Actors’ roles and perceptions on the opportunities to increase nature conservation effectiveness : a study of interaction between knowledge and policy process

Scientific knowledge shows compelling evidence of intensifying global environmental problems such as biodiversity loss and climate change. Unfortunately, this knowledge has not been directly translated into actions that would have reversed these worrying trends. The effectiveness of conservation, i.e. its ability to produce a desired result, is the outcome of interaction between knowledge and policy process. Efforts have recently been made to use existing scientific knowledge to combine current policy instruments and to develop new innovative approaches to conservation. In this PhD thesis I empirically study the perspectives of various actors and their roles in topical Finnish conservation efforts: green infrastructure, voluntary forest conservation and conflicting peatland policy. I examine how different knowledge types and policy instruments contribute to conservation effectiveness. The study utilizes an expert survey, focus groups, combining multiple methods using the case study approach, and integrating social and ecological data. The results illustrate how actors may interpret differently complex concepts, such as ecosystem services and ecological connectivity; the use of these concepts may even be politically coloured. Ambiguity concerning the definition of green infrastructure may create obstacles for practical implementation. In the peatland conservation policy case, where actors’ interests differed, implemented policy instruments did not match existing knowledge. The role of other knowledge types along with ecological knowledge may be more important when designing voluntary rather than compulsory instruments, because participation to voluntary actions needs to be attractive. The collaboration of actors is an integral part of increasing conservation efforts in the voluntary conservation. Interaction and valuation of various knowledge types may have a complicating effect on conservation practices, but different knowledge types can be integrated for more effective results. The study shows that policies should be designed in a way that allows the practical application of knowledge. The study elucidates what kind of challenges and opportunities for increasing effectiveness are faced in different phases of a policy process. I argue that the use of scientific evidence must be combined with the usage of other knowledge types and involvement of various actors. In addition, potential interest differences of actors should be considered when planning participation. In this way a combination of policy instruments can be developed, which simultaneously increases evidence uptake, acceptance and effectiveness leading to a more sustainable future.Vaikka tiede on osoittanut maailmanlaajuisten ympäristöongelmien, kuten monimuotoisuuskadon ja ilmastonmuutoksen pahenevan, tieto ei ole kuitenkaan johtanut riittävän vaikuttaviin tekoihin. Luonnonsuojelun tehokkuus, eli kyky tuottaa haluttu tulos, on tiedon ja politiikkaprosessien välisen vuorovaikutuksen tulos. Viime aikoina olemassa olevaa tietoa on pyritty hyödyntämään kehitettäessä erilaisten politiikkakeinojen yhdistelmiä sekä uusia luonnonsuojelun lähestymistapoja. Väitöskirjassa tutkin eri toimijoiden käsityksiä ja heidän roolejaan ajankohtaisissa suomalaisissa luonnonsuojelun tapauksissa: vihreän infrastruktuurin politiikassa, vapaaehtoisessa metsiensuojelussa ja konfliktisoituneessa suopolitiikassa. Tarkastelen myös, miten eri tiedon lajit ja politiikkakeinot edesauttavat luonnonsuojelua. Tutkimuksessa hyödynnetään asiantuntijakyselyä, ryhmäkeskusteluja, sosiaalisen ja ekologisen aineiston yhdistämistä sekä useita menetelmiä yhdistävää tapaustutkimusta. Väitöskirjan tulokset havainnollistavat, kuinka toimijat voivat tulkita monimutkaisia käsitteitä eri tavoilla, jopa poliittisesti värittyneesti. Tällaisia monitulkintaisia käsitteitä ovat esimerkiksi vihreä infrastruktuuri, ekologinen kytkeytyneisyys ja ekosysteemipalvelut. Vihreän infrastruktuurin monitulkintaisuus voi asettaa haasteita sen käytännön toimeenpanolle. Suopolitiikassa, jossa toimijoilla oli vahvoja intressiristiriitoja, toimeenpannut suojelukeinot olivat osin ristiriidassa ekologisen tiedon kanssa. Muunlaisen tiedon hyödyntäminen ekologisen tiedon lisäksi voi olla tärkeämpää vapaaehtoisten toimien suunnittelussa kuin sitovien lakisääteisten toimenpiteiden kohdalla, koska vapaaehtoisiin toimiin osallistumisen tulee olla houkuttelevaa. Myös eri toimijoiden yhteistyö on oleellinen osa vapaaehtoisen luonnonsuojelun edistämistä. Eri tiedon lajien (muun muassa luonnontieteellinen, yhteiskuntatieteellinen ja paikallinen tieto) vuorovaikutus ja arvottaminen voivat monimutkaistaa suojelun toimeenpanoa, mutta erilaisia tiedon lajeja voidaan yhdistää nykyistä tehokkaampien tulosten saamiseksi. Tutkimus osoittaa, että ympäristöpolitiikka tulee suunnitella niin, että tiedon soveltaminen paikallisissa oloissa on mahdollista. Tutkimukseni nostaa näkyviin, millaisia erilaisia haasteita ja mahdollisuuksia lisätä luonnonsuojelun tehokkuutta on politiikkaprosessin eri vaiheissa. Luonnontieteellisen tiedon hyödyntäminen ei yksin riitä. Väitän, että luonnontieteiden lisäksi tulee hyödyntää muita tiedon lajeja ja toimijoiden osallistamista. Lisäksi eri toimijoiden mahdolliset eriävät intressit tulee ottaa huomioon jo osallistumisen tapoja suunniteltaessa. Näin voidaan kehittää politiikkakeinojen yhdistelmiä, jotka samalla lisäävät tieteellisen tiedon käyttöä sekä luonnonsuojelun hyväksyttävyyttä ja tehokkuutta johtaen nykyistä kestävämpään tulevaisuuteen

