Browsing by master's degree program "Ympäristömuutoksen ja globaalin kestävyyden maisteriohjelma (ECGS)"
Now showing items 81-100 of 134
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(2022)Climate change and biodiversity loss are some of the most serious challenges the humanity is facing today. Current food systems are a major contributor to both global crises with massive negative impacts on climate and biodiversity, and thus, sustainable food system transition is inevitable in slowing down the further progress of climate change and biodiversity loss. One way to tackle the unsustainabilities of the food systems is through policy interventions, which can guide both food production and consumption to a more climate- and biodiversity-friendly direction. The aim of this thesis was to examine the popularity of different policy instruments in terms of reducing food’s climate and biodiversity impact among Finnish young adults. Moreover, this thesis aspired to find out which areas of food production and consumption Finnish young adults think policy interventions should target. Young adults were chosen as a target group, because they are in an important position in sustainability transitions. This research is based on survey data and the method applied was content analysis with characteristics from both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The data was analyzed in Atlas.ti program by using inductive and deductive content analysis methods. The results indicate that the most popular policy instruments for reducing food’s impact on climate and biodiversity among Finnish young adults were market-based, including taxes as the most popular and subsidies as the second most popular individual measure. This is in contrast to previous literature, where taxation and other market-based policies have been reported to be the least favored policies. Furthermore, information-based policies, of which especially raising awareness, regulatory instruments, of which particularly price regulation, as well as public procurement policies like a vegetarian day in public food services were among the most popular policy instruments. Although not directly examining acceptability, these results offer a glimpse on policy acceptability, which is found to be crucial in successful policy implementation. Further research is needed to study the acceptability of these policies comprehensively. Moreover, policy target areas related to food consumption rather than production were more popular among the respondents. Target areas such as favoring domestic food, reducing or ending animal product consumption and production, transitioning to vegetarian diets, making better (e.g. climate-friendly) choices easier, and converting meat into a luxury product were the most suggested. These results could be scaled up in future studies and then utilized in creating sustainable policies for food consumption and production, and that way reduce the climate and biodiversity impact they cause.
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(2022)As a response to Arctic climate warming, Arctic vegetation is changing. Studies have shown a greening trend both in satellite-derived data (spectral greening) and in field measurements (vegetation greening). Some studies indicate that the increase in vegetation productivity in the Arctic is one of the drivers of the increase in organic carbon in lakes, lake brownification. The aim of this thesis is to bring more knowledge about this possible connection between vegetation change and lake brownification in a circumpolar context. My two main research questions are: 1) How has the summer terrestrial NDVI value, in short, the normalized vegetation index to estimate the amount of green vegetation, changed during the past 20 years in the study areas and is there variation between lake groups? and 2) How has the amount of organic carbon changed in the studied lakes? These questions are complemented by the following sub-questions: Have summer temperature or precipitation affected NDVI change? What is the relationship between summer NDVI and lake organic carbon, and between the change in temperature/precipitation and the change in lake organic carbon? I conducted a circumpolar study about multi-decadal greening and climate trends around 15 Arctic and subarctic lakes divided into five groups, using satellite-derived vegetation data (NDVI). I then compared these data with sediment data to study if potential greening has a connection to the lakes’ total organic carbon load. The study areas are located in South-Central Canada, Alaska, North Finland, Russia – Yakutia and Russia – Chukotka. I found that summer surface air temperature has increased significantly in all of the study areas during 1961-2018. Total summer precipitation has not significantly changed during the study period, but the trend has been positive in all study areas except for Russia, Chukotka. Winter precipitation has significantly decreased in Alaska, and in both of the Russian areas, and significantly increased in Jänkäjärvi, Finland during 1961-2018. NDVI has increased significantly in Jänkäjärvi (Finland), Rauchuagytgyn and Illerney (Russia, Chukotka) during 2000-2021. In these lakes the environmental variables were affecting NDVI. The connection between NDVI in the study areas and lake TOC was positive, but not statistically significant. The situation was the same for the comparison between temperature and TOC for most of the lakes. When comparing the change in summer and winter precipitation and the change in TOC, for most of the lakes, precipitation had decreased while TOC increased. In conclusion, the results indicate that environmental conditions are changing in the study areas and that in some areas that has led to an increase in summer terrestrial NDVI values. It may also be that catchment area greening can increase lake TOC. However, this connection needs more research, for instance with a larger sample size. This study with its varying results also supports the notion of heterogeneous Arctic environments.
