderly people increase. However, the relationship is stronger among younger age groups, although the differences between age groups is very small. The exposure was also assessed through overlapping high value clusters, which indicate that elderly clusters in the city center are located in areas with low air quality, while elderly clusters in Lauttasaari and Vuosaari are located in areas with good air quality. Previous studies regarding the relationship between age and air pollution exposure have been contradicting in different cities, and therefore these results provide important knowledge about the problem specifically in the context of Helsinki. Additionally, the results are be observed in the light of the larger discourse around socio-economic status and air pollution, but further studies on the topic are still needed. Including multiple socio-economic variables and the dimension of negative health outcomes would aid in identifying 1) the most important socio-economic factors in the context of negative health outcomes associated with air pollution, and 2) those areas where multiple important socio-economic factors and low air quality are overlapping and therefore might have higher risk for negative health outcomes.
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(2022)In Finland and in many other European countries, indoor housing of dairy cattle has been increasing at the expense of grazing. According to Finnish legislation, only dairy cows housed in tie-stalls are obligated to graze for 60 days per year between May and September. Pressure to intensify production leads to increase in herd sizes, regional concentration, lack of suitable pastureland near large barns, and automation of milking. Conversely, grazing is regarded as important for animal welfare, maintenance of biodiversity and cultural landscapes. Farmer perceptions towards grazing have not been studied in Finland comprehensively, which need to be understood better in order to provide adequate support for sustainable management of grazing. The research aims at gaining understanding of the external and internal factors driv- ing the farm-level decision making related to grazing regimes. Concept of good farming ideal is used to examine farmers’ decision-making. The data was collected from 26 cattle farms with a gradient of grazing from zero to maximum. Firstly, an online questionnaire was sent out to farmers and secondly, semi-structured inter- views were conducted with 7 dairy producers, to further explore farmer views about grazing, biodiversity, and animal welfare. The results show farmers who practice grazing to perceive it more positively than the farmers who do not graze. Some of the farmers who grazed seemed to consider it almost as an intrinsic value, whereas farmers with no grazing saw it as an inef- ficient production method, which they were afraid would become an obligation. The most im- portant internal factors driving decision-making about grazing based on the questionnaire and interviews, were animal welfare, decreased workload because of grazing, infrastructure of the farm, economic aspects, and benefits of grazing to biodiversity and landscape values. Exter- nal factors found to affect the decision of grazing were incentives, regulations, and consumer expectations. Animal welfare was found to be a basis for production for many and the most important feature valued for good farming, to which grazing was seen to contribute. The re- sults imply subsidies regarding grazing should be higher for grazing to be considered profita- ble and more enjoyable by farmers.
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(2022)Biodiversity loss and ecosystem service degradation and the related economic costs are increasingly recognized as sources of financial risks. The risks are arising through physical and transition sources of risks caused by dependencies and impacts upon biodiversity and ecosystem services. Therefore, it has become increasingly important for both individual financial institutions as well as central banks and financial supervisors to better understand and manage these risks. However, biodiversity loss is associated with unique complexity and uncertainty, making it a challenging task. The purpose of this thesis was to study the linkages between biodiversity loss and financial stability in Finland. This was done by assessing the financial exposure of Finnish credit institutions to sectors dependent on ecosystem services for their production processes. A quantitative analysis was conducted in order to combine loan data obtained from the Bank of Finland and ecosystem service data obtained from the ENCORE database. The results showed that 23% of loans provided by Finnish credit institutions are exposed to high or very high biodiversity-related financial risks. The sectors associated with most value at risks were real estate and agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors. Disruptions of ecosystem services providing surface water and climate regulation were posing the highest financial risks. The findings represent a first step towards assessing the exposure of the Finnish financial system to biodiversity-related financial risks. The results and previous literature indicate that physical biodiversity-related financial risk exposures are significant for individual financial institutions and for the whole financial system, despite the prevailing methodological challenges and gaps in knowledge. In order to complete a comprehensive biodiversity-related financial risk assessment, further research is needed.
