Education and Indigenous Territorial Struggles : A study on the Sapara people’s experiences with the education system in the Ecuadorian Amazon

The focus of this thesis is on the education of indigenous peoples, especially on how education can facilitate territorial self-determination and political emancipation for them. Indigenous movements world-wide and in Ecuador have focused on creating education respectful of and relevant to indigenous cultural background and knowledge. This thesis explores further the interconnectedness of education and indigenous territorial politics, as they have been together in the forefront of the indigenous movement in Ecuador, and they link the epistemological struggle of recognising Indigenous knowledges to environmental issues prevalent in the country dependent on extractivism. As indigenous peoples often inhabit environmentally vulnerable regions, this thesis examines how for the indigenous groups of Ecuadorian Amazon the relationship between education and territory can aim to be mutually beneficial, encouraging both preservation of the diverse cultures and environment in the biocultural landscapes. The research was conducted as an ethnographical case study on the province of Pastaza, situated in the Ecuadorian Amazon with a special focus on the indigenous group known as Sapara, who are the smallest of 14 indigenous nationalities recognised under the plurinational state of Ecuador. The data of the study consisted of 27 semi-structured interviews and participant observation recorded in the field diary, accompanied by historical analysis of intercultural bilingual education in Ecuador. This thesis illustrates the place-making practices and histories of indigenous peoples, acknowledged under the term Indigenous knowledge, as they form a foundation for territorial politics. Possibility for epistemological diversity in the education system is understood through principle of interculturality, as articulated by the indigenous movement itself as a radical project of recognising lived heritage of cultural and historical differences in dialogue between various segments of society. The topic is examined through the concept of territory, which emphasises a question of governance in plurinational Ecuador, where indigenous nationalities struggle to exercise control over their respective territories. Territory is formed of competing political projects that aim to define and redefine its meaning, which also opens up a definition of territory to scrutinise what type of power actually operates in these political projects and rejects assumptions of simple top-down governance as the only possible territorial form. This theoretical framework facilitates the analysis of education as a part of territorial strategies. The main argument of this thesis is that education constructs a significant part of reinforcing political emancipation and territorial self-determination of indigenous peoples. Based on historical and ethnographical analysis, the thesis illustrates how education functions as a privileged arena of cultural struggle to achieve epistemological diversity that includes Indigenous knowledges alongside with Western science. Simultaneously, education, which is perceived pivotal for living well, acts as a societal force that can transform material foundations of life, since indigenous peoples modify their residential patterns in order to access education. As indigenous territories remain only partly autonomous, since the nation-state retains control over subsoil resources, land continues to be an arena of competing political interests. This accentuates the importance of planning education practices to facilitate living inside the whole territory, since inhabiting space asserts the claims of indigenous groups effectively, allowing them to practice a strategy of dispersal

Virtsarakkosyöpä

English summaryPeer reviewe

The impacts of nature connectedness on children's well-being : Systematic literature review

Direct and indirect well-being benefits of children and adolescent's nature connectedness are a growing societal interest. Accordingly, they are increasingly studied and the field of research is evolving rapidly. However, the conceptualization and operationalization of nature connectedness, well-being and their interaction, as well as the empirical methods that are used to analyze them, vary remarkably. We conducted a systematic literature review on how children's nature connectedness and its well-being impacts have been studied during the past two decades and what are the key findings regarding the connection. Our analysis covered qualitative and quantitative studies, which all showed the positive effects of nature connectedness on well-being. Qualitative studies gave a voice to children in defining nature and its well-being impacts, while quantitative studies measured the connection using various nature connectedness scales. We conclude with recommendations for developing the research field in the future to fulfil current research gaps and to guide societal development to support children's well-being.© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Vuorovaikutus, osallistuminen ja tekstin yhteinen tuottaminen : Tapaustutkimus valmennusryhmäkeskusteluista

