"Raha ratkaisee" : Suomalaisten nuorten aikuisten näkemyksiä ruoan tuotannon ja kulutuksen ilmasto- ja biodiversiteettivaikutusten vähentämisestä ja poliittisten ohjauskeinojen käyttämisestä näiden vaikutusten vähentämisessä

Ilmastonmuutos ja luontokato kuuluvat vakavimpiin ihmiskunnan nykypäivänä kohtaamiin kriiseihin. Nykyinen ruokajärjestelmä syventää näitä kriisejä entisestään sen aiheuttamien massiivisten negatiivisten ilmasto- ja biodiversiteettivaikutusten vuoksi. Näin ollen ruokajärjestelmän kestävyysmurros on välttämätön ilmastonmuutoksen ja luontokadon hidastamisessa. Ruokajärjestelmän kestävyyteen on mahdollista vaikuttaa poliittisten ohjauskeinojen avulla, joilla voidaan ohjata sekä ruoan tuotantoa että kulutusta ilmastolle ja biodiversiteetille ystävällisempään suuntaan. Tämän maisterintutkielman tavoite on tutkia erilaisten poliittisten ohjauskeinojen suosiota ruoan ilmasto- ja biodiversiteettivaikutusten vähentämisessä suomalaisten nuorten aikuisten keskuudessa. Lisäksi tässä tutkielmassa pyritään selvittämään mille ruoan tuotannon ja kulutuksen kohdealueille näitä poliittisia ohjauskeinoja tulisi kohdistaa suomalaisten nuorten aikuisten mielestä. Nuoret aikuiset valikoituivat kohderyhmäksi, sillä he ovat tärkeässä asemassa kestävyysmurroksissa. Tämän tutkimuksen pohjana oli kyselyaineisto ja menetelmänä sisällönanalyysi, jossa hyödynnettiin sekä laadullista että määrällistä lähestymistapaa. Aineiston analyysi tehtiin Atlas.ti -ohjelmistossa induktiivisen ja deduktiivisen sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Tulokset osoittavat, että suosituimmat poliittiset ohjauskeinot ruoan ilmasto- ja biodiversiteettivaikutusten vähentämiseen suomalaisten nuorten aikuisten keskuudessa olivat taloudellisia ohjauskeinoja, joista verot olivat suosituin ja tuet toisiksi suosituin yksittäinen ohjauskeino. Tämä ei ole linjassa aiempien tutkimustulosten kanssa, joiden mukaan verotus ja muut taloudelliset ohjauskeinot ovat olleet vähiten suosittuja ohjauskeinoja. Lisäksi informaatio-ohjauskeinot, joista erityisesti tietoisuuden lisääminen, regulatiiviset ohjauskeinot, joista etenkin hintasääntely, sekä julkisiin hankintoihin liittyvät ohjauskeinot, kuten kasvisruokapäivä julkisissa ruokapalveluissa, olivat suosituimpia poliittisia ohjauskeinoja. Vaikka tässä tutkielmassa ei suoraan tutkittu hyväksyttävyyttä, tulokset antavat pintakatsauksen eri ohjauskeinojen hyväksyttävyyteen, joka on todettu ratkaisevaksi tekijäksi ohjauskeinojen toimeenpanossa. Lisätutkimusta tarvitaan ohjauskeinojen hyväksyttävyyden selvittämiseksi kattavammin. Lisäksi tulokset osoittivat, että politiikan kohdealueet liittyen ruoan kulutukseen ennemmin kuin tuotantoon olivat suositumpia vastaajien joukossa. Näistä alueista kotimaisen ruoan suosiminen, eläinperäisten tuotteiden kulutuksen ja tuotannon vähentäminen tai lopettaminen, kasvisruokavalioihin siirtyminen ja hyvien (esim. ilmastoystävällisten) valintojen helpottaminen ja lihan muuttaminen luksustuotteeksi nousivat esille eniten. Tämän tutkimuksen tuloksia voitaisiin laajentaa tulevissa tutkimuksissa ja sitten hyödyntää kestävien ohjauskeinojen luomisessa ruoan kulutusta ja tuotantoa varten, ja täten vähentää ruoan negatiivisia ilmasto- ja biodiversiteettivaikutuksia.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