Joint venture as an operation mode in India for Finnish companies

Siirretty Doriast

How to assess sustainability transformations: a review

Peer reviewe

Governing urban sustainability transitions : urban planning regime and modes of governance

There is an increasing need for urban sustainability transitions, though empirical cases that focus on the governance of these processes over time are not plentiful. This study addresses that gap by examining the governance of an urban transition in an eco-neighbourhood in Helsinki, using the framework of a multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions and modes of governance. This study shows how the modes of governance have changed from the start of the planning in 1994-2018 and how the different dimensions of the urban planning regime have enabled or constrained a sustainability transition, based on a document analysis and semi-structured expert interviews. As for the modes of governance, hierarchical and network were most widely used. The plot assignment stipulations that contained sustainability requirements, as well as the collaborative area working group method, have been scaled up city-wide since. This study concludes that more process-focussed policy instruments are needed.Peer reviewe

The case of conflicting Finnish peatland management – Skewed representation of nature, participation and policy instruments

Peatlands that are close to a natural state are rich in biodiversity and are significant carbon storages. Simultaneously, peat resources are of interest to industry, which leads to competing interests and tensions regarding the use and management of peatlands. In this case study, we studied knowledge-management interactions through the development of participation and the resulting representation of nature (how nature was described), as well as the proposed and implemented conservation policy instruments. We focused on the years 2009-2015, when peatland management was intensively debated in Finland. We did an interpretative policy analysis using policy documents (Peatland Strategy; Government Resolution; Proposal for Conservation Programme) and environmental legislation as central data. Our results show how the representation of nature reflected the purpose of the documents and consensus of participants' values. The representation of nature changed from skewed use of ecosystem services to detailed ecological knowledge. However, simultaneously, political power changed and the planned supplementation programme for peatland conservation was not implemented. The Environment Protection Act was reformulated so that it prohibited the use of the most valuable peatlands. Landowners did not have the chance to fully participate in the policy process. Overall, the conservation policy instruments changed to emphasize voluntariness but without an adequate budget to ensure sufficient conservation.Peer reviewe

Policy instruments that promote connectivity and green infrastructure approach : how to conserve biodiversity?