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Framing of the Amazon rainforest fires in the Colombian news media El Tiempo: Populism vs. science (2022)The topic of forest fires has gathered a lot of media attention in recent years as it relates closely to climate change and other sustainability issues. The media has an important role in communicating these issues as it affects, how the public percieves them, how different sustainability problems are defined and what kind of solutions are seen plausible. I became interested in how the media represents the issue of forest fires. My aim in this thesis is to find out, how the Colombian news media has framed the Amazon rainforest fires. As my material I used the news articles from the Colombian news media El Tiempo. I definined my timeframe from July 2019 to september 2019 because at that time the news subject was of high interest. After the initial search I went through the articles and left out any irrelevant ones. I was left with 24 news articles. As an analytic tool I utilized qualitative frame analysis guided by Robert Entman´s definition of frames and used ATLAS.ti to make an initial thematic coding. After that I mapped out all the actors that were cited in the news articles and divided them into groups. Using these actor groups, I searched for the frames. There were eight actor groups, politicians and political organizations being the most prominent one. Looking at how these actors talked about the forest fires, two main frames came out: populist and scientific. The populist frame concentrated mainly on Jair Bolsonaro. In this frame there was a lot of nationalist and economic arguments and responsability was directed away from him. There seemed to be a lot of enemies also. The second frame concentrated in deforestation, climate change and the forest fires being a global issue. In this frame international actors used economic and political pressure in order to affect Bolsonaro´s policy solutions. The research showed, how difficult it can be to solve shared global problem and made visible a historical political division between authoritarianism and democracy. An other important notion is the lack of marginalized groups in the news media.
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(2023)Urban areas have a central role in human’s impacts on the planet. A persistent, fundamental and systemic transformation of urban areas to be more sustainable is a widely recognized pursuit. Involving a variety of stakeholders in decision-making and discussing how, why, and to whose benefit urban areas should be changed is central for governing urban transformations. The study elaborates which features and negotiations key stakeholders relate to sustainable urban transformation. This is done through a frame analysis, and a serious game is used in data collection to facilitate discussion between participants. The results of this study show how urban sustainability and transformation can be framed in many ways that highlight different aspects. Role of private businesses, a competitive setting between cities, trust between different groups and accountability to citizens are elaborated in the negotiations on sustainable urban areas. Urban transformation is discussed especially related to low-carbon traffic, greening urban areas, preventing climate-change related flooding, adding possibilities to participate decision-making and more adaptive city planning. The study concludes that open communication between stakeholders of urban transformation is crucial to build trust and understanding between groups, but demand for openness may contradict with the interest for urban areas to appear in good light to and desirable for businesses and new residents.
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(2022)Urban energy transitions play a key role in achieving climate targets and keeping the climate crisis from escalating. The district heating system of Helsinki has been characterised as a path-dependent and locked in system that will face difficulties in transitioning away from fossil fuels. In 2021 the city owned energy company Helen announced that it will quit coal burning in 2024, which is five years ahead of the national coal ban prohibiting coal use for energy in 2029. The coal phase out of Helsinki is a concrete example of a demanding coal phase out in a northern city with high energy demand. This thesis aims at answering the research question on how the multilevel policy mix, consisting of policy instruments on the municipal level, the national level, and the international level, contributed to the coal phase out of Helsinki. Through a case study approach relying on ten expert and stakeholder interviews as well as complementary material consisting of key strategy documents, this thesis aims to widen the understanding of the role of policy and politics in sustainability transitions and urban energy transitions. This study covers both policymaking and implementation processes as well as system impacts of the policy mix contributing to the coal phase out of Helsinki. Through empirical reviews the thesis contributes to the conceptualisation of policy mixes on multiple governance levels by studying the combined impact of policy instruments formed at the local, national, and international level. Regulatory policies on the national and international level (emissions trading, national ban on coal, taxation etc.), policies supporting low-carbon solutions on the national level (tax-exemptions) and climate target setting as well as support for low-carbon solutions on the municipal level (deregulation, innovation competitions) altogether contributed to the coal phase out. The findings of this study are in line with previous research emphasising the destabilisation of fossil fuel regimes to achieve transitions towards sustainability. Incorporating the elements of policy processes and strategies as well as policy effects and feedbacks into the concept of policy mixes is important to assess the efficacy and long-term impacts of policy mixes. The coherence of policies on multiple governance levels and the balance between regime destabilising and niche creating policies is also important in ensuring transitions towards sustainability. The results of this study support previous research findings on cities being important arenas and actors for sustainability transitions. Policies from different governance levels intersect on the urban level and decisions on infrastructure transformation are made on the municipal level.
