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In my thesis I analyzed the ongoing discussion about the relationship between economic growth and the environment by the means of content analysis and discourse analysis. As the continuously growing use of natural resources has a connection to many environmental problems, the functioning of the economy is essential when discussing the alternative solutions to environmental problems. I wanted to investigate what the discussion about the relationship between economic growth and the environment includes, and what kind of phenomenon is economic growth represented as. Theoretical frameworks I used were the environmental discourse analyses of Hajer (1995) and Dryzek (2005). I also paid attention to the organizations behind the discourses by classifying the writers due to the organization they represented. The material I used were texts published in the Internet, with no limitations concerning the form of the publication or the publisher. The only limiting factors I used, were the search terms. The material was taken from a database called “Economy and the Environment” (translation from Finnish), and it was not originally collected for this thesis, but for any scientific or educational purposes. I analyzed three discourses in the discussion concerning the relationship of economic growth and the environment: “Belief in growth”, “Green growth” and “Growth critique”. In Belief in growth, economic growth was an intrinsic goal. Pursuit for higher material standard of living was unquestionably a good thing. Belief in growth seemed to be the discourse especially for business interest groups. There were quite many academic writers too, but the academics were not mainly writing in belief in growth discourse, but were also presented in great numbers among the writers of all three discourses. In Green growth discourse economic growth was not an intrinsic goal, but was considered necessary for financing the welfare state. There were hopes that technological development, ecoefficiency and a transformation towards service and information economy would lessen the adverse environmental effects of economic growth. Technology had a major role in Green growth, and it was even seen as a major force itself, solving environmental problems without any role from the users. Amongst the writers of Green growth, Officials and members of the political Green party of Finland were presented in large numbers. In Growth critique discourse endless economic growth was seen impossible on a finite planet, and the ongoing strive for economic growth was seen to cause environmental and social problems. The discourse wanted to change our economic system, so that the pursuit for growth could be abandoned. Abandoning the pursuit for growth was seen also as a question of global equality: the rich countries were hoped to abandon the pursuit for growth, so that the developing countries would have resources left for growth. Compared to other discourses, amongst the writers of Growth critique, NGO’s, social movements, and civilians were presented in large numbers. The discussion about the relationship of economic growth and the environment constituted as a whole in such a way that in the discourses there were expressed opinions about other discourses and their writers. On the other hand, the discussion included many disconnecting elements. This was for example due to the underlying perceptions of environmental problems, and the nature itself, which differed clearly among the three discourses. This finding is convergent with the discourse analyses of Hajer and Dryzek. In Belief in growth environmental problems were local, and mostly described as pollution, which can be removed with the means of cleaning technology. Nature, in this discourse, was a collection of elements which can be used and organized by humans how ever needed. Also in Green growth environmental problems were mostly described as pollution, but the existence of other kinds of environmental problems were recognized as well. In this discourse the global scale existed, as there was a lot of discussion about climate change. In Growth critique environmental problems were seen as one big global crisis, caused by the excessive use of natural resources by humanity. In both, Green growth and Growth critique, nature was seen as a system of which humans are strongly dependent on. The weakest points in the discussion were related to the use of concepts of economics and environmental sciences, and weakly justifiable arguments. In Growth critique, some complicated concepts of economics and environmental sciences were used, which seemed to be poorly understood by the writers of other discourses. Green growth seemed to be suffering of a lack of historical perspective, especially considering the discussion about ecoefficiency, where strong presumptions about the significance of ecoefficiency in reducing the adverse effects of economic growth were made without any historical perspective. In Belief in growth there was incoherence with the concept of economic growth, and means and ends got mixed in the discussion about economic growth and wellbeing. In both Green growth and Belief in growth there were very weakly justified arguments about hopes for information technology and services creating immaterial economy. Interesting topics for future research in Finnish environmental discourse would be the discourse of Green politics, discussion about immaterial economy and the weaknesses in the arguments related to ecoefficiency.