We have not succeeded to halt biodiversity loss despite international agreements. Conserving ecological connectivity is crucial when conserving biodiversity in the long run. This thesis studies policy instruments that promote ecological connectivity and conserve ecological processes. The aim of this study is to find out how Finnish environmental policy should be developed in order to promote ecological connectivity and biodiversity conservation. The research questions are: 1) How current nature conservation policy instruments promote ecological connectivity? 2) How policy instruments could promote ecological connectivity better? 3) Could green infrastructure approach help to conserve biodiversity? Ecological connectivity affects the biodiversity especially trough species dispersal. The environment is governed by different policy instruments, which have various effects on ecological connectivity. The green infrastructure is a new policy approach that underlines holistic planning. The green infrastructure is ecologically connected network of green and blue spaces that produces ecosystem services. The data comes from a SCALES project survey on Securing the Conservation of Biodiversity Across Administrative Levels and Spatial, Ecological and Temporal Scales. A link to the web-based questionnaire was sent to 214 Finnish experts of ecological connectivity and 47 persons answered to the questions. The data was analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The main analysis methods were repeated measures ANOVA and cluster analysis. Content analysis was done from qualitative data. The experts thought that ecological connectivity is more important than the current consideration shows. The policy instruments that promote ecological connectivity in the best way are the instruments, which have a wide spatial cover and urban and small-scale instruments are considered worse. The potential of policy instruments to promote ecological connectivity is higher than the current implementation demonstrates. The integration of biodiversity conservation to the other sector policies is considered important. Nature conservation was thought to be more important aspect than ecosystem services in implementation of green infrastructure. The respondent believed that green infrastructure has could have potential of enhancing nature conservation.Luonnon monimuotoisuuden vähenemistä ei ole saatu pysäytettyä kansainvälisistä sopimuksista huolimatta. Ekologinen kytkeytyneisyys on välttämätöntä, jotta monimuotoisuus voisi säilyä pitkällä aikavälillä. Tämä pro gradu tutkii luonnon monimuotoisuuden ja ekosysteemien prosessien säilyttämistä edistäviä politiikkakeinoja kolmen tutkimuskysymyksen avulla: 1) Kuinka hyvin nykyiset luonnonsuojelupolitiikan keinot edistävät ekologista kytkeytyneisyyttä? 2) Miten luonnonsuojelupolitiikan keinot voisivat edistää ekologista kytkeytyneisyyttä paremmin? 3) Voiko vihreä infrastruktuuri -lähestymistapa auttaa luonnon monimuotoisuuden suojelussa? Ekologinen kytkeytyneisyys vaikuttaa erityisesti lajien leviämiseen ja sen kautta biodiversiteetin säilymiseen. Ihmisen ympäristön hyödyntämistä hallitaan erilaisten politiikkakeinojen kautta, jotka vaikuttavat myös ekologiseen kytkeytyneisyyteen. Vihreä infrastruktuuri on uusi politiikan lähestymistapa, joka korostaa kokonaisvaltaisuutta. Vihreällä infrastruktuurilla tarkoitetaan toisiinsa kytkeytyneitä viher- ja vesialueita, jotka tuottavat ihmisen tarvitsemia ekosysteemipalveluita. Tutkimuksen aineisto on SCALES-hankkeen kyselytutkimus Biodiversiteetin turvaamisesta monilla hallinnon tasoilla ja eri maantieteellisissä, ajallisissa ja ekologisissa mittakaavoissa. Kysely toteutettiin internetkyselynä. Linkki kyselyyn lähetettiin 214 suomalaiselle ekologiseen kytkeytyneisyyteen liittyvän politiikan asiantuntijalle, joista 47 vastasi. Aineistoa analysoitiin kvantitatiivisesti ja kvalitatiivisesti. Tilastoanalyysien päämenetelmät olivat toistomittaus ANOVA ja klusterianalyysi. Sanallisille aineistoille tehtiin sisällönanalyysi. Asiantuntijat pitivät kytkeytyneisyyden ekologista merkitystä suurempana, kuin mitä kytkeytyneisyyden käytännön toteutus on. Pinta-alaltaan suurialaisten politiikkakeinojen koettiin edistävän ekologista kytkeytyneisyyttä parhaiten ja pienialaisten ja urbaanien keinojen vähiten. Politiikkakeinoilla on suurempi potentiaali edistää ekologista kytkeytyneisyyttä, kuin mikä on niiden tämän hetken toteutuksen merkitys ekologiselle kytkeytyneisyydelle. Biodiversiteetin suojelun integrointi osaksi muita politiikkasektoreita koettiin tärkeäksi. Vihreän infrastruktuurin toteutuksessa perinteiseen luonnonsuojeluun liittyviä näkökohtia pidettiin tärkeämpänä kuin ekosysteemipalveluiden korostamista. Vihreän infrastruktuurin mahdollisuuksiin vaikuttaa positiivisesti luonnonsuojelupolitiikkaan uskottiin varovasti