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(2022)The Baltic Sea consists of islands, islets, and underwater nature. The sea’s species and habitats form a complex, interdependent network. The Baltic Sea is a challenging environment due to its low salinity, slow water turnover, and the densely populated catchment area. Species in the Baltic Sea have adapted to these circumstances, but climate change, eutrophication and different human induced pressures threaten the sea’s biodiversity. Biodiversity loss can be mitigated through protection areas. However, protection is not always successful. For example, insects and fungi often lack sufficient protection, whereas animals such as birds are more eagerly protected. Humans tend to protect charismatic or beautiful species and ignore others, even when other species’ need for protection is more dire. Establishing effective marine protected areas (MPAs) is difficult as information on underwater life is lacking. Finland’s underwater nature is better known, as it has been explored in the VELMU programme since 2004. In this thesis I study the governing documents of privately owned MPAs established during the last ten years in the Baltic Sea. Privately owned MPAs are the most common MPA type in Finnish marine areas. My research questions are: 1) Which nature values are represented in the privately owned MPAs? 2) How well is the underwater nature represented? The number of governing documents is 63. My method is qualitative content analysis and quantification of data. The material was coded using Atlas.ti. The nature values in the governing documents formed three categories: vegetation, birds, and underwater nature. Protecting vegetation was mentioned in 52 documents, birds in 39 documents, and underwater nature in 28 documents. The protection of underwater nature was most often based on protecting underwater habitats outlined in the EU’s habitat directive, instead of protecting underwater species. Birds and vegetation in the archipelago are somewhat comprehensively protected in privately owned MPAs. Although all 63 MPAs included a water area, underwater nature is mentioned in less than half of the governing documents. Underwater nature values are not always mentioned even when the MPA consists mostly of water, or when the governing document mentions the beauty or value of the water area. Descriptions of underwater nature are also often lacking in detail compared to the descriptions of vegetation and birds. To ensure biodiversity both underwater and above, underwater nature values should be protected more efficiently. Especially from the perspective of bird protection, it is noteworthy that protection usually does not cover their underwater food sources.
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(2022)Biohiilet ovat biomassasta pyrolysoitua hiilirikasta materiaalia. Biohiiliä voidaan käyttää maanparannukseen sekä maan hiilivarastojen kasvattamiseen ilmastonmuutoksen hillitsemiseksi. Biohiilet ovat rakenteeltaan erittäin pysyviä ja voivat pysyä maassa satoja tai jopa tuhansia vuosia. Tietoa biohiilen pitkäaikaisvaikutuksista boreaalisessa ilmastossa on kuitenkin vielä hyvin vähän. Tässä peltotutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin havupuubiohiilen vaikutuksia hiilirikkaassa peltomaassa yhdeksän vuotta biohiilen lisäyksen jälkeen. Biohiilen lisäystasoja 5 tai 10 t/ha vertailtiin yhdessä mineraalilannoituksen tasojen kanssa. Biohiilen lisäys nosti maan hiili/typpi-suhdetta sekä maan magnesium- ja natriumpitoisuuksia. Biohiili ei vaikuttanut maamurujen kestävyyteen, maaperän kosteuspitoisuuteen, maan hiilipitoisuuteen tai ohran satobiomassaan. Biohiilellä ja lannoituksella ei havaittu merkitseviä yhteisvaikutuksia, lukuun ottamatta kahta mittausviikkoa, jolloin biohiili tasasi lannoitustasojen välillä olevia eroja maan kosteudessa. Biohiilen vähäiset vaikutukset maassa johtuivat todennäköisesti sen kulkeutumisesta syvemmälle maahan. Tutkimusruutujen maa oli lisäksi hyvärakenteista, multavaa ja ravinteikasta peltomaata, jossa biohiilien vaikutukset eivät tule helposti näkyviin. Puubiohiilellä ei havaittu olevan negatiivisia vaikutuksia maahan, joten se on turvallinen tapa nostaa maan hiilivarastoja pohjoisissa olosuhteissa. Biohiilten pitkäaikaisvaikutuksista boreaalisella peltomaalla tarvitaan lisää tietoa.