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(2023)Global warming should not rise beyond 1.5°C, which means that all sectors in the economy are needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The need for corporations to account their value chain emissions has sprung a variety of accounting and reporting standards. In response, Greenhouse Gas protocol established the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard. However, the success of the scope 3 emission accounting has been determined to be insufficient. The unsuccess of scope 3 emission accounting and reporting can be explained with the challenges that have been widely identified. Nevertheless, the identified challenges do not provide a deeper understanding of why they hinder the success of scope 3 accounting and reporting. This thesis delves into the challenges of scope 3 accounting by investigating four Finnish food industry corporations. The study for this thesis was conducted as semi-structured interviews of seven experts who work with the scope 3 accounting and reporting of their corporation. The interviews were held in May of 2022 and theory guided thematic analysis was used to analyze the results. The results show that there are challenges concerning measurement and evaluation, knowledge and guidance and communication. The measurement and evaluation challenges include data collection challenges, data quality challenges and data processing challenges. The key finding from this study is that most of these challenges are highly connected. The reporting corporation and suppliers’ resources and guidance play a key role in data collection and how accurate data can be obtained for the GHG inventory. These affect the comparability of gained emission factors and how comparable the emission information of products, production lines and corporations are. The findings of this study share understanding of the complexity of scope 3 accounting challenges.
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(2023)This master’s thesis focuses on the relationship immigrants have with urban nature and the possible link between spending time in nature and integration. The research questions focus on the experiences immigrants have with urban nature, the meaning and value they give to it as well as its possible effects on their integration. Five individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to answer these questions. The transcribed interview material was analysed using a thematic analysis method. The results of this analysis showed six themes, divided into two domains: reasons for spending time in nature and factors affecting nature behaviour. Interviews demonstrated nature’s positive effects on overall well-being and thus also integration, even though interviewees were not themselves very aware of this connection. However, all described that their ways of spending time in nature had changed between their home country and Finland. Many also demonstrated a “nature-lover” identity: nature had been important to them already from early childhood. Nature’s role in immigrant integration has been proved in various studies, yet its applications remain limited, and the existing knowledge is fragmented. Few studies concentrate on the ways individuals can take advantage of nature-related activities in their own integration. This thesis shows that spending time in nature and doing different nature-related activities can prove useful in integration but seems to relate more to the person’s individual identity rather than their ethnicity or immigration status.
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(2022)Opinnäytetyössä tutkittiin olosuhteiden muutosten vaikutusta torjunta-ainepitosuuksiin pilot-mittakaavan sedimenttipylväissä ja suodatinpylväissä. Pilot-mittakaavan pylväissä verrattiin ilmastuksen ja veden virtauksen muutosten vaikutusta pitoisuuksiin. Suodatinpylväissä tarkasteltavina tekijöinä oli orgaanisen aineen ja nollaraudan vaikutus torjunta-ainepitoisuuksiin. Tutkittavina torjunta-aineina olivat atratsiini, simatsiini, heksatsinoni ja diklobeniili, sekä hajoamistuotteet DIA, DEA, DEDIA ja BAM. Kyseisiä torjunta-aineita esiintyy pohjavesissä useissa eri Euroopan maissa mukaan lukien Suomi, vaikka niiden käyttö on lopetettu ja kielletty EU:n alueella useita vuosia sitten. Pylväistä analysoidut ulostulovedet valmisteltiin kaasukromatografia-massaspektrometria (GC-MS) mittausta varten kiinteäfaasiuutolla. Suodatinpylväiden torjunta-aineiden puhdistuskapasiteetti vaihteli testikertojen välillä ja yhdisteet käyttäytyivät eri tavalla suhteessa toisiinsa. Ensimmäisen kuukauden jälkeen talousveden raja-arvo 0,10 µg/l ylittyi heksatsinonin osalta. Toisen kuukauden jälkeen heksatsinonin pitoisuus ylitti jälleen talousveden raja-arvon, niin kuin myös BAM:n. Sitten viimeisellä testikerralla kohonneita yli 0,1 µg/l pitoisuuksia oli atratsiinilla ja heksatsinonilla. BAM:n ja heksatsinonin kulkeutuminen oli odotettavissa yhdisteiden ominaisuuksien perusteella ja niiden hajoaminen on hidasta verrattuna muihin yhdisteisiin. Puolestaan atratsiinin kohonneet pitoisuudet voidaan selittää maaperän kiintoaineksen liikkumisella suodatinpylväästä torjunta-aineiden kanssa. Pelkän hiekan vaikutus suodatinpylväissä aliarvioitiin, mikä vaikutti erityisesti BAM:n ja heksatsinonin pitoisuuksiin.