Yksi tapa kasvaa osallistumiseen on tekstin yhteinen tuottaminen kasvokkaisessa vuorovaikutuksessa. Keskustelunanalyysina toteutetussa tapaustutkimuksessa pureudutaan tähän osallisuuteen kasvamisen prosessiin uusiin työkäytänteisiin keskittyvässä henkilöstökoulutuksessa ja työelämään valmentavassa mielenterveyskuntoutuksessa. Tulosten mukaan yhteisöllisiä tekstikäytänteitä on tuettava pedagogisin ratkaisuin.Peer reviewe

More Active Mobility in Everyday Life: Finland Benefits from Reducing Car Use

The Ministry of Transport and Communications’ National Programme for the Promotion of Walking and Cycling aims to increase the combined modal share of walking and cycling from the current 30% to 35–38% by 2030. In order to achieve the target, the current measures are not enough. Without more decisive action, the health, economic, and environmental benefits of increasing walking and cycling will remain a dream. Cities have a long tradition of car-based transport and urban planning. This is reflected in the reduced physical activity and, consequently, the decline in public health and increasing health care costs. While the car-centric lifestyle still prevails, there are weak signals of a shift towards more active, healthy, and sustainable mobility patterns: carlessness is becoming more common in dense and large cities. In the Oulu region, the popularity of cycling is significant compared to other urban areas in Finland. In Helsinki, the conditions for reducing car use have increased. According to the recent national studies measuring school children’s physical activity, children in urban areas are more active than those in rural areas. Behaviour change takes time. To bring about and consolidate change, we need to better understand people’s daily lives as well as create long-term plans across different sectors and levels of government to support active travel. This policy brief is the first in its series from the Healthy Lifestyles to Boost Sustainable Growth (STYLE) project, combining interdisciplinary knowledge on trends in transport and physical activity. Interpreting them through infrastructure and service designs and changing lifestyles, we generate insight on novel business opportunities and intervention models that induce physical activity. This provides innovative pathways towards current national policy targets and promotion of the societal vision. The project is funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland. Read more: www.styletutkimus.fi/e

Lisää aktiivista liikkumista arkeen: Suomi hyötyy autoilun vähentämisestä

Kaupunkeja on suunniteltu pitkään autojen ehdoilla. Se näkyy ihmisten fyysisen aktiivisuuden vähentymisenä ja siitä seuraavina heikentyneenä kansanterveytenä ja terveydenhuollon kustannuksina. Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriön kävelyn ja pyöräilyn edistämisohjelman tavoitteena on nostaa vuoteen 2030 mennessä kävelyn ja pyöräilyn yhteistä kulkutapaosuutta nykyisestä noin 30 prosentista 35–38 prosenttiin. Nykytoimilla tavoite ei toteudu. Ilman pontevampaa päätöksentekoa kävelyn ja pyöräilyn lisäämisen terveys-, talous- ja ympäristöhyödyt jäävät haaveeksi. Turun yliopiston koordinoima Suomen Akatemian strategisen tutkimuksen hanke ’Liikunnallinen elämäntapa kestävän kasvun aikaansaajana (STYLE)’ on julkaissut päättäjille suunnatun toimenpidesuosituksen toimista, joita tarvitaan kävelyn ja pyöräilyn kulkutapaosuuden nostamiseksi kansallisen strategian mukaisesti. Käyttäytymisen muutos vaatii aikaa. Muutoksen aikaansaamiseksi ja vakiinnuttamiseksi on ymmärrettävä paremmin ihmisten arkea ja luotava pitkäjänteisiä suunnitelmia aktiivisten kulkutapojen tukemiseksi läpi hallinnon sektoreiden ja tasoje

New national and regional biological records for Finland 11. Contributions to Bryophyta and Marchantiophyta 10

Ten species of mosses (Bryophyta: Entosthodon obtusus, Entosthodon ulvinenii, Eurhynchiastrum diversifolium, Hedwigia emodica, Hedwigia mollis, Hygrohypnum styriacum, Plagiothecium rossicum, Polytrichum perigoniale, Tortella alpicola and Ulota intermedia) are presented as new for Finland. Cephalozia lacinulata, previously considered to be regionally extinct from Finland, is reported to being found again. New records in biogeographical provinces for 67 species of mosses and 34 species of liverworts are listed. Finally, 6 occurrences in provinces are removed due to misidentifications or missing specimens