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(2022)During times of complex sustainability crisis, there is an urgent need for policy measures that steer consumer-citizens towards environmental and climate friendly lifestyles, especially in rich high-consuming countries such as Finland. (Carbon)footprint calculators which have gained popularity in recent years, are considered as one potential policy measure. This explorative study aims at shedding light on what could be the role of footprinting tools in encouraging individuals towards sustainable lifestyles. The literature review delves into the previous research about the use and impacts of the footprinting tools. Empirically, I study the self-understanding and interpretations that users have about one specific consumption related carbon footprinting tool. The concept of carbon capability works as an analytical framework of the study. The concept refers holistically to the attributes and abilities of thought and action that a citizen should have in order to mitigate climate change in a meaningful way, both as an individual and as a member of society. The study asks what kind of speech related to carbon capability comes to the fore during the use of the carbon footprinting tool and what this reveals about the carbon capability of the users and the steering impact of the tool and its’ role as a carbon capability promotor. To answer these questions, I interviewed seven users of the tool “Sustainable Lifestyle Commitment” who live in Helsinki. As an analysis method, I apply theory-guided qualitative content analysis and adaptive research approach. The results highlight the diversity of interpretations given to the tool, making it difficult to demonstrate that the tool produces some certain impacts. Carbon capability approach shows that there is a need for policy measures encouraging more towards collective modes of action and societal level engagement towards sustainable living, in addition to (or in the context of) individual consumption related footprinting tools. Fairness should be an integrated part in efforts made to increase carbon capability of consumer-citizens.
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(2023)Achieving the global 1,5 degrees Celsius climate target requires the contributions of several societal actors to reduce emissions. Several actors have started to work to untangle the emissions of their operations and abate them. The Turku and Kaarina parish union, which operates in Southwest Finland, has also set a personal goal to reduce its emissions, aiming to be a carbon-neutral organization by 2029. The purpose of this thesis is to find out the carbon footprint and the forests’ carbon sinks of Turku and Kaarina parish union and make the carbon neutrality roadmap with some examples of how to achieve the parish union’s carbon neutrality goal of 2029. In addition, the thesis examines through the selected case study the organization’s methodology of the carbon footprint and the realization of the carbon neutrality goals. Both the parish union’s carbon footprint and the forests’ carbon sinks are calculated for the year 2022. The materials of carbon footprint consist of the activity data of the parish union and the emission factors. The calculation of the carbon footprint is carried out based on the international standards, Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and ISO 14046. The forests’ carbon sinks are calculated based on the parish union’s information on its forestry management of 2022 and the research of Natural Resources Institute Finland about the carbon sinks and stocks of local parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland of 2021. The estimate of gross emissions of Turku and Kaarina parish union for 2022 is approximately 4985 tCO2e. The biggest emission groups are procurements, real estate, and travel. The size of the forests’ carbon sinks is approximately 1176 tCO2e, offsetting about 24–29 % of the gross emissions depending on the parish union’s carbon neutrality targets. Based on the union’s carbon neutrality goal, the net emissions should still be reduced by about 2261 tCO2e and offset by about 551 tCO2e. The realization of Turku and Kaarina parish union’s carbon neutrality goal would require significant emission reductions, especially from the biggest emission groups. Because the union has already executed a major portion of the easiest emission reductions of the union’s operations, the realization of new and large emission reductions is challenging to implement only in six or seven years. In addition, the realization of the carbon neutrality goal is hampered for instance the different limitations and uncertainties related to the carbon footprint calculation, stability of forests’ carbon sinks, and the practical implementation of the roadmap. However, the carbon neutrality goal of the Turku and Kaarina parish union will be progressing particularly with the successfully implemented sustainability transformation and transition and the Church’s environment diploma, supporting the Church’s environmental education, and promoting wide-scale societal transformation towards the climate-neutral life.