Climate change has exacerbated extreme weather events. According to climate scenarios, temperatures will rise and heat periods will become more common also in Finland. These heat periods worsen the urban heat island phenomenon which is known to have negative impacts on human well-being. The impacts of the urban heat island phenomenon can be reduced through careful urban planning, adaptation policies and economic investments. Adaptation to climate change can be monitored through indicators but research and development on adaptation indicators has been largely absent. The development of adaptation monitoring indicators is particularly important in order to ensure the long-term success of the city's adaptation efforts and whether adaptation is moving towards the desired goals. This thesis asks the following research question with the help of a literature review, a focus group discussion and a questionnaire: what kind of indicators can be used to monitor and evaluate adaptation to the urban heat island phenomenon in Helsinki? With the help of the literature review and New York Climate Change Panels framework “the seven steps to indicator selection”, 17 preliminary indicators were developed which were divided into six themes accounting the diverse nature of the urban heat island and its impacts. The indicators were specified in a focus group discussion which had six attendees from environment-, the technical-, social- and health sectors. After the group discussion, the indicators were further modified with the help of a questionnaire answered by ten municipal employees, mainly from the environmental, technical and social and health sectors. On average, respondents found each indicator useful, five indicators were found to be really useful on average, and three indicators were found to be useless among a couple of respondents. After the survey, 11 indicators were modified and one indicator was removed. The end result was 16 indicators for monitoring adaptation to the urban heat island phenomenon divided into the following themes: social vulnerability, state of environment, infrastructure, green-blue infrastructure, policy actions and communication. The development of indicators does not as such contribute to the development of urban adaptation to a desired level, but it is nevertheless an important step in the process of developing adaptation monitoring in the city of Helsinki. This work provides tools for the city to develop their adaptation monitoring strategy which should be systematic and comparable. If the city wants to develop its adaptation monitoring, it is essential to document decisions and programs to explore sufficient coverage. Decisions and programs should be compared against identified adaptation commitments, targets and needs. As a conclusion, this thesis is important step towards more diverse and effective adaptation monitoring. This thesis takes adaptation monitoring forward, developing ways to put adaptation monitoring into practice.

The International Biology Olympiad is a yearly science competition; hundreds of high school students from over 60 countries take part in it. In Finland, the students are chosen by the national biology competition and the national Olympiad training camp. The research subject of this study is Finnish training for International Biology Olympiad (IBO). About ten high school students who are interested in biology take part at each training camp. Science competitions, such as IBO and training camps, are classified as non-formal or out-of-school science education. Since there is very little scientific knowledge about non-formal biology education, especially about science competitions, the theoretical framework of this study consists of non-formal science education, the relevance of science education and the development of interest. In this study, design research methodology with three research cycles was applied to develop the course. In the study, both theoretical and empirical problem analyses were used. There were two main research questions: 1) What are the needs for the development of the training camp? 2) What kind of training is relevant for the participants? The first research question was elaborated by examining a) what kind of topics of interest the participants have, b) how the participants expect the training to be relevant for them, c) what kind of relevance the previous participants experienced, and d) what kind of effects the previous training camps had on the participants interest in biology and career choice. The features of relevant biology Olympiad training were searched in the second research question. The data was collected from pre-camp and post-camp questionnaires, post-camp interviews and a questionnaire sent for the previous camp participants. The qualitative data was analyzed by content analysis and quantitative data from the questionnaires was analyzed by statistical methods. The main results were following: 1) The biggest needs for development were diversifying the contents and balancing the workload of the camp. The participants of the training camps were interested mostly about medicine and human biology -related topics and cell and molecular biology. In addition, it was found out that the previous participants considered biology education to be individually, vocationally and societally relevant for them. According to them, the training camps were especially individually relevant and had some effects on the career choice. 2) The new training camp for biology Olympiad is especially individually relevant for the participants but it has also some vocational relevance. In the science Olympiad training, special attention should be directed towards developing vocational and societal relevance. A new model for Biology Olympiad training camps was developed based on the collected research data. The individual dimension can be improved by i) diversifying the contents of the camps, ii) including inquiry-based learning modules and by iii) taking a student-centered approach to the development process. The vocational and societal dimensions of relevance can be targeted by iv) allowing the teachers of the participants to take part at camps. The vocational dimension of relevance can be enhanced v) by organizing visits to research laboratories and companies and vi) by enabling the participants to meet university students. The results of this study can be applied to not only to Science Olympiad training but also to non-formal biology education. This research provides models for developing out-of-school biology education and its relevance. This is the first design research study about Biology Olympiad training and it opens up discussion about the relevance of science competitions and Science Olympiad training.