Finding One's Own Way in Design - Reflections on Narrative Professional Identity

The motivation for this study derives from my professional background as a designer. Identity questions began to intrigue me after my graduation, since I felt it was challenging to create my own way in my design work. This guided me to explore how designers and design students create their professional identities and find their own ways in design. Design students particularly encounter identity questions close to their graduation. This identity work emerges both on the personal and the professional level as both influence the developing design identity. The current work environment requires students and young designers to define and communicate professional identities in a clear way, which requires self-awareness and concerning their own, distinct identity. Since design education consists of a variety of programmes from artistic, hands-on approaches to strategic and theoretical studies, designers gain different skills and expertise in design. These professional orientations may conflict with personal interests and cause an identity crisis in creative fields in which professional and personal identities are typically intertwined. Despite the necessity of identity work, it is not systematically supported in design education. The aim of this study is to illustrate the most significant experiences in designers’ lives and how design identity is formed through narratives. This aim is approached from a socio-constructionist perspective that builds on narrative psychology. The participants consist of design entrepreneurs, who have studied Applied Arts and Design (such as furniture and other material-based design), and design students, who have studied Applied Arts and Design and Industrial Design. The data consists of visual and spoken narratives that the participants have produced in the Visual Narrative workshop and creative process reports that the students generated in a course in Aalto ARTS. That is to say, the collected personal stories and creative process reports are treated as narratives that represent their makers’ professional identity. The narratives were analysed through a Narrative Design Identity framework that was constructed in parallel to the workshops. The most significant experiences show the importance of feedback, acknowledgement and the courage to do things in one’s ‘own way’. The narrative tone, linguistic expressions and visual organization influence the presentation and interpretation of one’s own identity. Previous experience and future wishes shape designers’ orientation in design. This can be seen specifically in the design processes, which are navigated by different strategies, such as envisioning, visualization, discussion, and documentation. The narratives also reveal the significant role of individual beliefs, which form the most enduring concept of identity. The findings strongly suggest that design identity is explorative, intrinsically motivated and agentic. Furthermore, emotions and making are significant aspects in the creation of a design identity and one’s own way in design.Motivaatio tähän tutkimukseen on syntynyt omasta muotoilijataustastani. Aloin kiinnostua identiteettikysymyksistä valmistumiseni jälkeen, koska koin haastavana oman tieni luomisen muotoilutyössäni. Nämä kysymykset johdattivat minut tutkimaan, kuinka muotoilijat ja muotoilun opiskelijat luovat ammatti-identiteettinsä ja oman tiensä muotoilussa. Muotoilun opiskelijat pohtivat identiteettiään erityisesti valmistumisen lähestyessä. Tämä identiteettityö tapahtuu sekä henkilökohtaisella että ammatillisella tasolla, jotka molemmat vaikuttavat kehittyvään muotoiluidentiteettiin. Nykypäivän työympäristö vaatii oman ammatti-identiteetin selkeää määrittelyä ja ilmaisua, mikä puolestaan vaatii tietoisuutta omasta identiteetistä. Muotoiluidentiteetit ja niihin liittyvät tiedot ja taidot eroavat toisistaan johtuen muotoilukoulutuksen laajasta opetustarjonnasta. Tarjonta koostuu sekä taiteellisuutta ja käsin tekemistä painottavista opinnoista että strategisista ja teoreettisista opinnoista. Opintojen suunta voi olla ristiriidassa omien henkilökohtaisten intressien kanssa ja aiheuttaa identiteettikriisin luovilla aloilla, joilla ammatillinen ja henkilökohtainen identiteetti ovat tyypillisesti yhteenkietoutuneita. Siitä huolimatta, että identiteettityö on tarpeellista, sitä ei systemaattisesti tueta muotoilukoulutuksessa. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoitus on havainnollistaa, mitkä kokemukset muotoilijat kokevat merkityksellisiksi elämässään, sekä kuinka muotoiluidentiteetti rakentuu tarinoiden kautta. Tätä tavoitetta lähestytään sosiaalisen konstruktionismin näkökulmasta, joka tukeutuu narratiiviseen tutkimukseen. Osallistujat koostuvat muotoiluyrittäjistä, jotka ovat opiskelleet taideteollista muotoilua (kuten kalustemuotoilua ja muuta materiaalilähtöistä muotoilua), ja muotoilun opiskelijoista, jotka ovat opiskelleet sekä taideteollista että teollista muotoilua. Tutkimuksen data koostuu visuaalisista ja puhutuista tarinoista, jotka osallistujat ovat luoneet Visuaalinen Narratiivi – työpajoissa, sekä luovien prosessien raporteista, jotka muotoilun opiskelijat ovat tehneet muotoilukurssilla Aalto-yliopiston Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulussa. Näitä tarinoita ja raportteja lähestytään narratiiveina, jotka edustavat kertojansa ammatti-identiteettiä. Kertomukset on analysoitu käyttäen apuna Narratiivinen Muotoiluidentiteetti –viitekehystä, joka on rakennettu yhtäaikaisesti analysointiprosessin kanssa. Merkityksellisimmät kokemukset korostavat palautteen ja hyväksynnän tärkeyttä sekä rohkeutta tehdä asiat omalla tavalla. Kertomuksen sävy, kielelliset ilmaisut ja visuaalinen järjestys vaikuttavat oman identiteetin esittämiseen ja tulkintaan. Aiemmat kokemukset ja tulevaisuuden visiot muokkaavat omaa suuntautumista ja motivaatiota muotoilussa. Tämä näkyy erityisesti luovissa prosesseissa, joissa omaa tietä navigoidaan erilaisin strategioin, kuten visioinnin, visualisoinnin, keskustelujen ja dokumentoinnin avulla. Kertomuksista käy ilmi myös uskomusten merkittävyys ja se, kuinka uskomukset muodostavat identiteetin pysyvimmän osan. Päätelmät viittaavat siihen, että muotoiluidentiteetti on tyypillisesti tutkiskeleva ja sisäisesti motivoitunut ja toimijuudessaan vahva. Lisäksi emootiot ja (käsillä) tekeminen ovat merkittävässä roolissa oman muotoiluidentiteetin ja oman tien luomisessa