Managing Retention by Engaging Employees in a Case Company

The first aim of the research was to find out the possible connection between retention and employee engagement based on a literature review. Secondly, the aim was to find out what the situation is in a case company regarding employees’ engagement. Then, good practices in engaging and retaining employees were studied in order to meet the third aim that was providing the case company guidelines on how to address the retention and engagement issues in the company. In the theoretical part the concepts of employee engagement and retention were studied and the data used was gathered from literature written about the field. Furthermore, the drivers of employee engagement were presented, and the link between retention and engagement was studied. In the empirical part of the thesis, the engagement of the case company’s employees was studied. The method of the data collection was a self completed online questionnaire, which was sent to all employees, of whom 72 employees completed the questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire show that there is a link between employee engagement and retention, even though it could not be stated that engagement alone would help to retain the employees. The results of the employee questionnaire showed that the situation in the case company in quite good, but there were still some areas where further actions were needed. These issues were addressed with suggestions to the company based on the good practices presented in the thesis

Päihdepalveluiden asiakaslähtöinen kehittäminen palvelumuotoilun keinoin

Opinnäytetyön kohdeorganisaationa toimi Päihdepalvelusäätiö ja kehittämiskohderyhmänä huumehoitojen työryhmä. Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli kuvata huumehoitotyöryhmän asiakkaan palvelupolku, lisätä asiakasymmärrystä sekä palveluiden palveluprosessin kehittämistä palvelumuotoilun keinoin. Tavoitteena oli avata päihdeasiakkaan palvelupolun kulkua. Opinnäytetyössä hyödynnettiin monipuolisesti palvelumuotoilua, palvelumuotoiluprosessia ja palvelumuotoilun työkaluja. Menetelminä käytettiin työpaja toimintaa SWOT- analyysien, asiakasprofiilien ja asiakaspolun teossa. Aineistoa kerättiin havainnoimalla, kyselyllä ja haastatteluilla. Tiedonantajina opinnäytetyöhön toimivat Päihdepalvelusäätiön työntekijät ja huumehoitojen työryhmän asiakkaat. Kysely- ja haastatteluaineisto analysoitiin teemoittelemalla. Tuloksena opinnäytetyössä lisättiin asiakasymmärrystä ja kuvattiin palvelumallin avulla asiakkaan palveluprosessi. Aineistojen yhteneväisyyksien ja luotujen mallien avulla voidaan lisätä asiakaslähtöistä hoitotyötä sekä kehittää palveluprosesseja

Attracting and Engaging Employees in the Finnish Restaurant Field Through Social Responsibility