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(2024)Vaatetusala on tärkeä hyvinvointia tuottava teollisuudenala. Se on myös hyvin kuormittava ympäristölle. Kiihtyvä kulutus ja vaaralliset työolot ovat osa alan haastetta. Kiertotaloudesta on kaavailtu näihin ongelmiin ratkaisua. Sen tavoitteena on korvata vaatteiden lineaarinen tuotantomalli luonnon kiertokulkuun perustuvalla mallilla sekä mahdollistaa talouskasvun ja luonnonvarojen kulutuksen irtikytkentä lisäämällä samalla hyvinvointia. Kiertotalousprojektia leimaavat heikkoa kestävyyttä peilaavat teknis-taloudelliset ratkaisut eivät yksinään mahdollista riittävää muutosta vaan kulutuskulttuurin haastaminen on välttämätöntä. Tässä tutkielmassa on selvitetty käytäntöteorian keinoin, millaisia kiertotalouteen liittyviä käytäntöjä suomalaisissa pienissä vastuullisissa vaatetusalan yrityksissä toteutetaan. Aineistosta havaittiin kahdeksan eri käytäntöä, jotka liittyivät liiketoiminnan ja tuotannon eri osiin sekä erilaisiin kiertotalouspalveluihin. Kertotalous näyttäytyi vaatetusalalla yritysten näkökulmasta sekä inspiroivana mahdollisuutena että vakavana uhkana yritystoiminnalle. Talouskasvun ja kulutuksen irtikytkennän dilemma oli osoittautunut haastavaksi ratkaista, etenkin innovatiivisen liiketoimintaosaamisen ollessa toistaiseksi yrityksissä puutteellista. Tutkimuskirjallisuuden havaintoja mukaillen kiertotalousliiketoiminta on hyvin haastavaa ja edellyttää vaatetusalalla vallitsevien normien kyseenalaistamista, joka on pienille yrityksille lähes mahdotonta yksin. Muutos voisi mahdollistua, mikäli kuluttajat nousisivat yritysten aktiivisiksi kanssatoimijoiksi, julkisen sektorin tukiessa toimintaa. Toistaiseksi vaatetusala kuitenkin noudattaa perinteistä, lineaarista tuotantomallia ja kiertotalousprojekti sekä sen tavoittelema laajamittainen yhteiskunnallinen muutos on jäämässä utopistiseksi visioksi.
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(2022)Continuous development of urban areas poses challenges for sustainable use of resources and the management of complex waste streams. Recycling is seen as a solution for promoting sustainability, especially at the individual-level where waste sorting creates preconditions for successful material recovery operations. Behavior change strategies aim to encourage individuals to implement recycling practices in their daily lives. The effectiveness of behavior change strategies is achieved by broadly influencing capability, opportunity, and motivation to recycle, however, studies claim that many existing strategies are unable to do so. This study aims to gain an understanding in how extensively a municipal recycling service provider’s online communication on social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, YouTube) enhances capability, opportunity, and motivation to recycle by communicating about means to overcome recycling barriers. Specifically, the study is interested in examining what types of recycling barriers are addressed in online communication and through which means it aims to deliver assistance for overcoming these barriers. Lastly, this study aims to explore the role of social media platform-based online communication as a channel to promote individual recycling behavior. This study focuses on social media materials published by a municipal service provider in the European Green Capital of 2021. The empirical material builds on a set of data collected from public and locatable online sources. The analysis includes 96 different types (pictural, textual, video) of recycling-themed online content. The data was analyzed by conducting qualitative content analysis. The results indicated that online communication addresses a broad range of recycling barriers. The most common means to overcome these was information provision through which the company aimed to increase knowledge and understanding of recycling practices. Although information provision alone is claimed to be insufficient to profoundly change behavior, results showed that it could serve as a means to generate a broad influence on areas behind behavior formation. The result of this study suggests that social media platforms as channels for online communication have the potential to create preconditions for overcoming recycling barriers especially through the means of information provision. The development of more profound recycling behavior, however, needs to include a broader range of collaborative information, motivation, and engagement elements that could engage and encourage people to implement more profound recycling behavior. This calls for future research that discovers means to stimulate behavior formation widely to support overcoming recycling barriers and the implementation of profound recycling behavior in everyday lives.
