Helsingin kaupungin hallinnon mahdollisuudet vaikuttaa sosioekologisten murrosten etenemiseen

Socio-ecological transition refers to a fundamental change in the structure, culture, and practices of a socio-ecological system. Socio-ecological transitions have been studied especially from an ecological perspective. In recent years, cities have been studied more as socio-ecological systems. The role of individual actors in socio-ecological transitions has not been on a focus of previous research of socio-ecological systems. The study intends to fulfill this gap. This master's thesis examines two cases in Helsinki, namely the evacuation of the residents of Myllypuro Alakiventie in 1999 and the Kyläsaari waste incineration plant in 1983 as socio-ecological transitions. The purpose of the study is to describe the progress of the socio-ecological transition in both cases by placing the course of cases in adaptive circles. The second aim of the study is to find out whether the Helsinki City Administration was able to promote or slow down the progress of the socio-ecological transition, which is being studied in relation to other actors in the socio-ecological transition. As research material consist article from Helsingin Sanomat newspaper and documents from the City of Helsinki Archives. The Master’s thesis describes the progress of the socio-ecological transition in both cases, as well as the role of the actors in the transition. The results show that the City of Helsinki administration had a limited opportunity to promote and slow down the progress of the socio-ecological transition. Other actors in the socio-ecological transformation, such as the townspeople, were also able to influence the progression of the socio-ecological transformation, which made it difficult for city governments to slow down or promote the transformation. In particular, the conflict between the city government and the Helsinki citizens slowed or prevented the city government from reaching its goals. However, the study finds that the city administration was not able to prevent the complete socio-ecological transition in the study cases. Better communication with the citizens and the avoidance of conflicts would help the City of Helsinki's administration to influence the progress of the socio-ecological transition more effectively in the future.