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(2022)Urban densification is resulting in the rapid loss of urban green spaces and their associated values. Moreover, the remaining urban green spaces are under increasing pressure to meet diverse resident needs and preferences. While past studies have investigated the intrinsic, instrumental, and relational values associated with such spaces, little attention has been paid to the sub-sets of relational values referred to a fundamental-relational (i.e., contributions toward enhanced social resilience) and eudemonic-relational values (i.e., actions, experiences, and habits linked to a “good life”). This study used public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) surveys in a residential neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland to spatially explore and examine the differences between intrinsic, instrumental, fundamental-relational, and eudemonic-relational values in urban green spaces. I analyzed responses from residents and stakeholders (n = 1089) using Chi-square tests for significant associations and density-based clustering. Mapped values indicated that green spaces were primarily valued for their relational value, with an emphasis on eudemonic-relational values. Moreover, there were differences in the spatial distribution of instrumental, intrinsic, and relational values between green space types and values were spatially clustered by land use. Notably, there were few differences in how these values were assigned by different sociodemographic groups. I discuss the implications of these findings for local- and city-scale planning and the use of value typologies in PPGIS surveys. Further research in this field will benefit from the use of further value subcategories, increased geographic scale, and additional study of the influence of sociodemographic factors.
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(2022)Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin, millaisia kehyksiä ilmastoahdistus saa kahdeksassa, vuonna 2021 julkaistussa suomalaisessa podcast-jaksossa. Näin pyritään lisäämään ymmärrystä ilmastoahdistuksen ilmiöstä, sekä siitä, millaisia kehystyksiä aihe mediassa saa. Tutkimus on tehty laadullisella kehysanalyysilla, joka perustuu Erwin Goffmanin (1974) kehittämään kehysteoriaan ja sen myöhempiin sovellutuksiin. Lyhyesti sanottuna, tutkimus pohjaa siihen olettamukseen, jossa median tavat kehystää ja esittää jokin aihe tai asia ohjaavat sitä, millä tavalla asiat meille esitetään ja millaisina me asiat näemme. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin suoratoistopalvelu Spotifysta, Yle Areenasta ja Suplasta. Kehyksien muodostamisessa hyödynnettiin Robert Entmanin (1993) median kehysanalyysin periaatetta, jossa kehyksillä on neljä tarkoitusta: Ongelmien määritteleminen, ongelman aiheuttavien tekijöiden tunnistaminen, moraalisten arvioiden tekeminen sekä ratkaisujen ehdottaminen. Tutkimuksen tuloksena syntyi kolme kehystä, jotka nimettiin luonnollisen ilmastoahdistuksen, ilmastoahdistus sukupolvikysymyksenä sekä ilmastoahdistus tarvitsee vertaistukea, käsittelyä ja toimintaa kehyksiksi. Jokainen kehys kuvaa omalla tavallaan sitä, millaisena ilmastoahdistus nähdään viime aikaisissa podcast-keskusteluissa. Luonnollisen ilmastoahdistuksen kehyksessä korostuvat näkemykset siitä, kuinka ilmastoahdistus voidaan nähdä luonnollisena ja normaalina, sekä hyvänä reaktiona motivoivan vaikutuksensa kautta. Kaiken kaikkiaan kehys kuvaa ilmasto- ja ympäristöahdistuksen ilmiön monitahoisuutta ja yksilöllisyyttä, sekä pyrkii vahvistamaan näkemyksiä siitä, mitä ilmastoahdistus on ja mitä se ei ole. Lisäksi ilmastoahdistuksen sisältämä ahdistus sana kyseenalaistetaan. Ilmastoahdistus sukupolvikysymyksenä - kehys avaa puolestaan näkemyksiä nuorten ilmastoahdistuksen syihin ja korostumiseen, sekä ottaa kantaa aikaisempaan ilmastoahdistuskeskusteluun, joka joidenkin keskustelijoiden mielestä näyttäytyi ilmiötä vähättelevänä. Kokonaisuudessaan kehyksessä kuitenkin korostuu näkemys siitä, että ilmastoahdistus ei ole vain nuoria koskettava asia, vaikka se tällä hetkellä korostuu ja ilmenee eniten nuoremmissa sukupolvissa. Kehys ilmastoahdistus tarvitsee vertaistukea, käsittelyä ja toimintaa, tuo esiin keskustelijoiden näkemyksiä ja kokemuksia liittyen ilmastoahdistuksen käsittelyyn ja lievittämiseen, sekä osallistuu keskusteluun koskien ilmastotekojen merkityksellisyyttä. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella voidaan sanoa, että ilmastoahdistus saa vuonna 2021 julkaistuissa, suomalaisissa podcastkeskusteluissa monia eri sävyjä ja ilmastoahdistusta käsitellään niissä laajasti. Ja vaikka keskustelijoiden näkemykset ovat pitkälti linjassa ilmastoahdistusta käsittelevien julkaisujen kanssa, muutamia kiinnostavia ja tutkimattomiakin näkökulmia ja kehystyksiä ilmenee. Osaltaan tutkimuksen tulokset täydentävät kuvaa siitä, miten valtavirtamediaa hitaammat lajityypit – kuten podcastit – mukautuvat muualla esitettyihin määritelmiin ja kehystyksiin, mutta myös täydentävät niitä. Tällöin podcast-keskustelujen voidaan nähdä tarjoavan vaihtoehtoisia kehyksiä, jotka osittain haastavat ja täydentävät julkisuudessa hallitsevia kehyksiä.
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(2023)This thesis examines just climate adaptation to climate change at the river Kokemäenjoki in Southwest Finland. Climate change will significantly change flood risks in Finland. Säpilänniemi adjustment stream is a flood risk management and climate change adaptation measure designed to mitigate flood risks in the area. The adjustment stream is expected to have effects on the flood risks of the entire river area. In particular, the adjustment stream is thought to be important in winter flood situations, which are increasing due to climate change. There are also some disadvantages associated with the planned adjustment stream such as the negative effects on a protected Natura2000-area upstream. The thesis is situated in the field of social scientific environmental research and delves into the themes of just climate policy. There is a great need for research that looks at just practices of climate change adaptation, because the challenges brought by climate change require significant adaptation measures. Adaptation measures are prone to an uneven distribution of harms and benefits, which is why the study of just adaptation is important. Adaptation planning opens up opportunities to reduce current vulnerabilities and promote just adaptation. Climate justice refers to the social and environmental effects on equality and justice that result from climate change or climate policy. In academic literature, climate justice is often understood as a combination of recognition, procedural and distributive justice. Climate justice opens possibilities to plan and examine just adaptation that takes unequally distributed justice effects into account. The research method used in this thesis is narrative analysis. Narrative analysis is a framework that can be used to study different groups' perceptions of the same events. The presupposition is that people build both events and relationships between things in speech and text in the form of narratives. Political processes and different policy practices can also follow the structure of a narrative. The data of the thesis consists of focus group interviews conducted in the fall of 2022 and the river Kokemäenjoki flood risk management plan for 2022-2027. The topic is approached through two research questions: i) What policy narratives emerge from the material? and ii) How is climate justice understood in the narratives? Three narratives were found from the data. The narrative of authorities is the narrative that dominates the data and defines the flood risk management and measures in the area. The narrative of the residents challenges the assumptions about management made in the authorities' narrative. The third narrative is the narrative of municipalities. The results of the study reveal that the case of Kokemäenjoki and Säpilänniemi adjustment stream have typical challenges of just adaptation. Narratives' understandings of climate-just flood risk management vary, and in particular procedural justice is perceived in different ways between the narratives. A climate just adaptation could be enhanced by strengthening participatory processes of flood risk management with the help of municipal actors in the case study area.