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(2022)Heterobasidion genus fungi are the most significant pathogens in Finland causing root rot. These fungi infect Norway spruce (Picea abies), causing wood deficit in the forest industry. Leucoanthosyanidin reductase enzyme encoding gene, PaLAR3, has been linked in to the resistance of Norway spruce against H.parviporum induced root rot infections. The alleles in this locus can be AA, AB or BB, and the enzyme production and (+)-catechin concentrations have been proven to be higher in inoculation experiments in individuals with B allele present in their PaLAR3 locus. Climate change is predicted to increase disturbances in not only on the hydrological cycles, but also on the weather conditions. The drought is predicted to increase in the Northern hemisphere, increasing the risk of pathogens to spread into new areas. Forest breeding programs aim to make the forests more profitable and productive in the future as well. By studying the genetics of Norway spruce, it is possible to add more resilient individuals into the breeding program, to tackle the climate challenges the future might hold. In this Master’s thesis the spreading of the root rot infection under drought stress was studied. The PaLAR3 alleles were determined, and the area of necrosis caused by the fungal infection was compared against the alleles, watering treatments and the fungal strain used in the inoculations. Regarding the results the alleles in an individual’s PaLAR3 locus did not have any effect on the area of the necrosis. There were no statistically significant differences between the watering treatments. The only statistically significant result was that the different fungal strains’ (Hpa1 and Hpa2) infectiveness varied between different watering treatments. This is probably due to the different routes of pathogenesis. Hpa2 strain seems to be more infective in normal watering conditions. However, considering these results the PaLAR3 gene should not be added into the forest breeding program as itself. In the future, the research should focus more on gene interactions, since also other genes (e.g., PaLAC5) have been linked in the resistance against root rot infections in Norway spruce. By studying these genes together, the solutions for the deteriorating situation of the spreading of the fungal diseases could be discovered.
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(2022)There is continuously more pharmaceuticals ending up in the environment due to the amount of consumption. Wastewatertreatment plants are the largest point source for the pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment, because most of the pharmaceuticals are meant for humans. Human pharmaceuticals can end up in the ecosystem as they are or as metabolites. Both pharmaceuticals and their metabolites can cause a similar physiological response in the organisms living in the aquatic ecosystem, than in their originally intended target organism, humans. This is the reason why contamination of pharmaceuticals in the environment can be very harmful for the aquatic organisms. Two breast cancer medication were selected for this experiment, which are tamoxifen and letrozole. Both of these medication are very effective in controlling hormonal functions of humans and other organisms. Third pharmaceutical selected for this experiment was diclofenac, which is commonly used NSAID. Active sampling can be very expensive and time consuming, because many samples have to be collected from the same site and they have to be collected at many occasions, so that the time-weighed average of the concentration studied can be found. Passive samplers are devices or sorbents that are able to absorb substances into them. They can be calibrated in the laboratory with known concentrations of studied chemicals and then can be places in a study location in the nature to calculate time-weighed average concentration of the studied chemical in that location. In this study only diclofenac was found in the fieldstudy and only with SDB-RPS-sampler. SDP-RPS samplers absorb mostly chemicals with lower octanol-water partition coefficient and silicone rubber samplers are more suitable for chemicals with higher octanol-water partition coefficient, this was also shown in this study.
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(2022)Päivittäistavarakaupat ovat saavuttaneet ruokajärjestelmässä aseman, jossa kaupan myymälä on lähes välttämätön läpikulkupiste alkutuotannosta kulutukseen. Ruoan kulkiessa pellolta pöytään pääasiassa päivittäistavarakaupan kautta, ei kaupan risteysasemaa tuotannon ja kulutuksen välissä voida ohittaa. Päivittäistavarakaupan vallitsevan aseman ja toiminnan lähtökohtien merkitystä, mahdollisuuksia ja mahdollista vastuuta ruokavalion kestävyysmuutoksessa on otettu vasta hiljattain tutkimuskohteeksi ja aiheen kohdalla vallitsee tutkimusaukko. Aiheen tutkiminen on tärkeää, sillä päivittäistavarakauppojen saavuttama asema sekä toiminnan lähtökohdat vaikuttavat siihen mitä ruokaa tuotetaan, mitä tuotteita tarjotaan kuluttajille sekä minkälaisia valintoja kuluttajat myymälässä tekevät. Päivittäistavarakaupat ovat kiinnostuneita edistämään ruokavalion kestävyysmuutosta omien lähtökohtiensa ja tavoitteidensa mukaisesti, mutta yhteinen näkemys roolista, toimintamallista tai mahdollisesta vastuusta puuttuu. Tässä tutkielmassa pyrin tuottamaan tietoa vallitsevaan tutkimusaukkoon, päivittäistavarakaupan asemasta, lähtökohdista sekä keinoista ruokavalion kestävyysmuutoksessa toimimiseksi. EAT-Lancet komission planetaarisen ruokavalion mukaisen muutoksen tavoitteena on kasvisten kulutuksen lisääminen, lihan kulutuksen vähentäminen sekä eläinperäisen proteiinin osittainen korvaaminen kasvisperäisillä vaihtoehdolla. Suomalainen S-ryhmä on ottanut planetaarisen ruokavalion edistämisen osaksi uutta yhteiskuntavastuuohjelmansa ruoan kestävän kuluttamisen edistämisen teemaa, jota tarkastelen tapaustutkimuksena käytännön esimerkkinä päivittäistavarakaupan pyrkimyksistä kestävyysmuutokseen. S-ryhmää koskevan tapaustutkimuksen tutkimusajankohtana ilmenevien tulosten perusteella on mahdollista tulkita, että vaikka S-ryhmällä on halua edistää ruoan kestävän kuluttamisen sekä planetaarisen ruokavalion mukaista kestävyysmuutosta, keinot muutoksen edistämiseksi ovat vielä puutteelliset. S-ryhmän sekä alueosuuskauppojen tulkinta ja tekeminen planetaarisen ruokavalion edistämisestä ei ole suoraan tulkittavissa EAT-Lancet komission mukaiseksi. Tuotevalikoiman kautta tapahtuvan kestävyysmuutoksen avainrooli ja vastuu on jätetty kuluttajalle. Kestävyyttä edistetään ensisijaisesti valikoimaa kasvattamalla, joka voi vaikeuttaa kuluttajien kestävien käytänteiden kehittymistä ja toteutumista. Tulosten perusteella jää epäselväksi pystyykö taloudellisiin näkökulmiin sekä kuluttajalähtöisyyteen pohjaava toiminta edistämään yksilön ruokavalion ohjaamiseen liittyvää tavoitetta.