Yhteiskunnalliset liikkeet ovat merkittävä osa poliittista järjestelmäämme. Niillä on kuitenkin usein vajavaiset poliittiset vaikutusmahdollisuudet ja niukat resurssit. Yksi liikkeiden tärkeimmistä poliittisen painostuksen keinoista on mobilisoituvan ihmisjoukon määrä. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin yhden kansalaisliikkeen kautta tämän instrumentin käyttöä ja hallintaa liikkeissä. Tutkimuskohteena oli Itä-Uudellamaalla vuodesta 2006 lähtien toiminut uraanikaivosten vastainen kansalaisliike Uraaniton.org. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin Uraaniton.org:n osallistumista ympäristöongelman määrittelyprosessiin sekä arvioitiin määrittelyn vaikutusta kannatuksen saamiseen ja toiminnan mobilisoitumiseen. Tutkimuksen empiirinen aineisto muodostui Uraaniton.org-kansalaisliikkeen aktiivisten toimijoiden haastatteluista ja liikkeen jäsenten tuottamista teksteistä. Aineisto analysoitiin kvalitatiivisin menetelmin. Teoreettisena viitekehyksenä tutkimuksessa käytettiin kehystämistä. Yhteiskunnallisten liikkeiden tutkimuksen yhteydessä kehystämisellä tarkoitetaan sellaista merkitysten antoa ja tulkintaa tapahtumista ja olosuhteista, jolla pyritään keräämään yleisön kannatusta ja mobilisoimaan potentiaalisia toimijoita sekä asettamaan vastustajien kehystäminen kyseenalaiseksi ja vaikeuttamaan vastapuolen mobilisaatiota. Uraaniton.org-kansalaisliike määritteli Itä-Uudenmaan uraanikaivoshankkeen kansalaisten oikeuksia loukkaavaksi yhteiskunnalliseksi ongelmaksi. Liike koki hankkeen epäoikeudenmukaiseksi, sillä kamppailussa olivat vastakkain ulkomaisen suuryrityksen oikeus harjoittaa liiketoimintaa ja paikallisten ihmisten oikeus turvalliseen ja terveelliseen elinympäristöön. Valtion virkamiesten nähtiin ajavan kaivosyhtiön etuja ja toimivan siten epäoikeudenmukaisesti. Uraaniton.org nosti ilmiön puheenaiheeksi ja käynnisti ongelman määrittelyprosessin. Liike loi konkreettiset puitteet protestille ja yhdisti toimintaan valmiit kansalaiset. Kehystämisellään Uraaniton.org onnistui muodostamaan Itä-Uudellemaalle yhtenäisen protestirintaman. Kohdistamalla toimintansa ainoastaan Itä-Uudenmaan uraanikaivoshankkeen vastustamiseen liike löysi hyvin heterogeeniselle joukolle pienimmän yhteisen nimittäjän, johon kaikkien oli mahdollista samaistua. Uraaniton.org saavutti päätavoitteensa: Itä-Uudenmaan uraanivaltaushakemukset hylättiin. Osana valtakunnallista uraanikaivosten vastaista kansalaisliikehdintää Uraaniton.org vaikutti kaivoslain uudistamiseen, muovasi uraanikaivoksista käytävää keskustelua ja osoitti kaivosyhtiöille, että ainakaan ilman vastarintaa Suomeen ei uraanin etsintää kaivata.