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(2023)Tämä pro gradu -tutkielma tarkastelee vuosina 2021-2022 Suomessa esitettyjä ilmastoyksiköiden käyttöön liittyviä mainos- ja markkinointiväittämiä ja niiden laatua. Tällaisia väittämiä ovat esimerkiksi yleisesti käytetyt hiilineutraalius- ja kompensaatioväittämät. Työ esittää katsauksen siihen, kuinka tarkkaa ja asianmukaista tietoa vuosina 2021-2022 mainos- ja markkinointiväittämät ovat esittäneet. Työssä väittämiä tarkastellaan tulevien EU-sääntelyn edellytysten sekä helmikuussa 2023 julkaistujen kansallisten suositusten valossa (Laine ym., 2023). Sääntelyn ja kansallisen toimintakentän muutoksien kautta työ tutkii väittämien mahdollista tulevaisuutta ja muutoksia väittämien tulevassa käytössä. Merkittävin yksittäinen ilmastoyksiköihin perustuvien väittämien tulevaisuuden käyttöön vaikuttava tekijä on väittämien tekemiseen käytettyjen ilmastoyksiköiden kaksoislaskennan välttäminen. Kapea-alaisen pilottitutkimuksen avulla työssä testataan kaksoislaskennan riskin arviointiin esitettyä menetelmää (Laininen ym., 2022) sekä arvioidaan väittämiin liittyvää riskiä. Työssä hyödynnetään kahta erillistä aineistoa, joiden avulla tutkitaan mainonnassa ja markkinoinnissa esitettyjen väittämien eroja. Väittämien laatua tutkitaan analysoimalla niiden syvyyttä eli sitä, kuinka tarkkaa tietoa väittämä tarjoaa sekä asianmukaisuutta eli sitä, onko väittämässä annettu tieto selkeää ja yksiselitteistä vai mahdollisesti harhaanjohtavaa. Työssä toteutetun analyysin perusteella suurin osa vuosina 2021-2022 mainonnassa ja markkinoinnissa esitetyistä ilmastoyksiköihin perustuvista väittämistä oli harhaanjohtavia. Mainonnassa ja markkinoinnissa esitettyjen väittämien välillä esiintyi kuitenkin merkittäviä eroja. Analyysin perusteella mainonnassa esitetyt väittämät olivat markkinointiväittämiä heikompilaatuisia sekä syvyydeltään että asianmukaisuudeltaan. Arvioinnin perusteella väittämiin liittyvät nykyiset markkinointikäytännöt eivät yleisesti vastaa niille esitettyjä kansallisia suosituksia eivätkä tulevia EU-sääntelyn edellytyksiä. Väittämien tarkkuuteen ja yksityiskohtaisuuteen liittyvien markkinointikäytäntöjen lisäksi tulee tulevaisuudessa ottaa huomioon väittämiin liittyvä kaksoislaskennan riski, joka pilottitutkimuksen perusteella koskee oletettavasti merkittävää osaa nykyisistä markkinoilla esitetyistä väittämistä.
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(2022)Climate change is expected to cause salinity change in the Baltic Sea and therefore may affect organisms living in the Baltic such as plankton. The microbial loop is an important part of the plankton food web. It consists of heterotrophic bacteria, nanoflagellates and ciliates and is connected with the classic plankton food chain through interactions with primary producers and mesozooplankton. Therefore, salinity affects the functioning of the microbial food web not only directly, but also through salinity induced changes on primary producers and mesozooplankton. In this master’s thesis I studied the effects of salinity change on microbial loop components bacteria, nanoflagellates and ciliates in an outdoor mesocosm experiment containing four salinity treatments with salinities of 3.5, 5.5, 7.5 and 9.5, three replicas each. The experiment took place offshore at the Tvärminne Zoological Station. Bacteria were sampled from the mesocosms every other day and nanoflagellates and ciliates every 6th day. Bacteria were analysed with the flow cytometer, nanoflagellates with epifluorescent microscopy and ciliates using an inverted microscope. The effects of salinity on microbial loop components were statistically tested using linear mixed effects models. Results of the experiment show that salinity had an indirect effect on microbial loop components through changes in mesozooplankton composition. There were significant differences between high and low salinity treatments in bacteria abundance and composition, the interaction strength between HNFs and bacteria and in the mean cell size of ciliate communities. These were mainly caused by differences in mesozooplankton community structure between salinity treatments, which had cascading effects on the strength of top-down and bottom-up control on the trophic levels of the microbial loop, leading to changes in bacteria abundances and composition. Based on the results of this thesis, more studies are needed to detect the effects that changes in the composition and functioning of the microbial loop might have on the ecosystem. Further research should also focus on the significance of the structure and diversity of the communities within the microbial loop as well as the functional roles of different species in the microbial food web.
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