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(2023)Human-induced nutrient enrichment has led to eutrophication, which is globally a severe environmental problem in aquatic ecosystems. Eutrophication has a variety of deteriorating effects on marine ecosystems in the form of e.g., cyanobacterial blooms, bottom water hypoxia and anoxia, as well as increased fish and benthos mortality. The Baltic Sea is especially prone to eutrophication due to the combined effects of restricted water exchange and extensive nutrient loads. Nutrient enrichment reinforces primary production which further enhances organic matter remineralisation in the sediment – water interface, leading to oxygen depletion in the bottom waters. Decreased oxygen concentrations on the seafloor can lead to the release of phosphorus bound to reducible iron oxides. The so-called ‘vicious circle’ of internal loading is formed through the further enhanced nutrient release from the sediments into the water column due to the reduced bottom water conditions resulting from increased supply of organic matter into the system. However, the processes controlling phosphorus transport from land to sea through the ‘coastal filter’ remain poorly understood. In this study, sediments from Paimionlahti estuary were examined for phosphorus content and bulk elemental composition. Sedimentary phosphorus contents were determined through chemical extractions. The extracted fractions of phosphorus (P) include Fe oxide bound P (Fe-P), authigenic apatite P (Ca-P I), detrital apatite P (Ca-P II), and organic P (org-P). The fraction of Fe-P dominated in the upper sediment layers in most sites, whereas more unreactive fractions associated with P burial remained constant through sediment depth. The generally unreactive forms of P illustrated increasing trends towards open sea areas, partly explained by changes in the overall sediment composition as well as by potential differences in environmental conditions among sampling sites. The highest amounts of Fe-P were recorded in sites with the highest sediment accumulation. The results demonstrate that P from rivers is transformed and processed in the coastal zone, delaying its transport to the open sea.
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(2023)Forests play a key role in mitigating climate change and maintaining biodiversity. The ability of forests to sequester carbon dioxide and store it in wood biomasses and soils reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. However, forests are cut down for various reasons, such as economic ones, releasing carbon dioxide from the trees into the atmosphere. One way to combat climate change and biodiversity loss is to provide forest owners a voluntary incentive scheme that provides a new objective for forest owners to use their forests. The use of forests in the future will be decided by the new forest owners, i.e., the younger generation of forest owners. For this reason, it’s important to study their preferences for a voluntary incentive scheme. The study examined the characteristics of absentee and non-absentee forest owners under the age of 40 and compared the preferences for a voluntary incentive scheme directed to these two groups. The survey response rate was low (7,3%). Choice experiment method and a binary logistic regression model was used to find out the forest owners’ preferences in relation to accept the programme. In the binary logistic regression model, absentee residence was the only factor that positively and reliably increases the acceptance of the programme. Absentee and non-absentee forest owners appreciate similar aspects of forest property, for example relaxation and financial security. The biggest difference between these two groups came with consideration of forestry work and/or wood for household as nonabsentee forest owners valued that aspect higher. The study points out that knowledge of a METSO programme is relatively low, as 35% of absentee and 23% of non-absentee forest owners who responded have heard of the programme. Some young forest owners may not have a clear idea on how to manage forests, because forest ownership is new to them and therefore it is often difficult for novice forest owners to know which forest management practices to apply in one's own forests. According to the study, economic income from the forest property is important, but it isn’t an important source of economic security for a large number of young forest owners, especially when the share of absentee forest owners’ characteristics and preferences are on the rise among forest owners.