Transformative potential of conservation actions

Transformative change can help achieve the 2050 vision of biodiversity, but concrete ways to achieve it are only being discovered. To contribute to the understanding of the practical options for concrete action to foster, accelerate and maintain the transformative change, we assessed the leverage potential of existing conservation actions using the Meadows’ Leverage points framework. We took the actions from the Conservation Actions Classification by the Conservation Measures Partnership. The outcome is a scheme that evaluates at which leverage points, from simple parameters to paradigms, the different conservation actions have potential to make an impact, and thus impact systemic change. We found that all conservation actions have potential to leverage systemic transformative change, with varying coverage of the leverage points. All leverage points were addressed by several actions. The scheme could be used both as an interim tool for evaluating transformative potential in different broad datasets, but also help with planning of new conservation policies, interventions and projects. We hope our work could be a first step toward standardization and broader adoption of assessing leverage in conservation research and practice, achieving broader socio-ecological system leverage with conservation tools.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Forest management planning as a tool to enhance biodiversity protection

Non peer reviewe

The use of knowledge in evidence-informed voluntary conservation of Finnish forests

Despite calls for evidence-based policies, the process of using evidence in forest conservation policy implementation has remained unclear. In this paper, we focus on voluntary conservation and investigate complex ways to use evidence in implementation of the Forest Biodiversity Programme METSO in Finland. Data were collected via nine focus group discussions involving a total of 59 forest conservation stakeholders. Through interpretative qualitative analysis, we found that forest owners' and forest advisers' awareness of the voluntary instrument and the smooth interplay of knowledge types are important factors in implementing voluntary conservation. Knowledge use should be locally bound for policy implementation to be effective. Social relationships enable integrating local knowledge. Forest owners, advisers, authorities and other actors interpret scientific and other knowledges (and simultaneously co-produce new knowledge) in practical action. We conclude that educating forest advisers, informing forest owners, and increasing collaboration can enhance evidence flows from research to practice. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Can green infrastructure help to conserve biodiversity?

The gradually decreasing connectivity of habitats threatens biodiversity and ecological processes valuable to humans. Green infrastructure is promoted by the European Commission as a key instrument for the conservation of ecosystems in the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020. Green infrastructure has been defined as a network of natural and semi-natural areas, designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services. We surveyed Finnish experts' perceptions on the development of green infrastructure within the existing policy framework. Our results show that improving the implementation of existing conservation policy instruments needs to be an integral part of developing green infrastructure. Despite the potential of green infrastructure to benefit biodiversity, existing conceptual ambiguity of green infrastructure with rather complex role of ecosystem services - and the possible interpretation of this in practice - raises concerns regarding its ability to contribute to biodiversity conservation.Peer reviewe