Toimiva vesihuolto on yhteiskunnalle elintärkeä. Tärkeimpinä vesihuollon tavoitteina on puhdistaa juomavesi ja vähentää jätevedestä aiheutuvaa ympäristökuormitusta. Kemianteollisuudella on keskeinen rooli tuottaa kemikaaleja vesihuollon käyttöön. Vedenpuhdistus on yksi osa kemikaalien arvoketjua, jossa useat eri toimijat osallistuvat kemikaalien raaka-aineiden valmistukseen, kemikaalien tuottoon, kuljetukseen ja käyttöön, sekä jätteiden loppusijoitukseen. Kemikaalien arvoketjulla on vaikutuksia ympäristöön. Vedenpuhdistuskemikaalien arvoketjua ei ole tutkittu kemikaalien valmistajien ja ostajien välisessä suhteessa. Tutkimuksessani selvitin, kuinka biodiversiteetti näkyy vedenpuhdistuskemikaalien arvoketjun päätöksenteossa ja miten se vaikuttaa kemikaalien ostopäätöksiin. Biodiversiteetti takaa ihmistoimintaakin ylläpitävien ekosysteemipalveluiden toiminnan, kuten veden kiertokulun. Merkittävimpiä uhkia biodiversiteetille ovat vieraslajit, ilmastonmuutos, ravinnekuormitus, ympäristömyrkyt ja roskaantuminen, elinympäristöjen muutokset ja luonnonvarojen liikakäyttö. Kestävillä ratkaisuilla arvoketjun eri toimijat voivat vaikuttaa biodiversiteettiin positiivisesti. Tutkimuksessa haastattelin kuutta vedenpuhdistuslaitoksissa ja kemikaaleja valmistavassa yhtiössä työskentelevää osto- ja myyntipuolen asiantuntijaa puolistrukturoiduilla asiantuntijahaastatteluilla. Lisäksi tarkastelin yhtiöiden vastuullisuusraportteja. Analysoin aineistoa teema-analyysin keinoin. Keskeisimpänä tuloksena havaitsin, että vesikemikaalien arvoketjussa päätettäessä kemikaalien ostamisesta ja myymisestä, toimijat asettavat kemikaalien hinnan ja toimitusvarmuuden ympäristöasioiden edelle. Biodiversiteettiä pidetään tärkeänä, mutta ostopäätöksiin se ei vielä vaikuta. Kemikaalien kehittämiseen ja hankintoihin tarvitaan lisää tietoa biodiversiteettivaikutuksista läpi koko kemikaalien arvoketjun.

Several studies have stated that social media has the potential to promote sustainable lifestyles. The purpose of this master’s thesis was to study the contents made by “eco-influencers” who make video blogs about sustainable lifestyles on YouTube. This thesis investigated what topics eco-influencers' videos deal with and what kind of means of argumentation are used. The theoretical background included research on sustainable lifestyles and consumption as well as the potential role of social media in promoting sustainable lifestyles. The study was conducted as a qualitative study and the video material was collected from YouTube according to criteria defined by the researcher. The channels of 20 influencers were selected for the final data. From each channel 1-2 videos were selected. At the end, a total of 39 videos were selected. The material was selectively transcribed, and that text served as the basis for the data-driven content analysis. The results show that the contents of the videos emphasize sustainable consumption and responsibility, especially individual responsibility. However, the videos had only a little content about the three most important aspects of a sustainable lifestyle: housing, mobility, and food. According to eco-influencers, sustainable lifestyles are closely linked to the concept of well-being. Sustainable consumption was considered a very important aspect of sustainable living. Eco-influencers mainly use their own experience, opinions, and comparison as a means of argumentation in their videos. Often the arguments were not substantiated with many scientific references. The results suggest that eco-influencers perceive complex sustainability themes as important but want to communicate them in a way that even laypeople understand. This will also make it easier for more non-experts to approach the matter and change their lifestyles. Justifying arguments with opinions and personal experiences can be based on the personal, even entertaining, format of the video blog, or on the fact that experiential knowledge or expertise is valued in social media. Based on the contents of the videos examined in this study, it seems unlikely that they would contribute to great lifestyle changes.