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(2023)Effective utilization of organic materials can advance the transition away from fossil dependency which is critical in order to restrict the global increase in temperature. Household biowaste can be reutilized through anaerobic digestion to produce organic nitrogen fertilizers for agriculture, which reduces the large, often fossil-based, energy inputs required in the production of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. Properly recycled biowaste can additionally be used as a raw material for biogas, which can be used as an alternative for fossil-based energy sources. Regardless of these considerable opportunities, large amounts of household biowaste remains unrecycled. Though previous research has shown that recycling behavior is a result of several factors and cannot be depicted entirely accurately, different interventions have demonstrated their capability to improve recycling performance. These interventions have the ability to change either one or more of the three domains that have been theorized to be critical for any behavior to happen: capability, opportunity and motivation. This thesis strives to understand behavioral barriers for biowaste recycling in households and propose targeted behavioral change interventions in Helsinki metropolitan region where nearly 40% of the household mixed waste was unrecycled biowaste in 2021. This is done by analyzing the data derived from an external consumer behavior survey commissioned by Helsinki Region Environmental Services and conducted by Innolink. This research focuses on evaluating the suitability of nudges, enablement, incentives and communication/marketing through social media as means to enhance biowaste recycling performance in Helsinki metropolitan region based on the results from the data-analysis. Area specific research on behavior barriers is required to introduce suitable interventions as recycling behavior is complex and behavior barriers might vary between different groups. Results from this research show that household biowaste recycling performance can be enhanced by using nudges to improve social opportunity as well as automatic motivation, service provision to improve physical opportunity, fiscal measures to improve automatic-, and reflective motivation, and social media to improve reflective motivation. Successful delivery of these interventions can advance the fulfillment of the requirement in the HSY area that oblige biowaste separation in residential properties.
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(2023)Food security is increasingly threatened in agrarian societies as environmental change has disrupted traditional food systems around the world, thus robbing the affected communities of their rights to food sovereignty. This thesis seeks to examine the role of traditional Indigenous (agri)cultural heritage maintenance in the present day, especially as impacted by climate change and land degradation. Using the case of Hek’o:we – or “waffle gardening” – in the Zuni Pueblo (known also as the Middle Place), the study aims to illuminate the benefits of youth-oriented education for the protection of food sovereignty, the continuance of ancestral knowledge, and the conservation of the land and natural resources. Existing literature was reviewed to evaluate the need for this research, as well as to illuminate the place of this study in the broad literature base of related topics in Western academia. The resulting literature review was compiled to serve also as a theoretical framework for narrowing down three key contexts in which this case study could be examined: 1. The history, development, and use of Hek’o:we, as understood currently in Western academia; 2. Indigenous food sovereignty; and 3. The role of youth education in the (re)production of agricultural knowledge. Much of the earlier research regarding Zuni (agri)cultural heritage maintenance and Hek’o:we agriculture has been conducted without considering the needs of the Zuni community. Thus, significant ethical considerations were central to the development of this study, including the goal of amplifying Zuni voices in the dissemination of the research results. Data collection was conducted over video chat; in a recorded group interview, organizers from the Zuni Youth Enrichment Project’s Food Sovereignty team shared stories and insight about the topics at hand. The results are presented primarily in the words of the participants. Three main topics emerged: Hek’o:we and community-wide resilience; intergenerational education that en-gages the whole family; and land-based considerations including climate change, water scarcity, and the overall notion of living with the land. Conclusions posit that traditional agricultural practices are promoting resilience, engagement with ancestral knowledge, conservation of the land and water, and many other ob-servable benefits. Climate change and land degradation, caused by intentional actions by the settler state, may pose threats to food sovereignty and the health of Zuni people, but the community is able to find strength in the practices developed by their ancestors.
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(2023)The external nutrient load of the Archipelago Sea weakens the state of the sea. Gypsum is applied to fields in the catchment area because it has been found to reduce phosphorus leaching from fields. Gypsum treatment of fields is organised by the the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY) of Southwest Finland through "KIPSI-hanke" (GYPSUM Project). Participation in gypsum treatment is free of charge for farmers. To achieve water protection objectives, more farmers in the area should participate in gypsum treatment. I study what factors that influence the participation of farmers in the catchment area in gypsum treatment of their fields. The underlying motivation for this study was to promote gypsum treatment of fields and improve the state of the Archipelago Sea. My research is a qualitative interview study. My interview data consists of nine farmer interviews. In my analysis, I also use scientific and social research literature and other sources. I compare the interviewees' perceptions of the effects of gypsum with the information presented in the natural science literature. On the other hand, I will unpack social phenomena and events that affect farmers' perception of gypsum treatment and their activities. According to my observations, farmers' participation is influenced by knowledge about gypsum treatment, or the lack of thereof. Also, farmers' perceptions of the effects of gypsum treatment affect their participation decisions. Yield and yield impacts are at the heart when a farmer decides on participation in gypsum treatment, even though gypsum treatment is free of charge for the farmer. Based on my results, farmers' participation in gypsum treatment of their fields is promoted by available solid, experience based, research data on effects of gypsum, especially on the effects on yields. Agricultural advice also proved to be a factor influencing participation in gypsum treatment. At least some farmers would receive information on gypsum treatment of fields as part of other agricultural advice. According to my research, agricultural advisors' knowledge of the effects of gypsum was variable and partly incomplete. According to my research, expert and active gypsum advice would promote participation in gypsum treatment. The historical tensions between rural and urban areas, as well as tension between the implementors and targets of environmental projects, have an impact on farmers' attitudes towards the KIPSI-hanke. From the point of view of the rural population, unjust and top-down environmental projects will also hamper future projects if the design of projects does not consider the involvement of the rural population as participants of the projects, not only as targets of measures.