Covid-19-pandemian jälkeen Suomen ravintola-ala on kamppaillut löytääkseen ja pitääkseen osaavat työntekijät. Euroopan komission REACT-EU-rahoituksella osana Euroopan sosiaalirahastoa (ESR) rahoitetun Mission Positive Handprint -hankkeen tavoitteena oli tukea ravintoloiden muutosvalmiuksia ja osaamista erityisesti Uudellamaalla, Pohjois-Savossa ja Keski-Suomessa kestävän kehityksen näkökulmasta. Opinnäytetyö tehtiin hankkeen toimeksiannosta sen jälkeen, kun havaittiin tarve sisällyttää hankkeeseen myös sosiaalisen vastuun teema. Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on kehittää menetelmiä suomalaisille ravintoloille työntekijöiden sitouttamisen tueksi ja uusien työntekijöiden houkuttelemiseksi auttamalla ravintoloita tunnistamaan ja viestimään yhteiskuntavastuullisista toimistaan jokapäiväisessä työssä. Opinnäytetyön tutkimustavoitteet ovat selvittää, millainen nykyinen ymmärrys ja konkreettiset menetelmät yhteiskuntavastuullisuudesta ravintoloilla on Suomessa, ja toiseksi luoda ymmärrystä siitä, miten ravintolat voivat hyödyntää tunnistamiaan toimia ja viestiä niistä muille työntekijöiden sitoutumisen lisäämiseksi ja työntekijöiden houkuttelemiseksi. Tämän tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys perustuu yritysten sosiaaliseen vastuuseen työntekijöitään kohtaan, työntekijöiden sitoutumisen käsitteeseen ja työnantajan keinoihin sen lisäämiseksi, työhyvinvoinnin määritelmään ja keinoihin ja lopuksi arvon luomiseen työntekijöiden sitoutumisen perustana. Tutkimuksellisessa kehittämistyössä noudatettiin tapaustutkimusprosessia, ja aineistonkeruussa seurattiin palvelumuotoiluprosessina tuplatimantti mallin discover- ja define-vaiheita. Tutkimusmenetelminä kehittämistyössä käytettiin laadullisia menetelmiä, kuten haastattelua ja työpajaa. Opinnäytetyön tuloksena annettiin käytännön suosituksia ravintola-alan toimijoille Mission Positive Handprint -hankkeen julkaisussa Vastuullisempaa kattausta. Kehittämistyön tulosten analyysissä tunnistettiin viisi pääteemaa, joiden avulla voidaan parantaa työntekijöiden sitoutumista ja rekrytointiviestintää yhteiskuntavastuutoimien avulla. Teemat ovat työn mielekkyys, työntekijän hyvinvointi, aktiivinen johtaminen ja työilmapiiri. Viides teema, osaajien rekrytointi, sisällytettiin suosituksiin antamaan esimerkkejä kuinka rekrytointiviestintää voisi parantaa työntekijöiden houkutteluksi. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittivat, että vaikka yhteiskuntavastuulla on monia määritelmiä ja merkityksiä erityisesti käytännön kentällä ja ravintoloiden jokapäiväisessä työssä, sosiaalisen vastuun toimet voidaan liittää työntekijöiden sitoutumisen parantamiseen ja lahjakkaiden työntekijöiden houkuttelemiseen alalle.After the Covid-19 pandemic, the restaurant field in Finland has struggled with finding and keeping employees. Mission Positive Handprint, a project funded by the European Commission REACT-EU funding as part of the European Social Fund (ESF) aimed at supporting restaurants especially in Uusimaa, North-Savo and Central Finland with their capacity for change and skills in the context of sustainable development. The thesis was commissioned by the project after an additional need to include the topic of social responsibility to the project was identified. The purpose of the thesis is to develop methods for restaurants in Finland to increase employee engagement and help them attract new employees by first identifying, and then communicating the social responsibility actions in their everyday work. The research aims of the thesis are first to find out what current understanding and concrete methods for social responsibility restaurants have in Finland, and secondly to create understanding on how restaurants can utilize the actions they have identified and communicate them to others to increase employee engagement and attract employees. The theoretical framework of this thesis consists of understanding on social responsibility of companies towards their employees, the concept and means of employee engagement, definition and means of wellbeing at work and finally employee value creation as a base for employee engagement. The research-based development work followed the case study process, and the discover and define stages of the double diamond service design process were followed for the data collection. The research methods used in the development work were qualitative methods such as an interview and a workshop. As a result of the thesis, practical recommendations were given to actors in the restaurant field in the Mission Positive Handprint project’s publication called Serving more responsible food. During the analysis of the findings in the development work, five main themes were identified for improving employee engagement and recruitment communication with social responsibility actions. The themes are meaningfulness of work, employee wellbeing, active leadership and work environment. The fifth theme, recruiting experts, was included with the specific recommendations given for attracting employees. The results of the study showed that while social responsibility has many definitions and meanings especially in the practical field and in the everyday work of the restaurants, the actions can be connected to improving employee engagement and attracting talented employees to the field. A need for further research was also identified during the development work, as the need to validate and test the findings further with a larger group of participants was evident