The social organisation of boasting in the neoliberal university

This article unpacks the social construction of the ‘ideal academic’ in the context of major shifts in the global and national governance of academia that have introduced managerial practices, standardised notions of excellence and accounting logics with the aim of increasing the efficiency and quality of higher education and academic knowledge production. More specifically it explores how the enacting of this ideal involves practices of boasting and explores how people are differently positioned in that regard. Drawing on a three-year ethnographic study at Aalto University in Finland the article shows how boasting involves the (re)production of gendered and classed social inequalities and leads to increasing polarisation between those who succeed and those who fail to meet the new quality standards. I draw on the resources of Institutional Ethnography which enables me to analyse the social relations of gender and class and show how culturally and situationally specific forms of boasting, become textually recognised and encouraged as appropriate behaviour for the ‘ideal academic’

Globalising a design heritage strategy : from Finland's Artek to Turkey's Grand Bazaar

This doctoral study argues that the historical assets of design, engraved in living forms of collective memory, can be effectively engaged in the service of the appropriation and promotion of slower modes of consumption as opposed to the dominant and systematic novelty mechanism of fast fashion. The hypothesis is that a sustainability strategy employing design heritage and encouraging durable consumption can be helpful to avoid conflicts of interest between the transforming business community and its customers. Therefore, a heritage management strategy is proposed that emphasises feasibility and taps into existing socio- and politico-economic networks while suggesting positive changes in consumer behaviour. Due to the commercial and cultural popularity of permanent valorisation in design, this special design phenomenon is chosen as a specific field of design heritage. The potentials of enduring artefacts are recognised, and the study proposes further that these artefacts may become vehicles to achieve the strategy identified. To this end, the study employs an interdisciplinary review of several relevant literatures, transferring concepts and categories into the context of design heritage management. The findings of this review are further engaged in the analysis of a real-world case: the 2nd Cycle project by the iconic Finnish housewares company Artek. The analysis illustrates how the long-established company’s cultural and historical products are reproduced and capitalised in conformity with emerging consumer aspirations and needs. Drawing links between permanent valorisation, product longevity, and ultimately sustainable consumption, Artek’s project provides inspiring results how design heritage may lead to enhanced social good while taking advantage of new economic opportunities, know-how, and human capacities. Subsequently, special attention is given to the potential cross-cultural transferability of the heritage management strategy represented by this Finnish case. For this purpose, Artek’s case is taken as a cultivation of new sensibilities capable of translating a diversity of historical capital possessed by different cultures into heritage. Considering the constant growth of economic capacities and alarming levels of consumer spending, developing countries, known as emerging markets, are chosen as adaptation areas. Turkey, for example, whose historical, social, and cultural structure is distinct from that of Finland, provides a favourably challenging test environment for the thesis’ applicability. Discussing the feasibility and necessity of the growing heritage-oriented ethos in Turkey, the country is presented as representative of large emerging market segments with a theoretical application case, that of Istanbul’s monumental Grand Bazaar. Inspired by the Finnish case and developed further with additional insight from cultural heritage management studies in tourism environments, a specific design heritage management strategy is outlined for the bazaar. Following in-depth interviews with a range of professionals who make their living in the bazaar, and responding to their insights, the hypothetical strategy is aimed to synthesise the various interests of the bazaar’s large network of stakeholders while promoting durable consumption. Finally, a list of guiding principles of cross-cultural adaptation are drawn for future adopters attempting to apply this study’s findings to different heritage contexts on a global scale