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(2022)Tiivistelmä * Referat * Abstract Brownification is a serious environmental problem, which means a substantial increase in water color. Suggested reasons for brownification are soil recovery from acidification, land-use change, especially ditching, climate change. Brownification changes the light conditions in the lakes, increases thermal stratification, and sedimentation. Despite the considerable effects of brownification on lake ecosystem, currently in the EU Water Framework Directive, there is no sufficient biological indicator for lake browning. Biological indicators of the Water Framework Directive are mainly targeted to eutrophication, and thus are not sufficient for measuring the effects of brownification. Macrophyte chlorophyll a:b ratio has been shown to decrease with decreasing light conditions, thus making it a potential indicator for browning. The seasonal variation of macrophyte chlorophyll content is not well studied. This master’s thesis aims to find out, how the chlorophyll content of yellow water lily (Nuphar lutea) changes during the growing season in lakes with variable water quality. N. lutea was chosen as a study species, as it is very common in different lakes in Finland. It is important to study the seasonal variation of the macrophyte chlorophyll content, because if the chlorophyll content reacts rapidly for example changes in the weather, it might be too sensitive to be used as a long-term indicator for lake browning. It is also needed to study, if the seasonal variation is different in lakes with variable water quality, so that in the future, the possible sampling can be timed right in different lakes. The study lakes were clear water lakes, humic and eutrophic lake, and their water quality and the chlorophyll content of N. lutea were examined with two weeks intervals from June to September. The concentration of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b were measured from the floating leaf and from the petiole at 10 cm intervals. Based on these, the total chlorophyll concentration (CHL a+b) and CHL a:b ratio was calculated. In addition to macrophyte samples, water samples were taken from each lake from both epilimnion and hypolimnion. From the water samples, dissolved organic carbon, water color, iron concentration and specific ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm were measured. In addition, water temperature, light intensity, oxygen concentration and water turbidity were measured at each sampling time. The results of this thesis showed, that the CHL a:b ratio, and total CHL concentration (a+b) were significantly lower in the humic than in the clear water lake. In the eutrophic lake, CHL a:b ratio and CHL a+b concentration was higher than in the humic lake but lower than in the clear water lake. In each lake, the CHL a:b ratio increased during the growing season, together with the increasing water clarity. The change in the CHL a:b ratio was detected best in the 10-30 cm petiole depth. In the floating leaf, CHL a:b ratio and CHL a+b concentration varied a lot, meaning that the floating leaf is not a sufficient indicator for brownification. The change in CHL a:b ratio took approximately 5 to 7 weeks, and the seasonal variation was similar in each lake. Based on the results of this thesis, the CHL a:b ratio of the N. lutea petiole seems to be a very promising long-term indicator for lake browning. In the future, it would be, however, important to study, how the carbon sequestration changes as a result of brownification, if the macrophyte chlorophyll concentration decreases, since this might have considerable effects on lake carbon sequestration. Also, the eutrophic study lake of this thesis had a water color over 100 mg Pt l-1, so it would be important to study, what is the macrophyte chlorophyll content in clear, but eutrophic lakes.
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Siirtonurmen ja metsäkuntan vaikutus päiväkoti- ikäisten lasten ihon mikrobiomin monimuotoisuuteen (2022)Immune-mediated diseases, such as various allergies and asthma, are increasing rapidly in an urbanized world where biodiversity is steadily declining. Decreased biodiversity and homogenous microbiota have been associated with weaker immune defence. Studies show that contact with the natural environment enriches the human microbiota, promotes immune response, and protects against allergies and inflammatory diseases. For this reason, in order to prevent immune-mediated diseases, solutions have been sought from nature-based approaches in which the immune system encounters environmental microbial stimuli in a natural way. The aim of this master's thesis was to study how different nature-based materials (sod and forest floor) affect the skin microbiota of kindergarten-age children and to examine how different factors such as varying weather conditions and different sampling times affect the results. The results supported the hygiene hypothesis and previous research according to which increasing biodiversity can have a positive effect on human skin microbial communities. A positive effect on children's skin was achieved with sod alone, which is important information in the development of suitable biodiverse materials for urban planning. The results also supported the surmise that different weather conditions and sampling methods can significantly affect the results.