An increased attention has been drawn towards porous silicon (PSi) based materials for biomedical applications, due to their promising features demonstrated through several scientific studies. Here, we further investigated the biological responses of PSi nanoparticles (NPs) with different surface chemistries, including immunomodulatory effects, inflammation mitigation and biocompatibility. In this collaborative study, the PSi NPs were investigated both in vitro and in vivo, using different molecular biology and biochemistry techniques, e.g., qPCR, ELISA, cell sorting and cell viability assays. Our results showed the capabilities of these PSi NPs to relieve the inflammatory conditions, whereas significant decrease was recorded of pro-inflammatory cytokines: TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. Likewise, these PSi NPs revealed a considerable consumption aptitude of pro-inflammatory reactive oxygen species molecules. Administrating PSi NPs in an acute liver inflammation (ALI) model, showed no conspicuous influence on cellular viability. Thus, the outcome of this study demonstrates the potential biocompatibility of PSi nanomaterials, in addition to their outstanding features as potential candidates for further incorporating in ALI applications.

Globaali väestönkasvu ja lisääntyvä kulutus ovat johtamassa muiden ongelmien ohella luonnonvarojen ehtymiseen ja maa- ja vesiekosysteemien saastumiseen. Eräs tapa ratkaista näitä ongelmia on siirtyä kohti resurssitehokkaampaa kiertotalousperiaatteiden mukaista luonnonvarojen käyttöä. Sekä taloudellisten ohjauskeinojen kautta syntyvät kannustimet että yritysten oma aloitteellisuus ovat keskeisiä kiertotalouden mukaisiin toimintatapoihin siirtyessä. Kokonaisvaltaisen muutoksen edistymistä helpottavat konkreettiset kiertotalouden indikaattorit ja mittaustavat. Ramboll Finland Oy:n ja Luonnonvarakeskuksen luoma alueellinen resurssivirtamalli huomioi kattavasti sekä raha- että materiaalimääräisten resurssien liikkeet tarkastelualueella. Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena on laajentaa kyseistä mallia ottamaan huomioon myös yksittäisen yrityksen näkökulma. Tutkimuksessa noudatettiin konstruktiivista lähestymistapaa, jossa luotiin alueelliseen resurssivirtamalliin uusi ulottuvuus yritystason analyysin muodossa. Keskeisenä menetelmänä käytettiin alueellista ympäristölaajennettua panos-tuotosanalyysiä. Tutkielmassa kehitettiin teoreettinen yritystasolle laajennettu alueellinen resurssivirtamalli, jonka toimintaa testattiin numeerisesti Lapin maakunnan kattavasti käyttäen esimerkkiyrityksenä kuvitteellista paperiteollisuuden yritystä. Muodostettuun malliin kytkettiin kiertotaloutta edistäviä taloudellisia ohjauskeinoja, joita olivat maa-ainesvero, vedenottovero, vedenkäyttövero, sekä arvonlisäverokannan lasku valituilla toimialoilla. Lisäksi tutkittiin yrityksen oma-aloitteista muutosta energianlähteiden käytössä. Mallilla pystyttiin havainnollistamaan, kuinka alueen raha- ja materiaalimääräiset resurssivirrat muuttuvat uuden yrityksen tullessa alueelle. Lisäksi muodostetun mallin avulla pystyttiin tarkastelemaan kiertotaloustoimien vaikutuksia sekä yrityksen että aluetalouden raha- ja materiaalimääräisiin resurssivirtoihin. Tutkielman tulosten mukaan ohjauskeinojen vaikutukset sekä yrityksen että alueen talouteen jäivät varsin pieniksi. Ympäristövaikutusten mallinnuksessa huomattiin, että mallin jatkokehittelyssä tulee tehdä rahamääräisen kokonaistuotannon irtikytkentä ympäristövaikutuksista todenmukaisempien tulosten saamiseksi. Vastaava malli voidaan tutkielmassa käytetyllä menettelyllä muodostaa kuvaamaan haluttua aluetta ja siihen voidaan kytkeä minkä tahansa yrityksen tiedot.