Located Lexicon: a project that explores how user generated content describes place

This extended conference paper explores the use and potential of location data in social media contexts. The research involved a series of experiments undertaken to assess the extent to which location information is present in exchanges, directly or indirectly. A prototype application was designed to exploit the insight obtained from the data-gathering experiments. This enabled us to develop a method and toolkit for searching, extracting and visualising mass-generated data for open source use. Ultimately, we were able to generate insights into data quality and ‘scale of query’ for emerging pedagogical research in learning swarms and distributed learners

Practical, appropriate, empirically-validated guidelines for designing educational games

There has recently been a great deal of interest in the potential of computer games to function as innovative educational tools. However, there is very little evidence of games fulfilling that potential. Indeed, the process of merging the disparate goals of education and games design appears problematic, and there are currently no practical guidelines for how to do so in a coherent manner. In this paper, we describe the successful, empirically validated teaching methods developed by behavioural psychologists and point out how they are uniquely suited to take advantage of the benefits that games offer to education. We conclude by proposing some practical steps for designing educational games, based on the techniques of Applied Behaviour Analysis. It is intended that this paper can both focus educational games designers on the features of games that are genuinely useful for education, and also introduce a successful form of teaching that this audience may not yet be familiar with

ICS Materials. Towards a re-Interpretation of material qualities through interactive, connected, and smart materials.

The domain of materials for design is changing under the influence of an increased technological advancement, miniaturization and democratization. Materials are becoming connected, augmented, computational, interactive, active, responsive, and dynamic. These are ICS Materials, an acronym that stands for Interactive, Connected and Smart. While labs around the world are experimenting with these new materials, there is the need to reflect on their potentials and impact on design. This paper is a first step in this direction: to interpret and describe the qualities of ICS materials, considering their experiential pattern, their expressive sensorial dimension, and their aesthetic of interaction. Through case studies, we analyse and classify these emerging ICS Materials and identified common characteristics, and challenges, e.g. the ability to change over time or their programmability by the designers and users. On that basis, we argue there is the need to reframe and redesign existing models to describe ICS materials, making their qualities emerge

The impact of novel people, places, and activities, in tourism

As part of an undergraduate research design class, we measured tourism experiences of 617tourists, during a day, and their potential impact, in a quantitative, cross-sectional manner. In May2023, a total of 30 tourism and experience design students teamed up from Breda University ofApplied Sciences, Netherlands, and Brigham Young University students, United States, andapproached tourists at 45 various tourist hot spots in the Rotterdam and the Amsterdam are

The impact of novel people, places, and activities, in tourism

As part of an undergraduate research design class, we measured tourism experiences of 617tourists, during a day, and their potential impact, in a quantitative, cross-sectional manner. In May2023, a total of 30 tourism and experience design students teamed up from Breda University ofApplied Sciences, Netherlands, and Brigham Young University students, United States, andapproached tourists at 45 various tourist hot spots in the Rotterdam and the Amsterdam are