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(2022)The concept of sustainability has been discussed a lot in academic and political contexts. While especially the ecological dimension of sustainability has been widely focused on due to various environmental crises, the social dimension has been less studied. In this thesis, I analyse social sustainability through political discourses in the Finnish context. Finland has received good results in the field of social policy and throughout its history, central labour market organisations have had an institutional role in the development of social policies. This thesis analyses how Finnish central labour market organisations discuss social sustainability when they set their objectives for the 2019-2023 government term. Adopting a critical approach, I study the role and representation of social sustainability in the objective documents. My two-part research 1) constructs a definition for social sustainability based on literature, and 2) analyses the empirical data and discourses found within. The findings of this thesis present a five-part definition for social sustainability and four key discursive themes which emerge from the empirical data. The results from empirical data show that in the objective documents social sustainability is for example discussed in a bureaucratic way, sometimes seen as an instrument benefitting the society. The research also underlines the difficulty of defining and analysing the vague concept of social sustainability and discusses how and why social sustainability could be researched in the future.
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(2023)The thesis explores possibilities for mental health promotion in urban planning trough a case study of the community space in Lapinlahti, Helsinki. Lapinlahti is a former psychiatric hospital, and the area has in the 2010’s been developed through community efforts into a center for mental wellbeing and culture in Helsinki, a “Lapinlahti for all”. The future use of the area has been contested for the past years, with the City of Helsinki and the organizations at Lapinlahti having different views on how the area and it’s cultural and historical mental health legacy should be preserved and developed. In the discussions, statements and visions, the area’s mental health value has also been translated into urban planning, taking many forms. Mental health is a value that has traditionally not been prioritized or regarded as a value of its own in urban planning, and although the relationship between urban form and wellbeing is well known, urban (mental) health is seldom tied to cities physical- and land-use planning (Kim et al, 2022; Corburn 2004). The thesis approaches this topic by analyzing mental health as a planning objective, discussing how different understandings and approaches to mental health have affected the planning visions surrounding Lapinlahti. The thesis uses a theoretical framework of urban governance and critical discourse analysis (CDA) to seek an understanding to the different approaches to the area’s development, and identify the different understandings, connections and visions that surround Lapinlahti. The study identifies three discursive constructions of Lapinlahti: Lapinlahti as a site for cultural heritage, Lapinlahti as a place for mental health, and Lapinlahti as a site for development. The results show that all actors in their development schemes have considered the area’s mental health value from a cultural-historical perspective, viewing the area as a site for mental health history. This history is however understood and manifested in different ways for the actors, influencing different visions for how the area should be developed and what interests and/or values that should guide the development. The thesis continues with presenting three approaches for mental health promotion in urban planning, concluding that planning should be attentive of how the space is governed, the relationship between mental health and the space, and the activities and meanings embedded in space.
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(2022)Sustainable consumption has become a widely debated topic in academic discussions, politics, the media, and consumer culture. The objective of this thesis was to identify the stories that are told about overconsumption and how responsibilities for the issue are distributed to different actors in these stories. Stories, in which events logically unfold and actors are positioned into different roles have a key role in the articulation of understandings of phenomena. 13 online news articles and two editorials published in three Finnish news media and the related news discussion forums were chosen as an empirical example of public discussion that shapes and reflects common perceptions on the issue. The news articles and editorials include references to the Earth Overshoot Day, limiting the context of the thesis to overconsumption that is defined based on the limits of the planet’s biocapacity. With the help of a qualitative narrative analysis, four storylines were constructed. These storylines are overconsumption by overpopulation, greed and impossible endless growth; one world, shared challenge, and technology as the problem and the solution. The most frequently mentioned actors across the storylines are citizens, developing and wealthy nations, decision-makers and politicians, businesses, and wealthy elite. Besides reflecting both academic discussions and previous literature on narratives about sustainable consumption, the presence of population dynamics and the conflict between socio-economic development and environmental well-being was notable in the analyzed discussions. The incomplete narrative structures, missing roles, and diverse elements included in the storylines reflect the complexity of the issue and the struggles related to articulating a coherent story with a sufficient solution and actors capable of solving the issue. To clarify the discussion on the topic, it is suggested that the distribution of the responsibilities and opportunities to improve the situation amongst actors should be addressed in the communication on sustainable consumption and the Earth Overshoot Day.
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