Diet has a significant impact on the environment. 25% of Finnish household greenhouse gas emissions are due to food production and food consumption related activities. There is a continuing discussion about the environmental consequences of human nutrition, but the ecological consequences of pets are not nearly as much discussed. Pets are rarely taken into account in food consumption calculations, although they can be a big and central part of the household and its consumption. The aim of this master’s thesis is to focus on the nutrition of the second most popular pet in Finland, the cat, with an environmental perspective. This study examines the environmental impact of cat food from the perspective of the cat food industry and the consumers' choices. Important topics are the origin of food, trends in the cat food industry and consumers’ attitudes and practices. The aim is also to find ways to reduce the environmental impact of cat food. The aim of this work is to (i) examine cat food production and consumption from an environmental point of view, and (ii) examine the attitudes and customs of Finnish cat owners from the point of view of the environmental impact that concerns cat food. The goal is to get a clear picture of the different dimensions of the environmental impact of cat food. To get up-to-date information of the cat food industry, theme interviews were arranged, in April 2016, for two of the largest pet food manufacturers in Finland. In the interviews, important topics like the origin of the meat, import, food packaging and the future of the cat food industry, were brought up. The most important result was the knowledge that the cat food industry uses byproducts from the meat industry, as the animal-based ingredient of cat food. Most of the cat food consumed in Finland is produced all over Europe and domestic cat food production is very small. Cat owners' attitudes and interest in more environmentally friendly cat food and their current environmental practices were surveyed in a short online survey conducted in June-July 2018. The survey was distributed on social media, in groups focusing on cats and cat ownership. The survey gathered a total of 144 responses. The results of the survey suggest that cat owners have an interest in environmentally friendly products and also domestically produced food. However, cat owners were not ready favor environmentally friendly food if the nutritional value, taste, ingredients etc. are not at the same level as the respondent's current choice of cat food. The current practices of cat owners are rather environmentally friendly, as most of them try to recycle the food packages and take into account the amount and the recyclability of packaging materials when choosing cat food. The most important result of the whole study is that both cat owners and cat food manufacturers have a mostly positive attitude towards environmental friendliness and manufacturers in particular are aiming to become more environmentally friendly in the future. For the future, it is essential that manufacturers and cat owners interact with each other on topics about environmental issues and that more environmentally friendly alternatives are developed.

During the last century increased emissions of greenhouse gases have caused global climate warming. While the temperatures are still rising, the largest increases have been observed in spring-time temperatures. This may affect the phenology of multiple species. If the increase in temperature affects different species differently, then the lifecycles of various species may become unsynchronized. For interacting species, a disturbance like this may be catastrophic: for example, if the phenology of host plants is drastically altered, then many herbivores may be left without food. Previous research on the effects of climate change on interspecific interactions has focused on bitrophic interactions. My research expands this past emphasis to a tritrophic level: to interactions between plants (penduculate oak, Quercus robur), herbivorous insects (moths: Tischeria ekebladella, Phyllonorycter quercifoliella and P. harrisella) and parasitoids (wasps in the family Eulophidae). Since bud burst in oaks varies significantly among individuals, I also investigated how host genotype may affect the synchrony between species. My hypotheses were that higher spring-time temperatures will disrupt the synchrony between species, and that this disturbance will affect the growth and reproduction of species at higher trophic levels. I also posited that the effects will vary with the genotype of the host. I tested these hypotheses in a field experiment running from April to September 2009. To manipulate temperatures I used a greenhouse, transplanting multiple oak-specific moth and parasitoid species to oaks of different genotypes growing inside and outside of the greenhouse. During the field experiment, the temperature differed by 3.19°C between the interior and the outside of the greenhouse. As a result, the phenology of all species was advanced in the greenhouse interior as compared to ambient conditions. Interspecific synchrony was affected differently in different species pairs: Inside of the greenhouse, the synchrony between oaks and Phyllonorycter moths and between oaks and parasitoids was decreased. The synchrony between oaks and the moth T. ekebladella remained unaffected. Likewise, the synchrony between moths and parasitoids was left intact. The larvae of T. ekebladella grew bigger inside of the greenhouse than outside of it. In addition, a second generation of T. ekebladella occurred inside of the greenhouse, but not under ambient temperatures. Host plant phenology had a significant effect on associated insects: moth larvae of T. ekebladella grew bigger on oaks sprouting leaves early in the season. This increase in performance suggests that moth larvae prefer old leaves. In summary, my study shows that climate change may affect different species and different interspecific interactions in highly different ways. My study also upsets the previous view that mature oak foliage would offer food of inferior quality to moth larvae. In addition, it depicts host plant genotype as a less prominent determinant of insect performance than has been previously assumed.