Artemis of Lapland : Corporate legitimacy and governance of nature in Finnish Lapland

The study explores why and how is the legitimacy of the mining project in Sokli, Savukoski municipality in North-Eastern Finland contested. The concept and theory of legitimacy is often neglected in research concerning mining and the concepts of acceptance and social license to operate are found in the mainstream of research. The study discusses the possibilities and challenges the theories and concept of legitimacy in the context of mining. Furthermore the Sokli mine is analyzed in the wider context of the expansion of extractive frontier towards perihpheries. This expansion has been desrcibed to be permitted by a new coalition between the state and private corporations. Moreover the new coalition has been linked to a new development paradigm portrayed as (neo-)extractivism. The literature on extractivism has focused strongly to Global South despite the process’ global character. A case study approach is adapted. The data consists of five semi-structured interviews conducted with locals in Savukoski region. Complimenting the interview data, the analysis is extended to four official documents by stakeholders of the possibly forthcoming mine in Sokli. In the light of a diverse combination of legitimacy theory created in this thesis the legitimacy of the Sokli mine is contested primarily on moral grounds. The mine does not fit into the locals’ conception of how the environment ought to be utilized. The mine also makes the development of traditional livelihoods in the area harder. In sum the locals’ vision of the future of the municipality and their conception of development contradicts with the expansion of the extractive industry. Finnish mining legislation is one of the most important structural permitting condition, which in Savukoski is contested and considered illegitimate. On the other hand the mine is supported mainly for it’s possible tax revenue and because it creates jobs. Employmen moreover is a core argument supporting mining in Finland. There have been controversies between estimations and fulfilled revenues and jobs. The environmental disaster and supicious practices by mining authorities in the area were often referenced and the casof Talvivaara had effected attitudes towards mining in Savukoski. The case study demonstrates an exception in the landscape of mostly positive and legitimate attitudes towards mining in Finland. Moreover the global expansion of extractives and the global rush for land have resulted in strong political opposition and mobilization in for example Latin America but not similarly in Finland. The further commodification of nature might in the future lead to political turmoil also in Finland if the legal conditions for mining persist. The larger structural shift away from the Nordic welfare state needs to be further researched in the context of extractive industries

Agenda 2030 in Finland: Key questions and indicators of sustainable development

The Agenda 2030 action plan for sustainable development by the United Nations came into effect on the 1 January 2016. The Agenda 2030 consists of 17 goals and 169 targets of sustainable development to be achieved by 2030. This report outlines the overall picture of the current situation, challenges and opportunities and identifies key topics of primary concern regarding the implementation of Agenda 2030 in Finland. The assessment is based on international indicator-based country comparisons, results from national participatory stakeholder process and expert evaluations. The report aims to support the formulation of national level action plan for sustainable development. Appendix 1 The development in Finland based on OECD indicators Appendix 2 Finland in the selected recent country comparisons Appendix 3 Participants of the stakeholder and expert workshops by the Avain2030-project Kieliversiot: Agenda 2030 Suomessa: Kestävän kehityksen avainkysymykset ja indikaattorit (23.08.2016

Agenda 2030 i Finland - nyckelfrågorna och indikatorerna i hållbar utveckling

Yhdistyneiden kansakuntien kestävän kehityksen toimintaohjelma Agenda 2030 astui voimaan vuoden 2016 alussa. Toimintaohjelmaan sisältyy 17 kestävän kehityksen tavoitetta ja 169 alatavoitetta, jotka tulee saavuttaa vuoteen 2030 mennessä. Tässä raportissa hahmotetaan kokonaiskuva Suomen lähtötilanteesta, haasteista ja mahdollisuuksista Agenda2030:n toimeenpanossa ja tehdään ehdotus niistä aihealueista, joihin tulisi Suomessa kiinnittää huomiota kiireellisimmin. Esitetyt arviot perustuvat indikaattoripohjaisiin kansainvälisiin vertailuihin, osallistavan sidosryhmäprosessin tuloksiin ja asiantuntija-arvioihin. Tulokset tukevat kansallisen kestävän kehityksen toimintasuunnitelman valmistelu

Kestävän kehityksen toimenpidesitoumustyökalu: kokonaisarvio ja kehittämismahdollisuudet

Kestävän kehityksen yhteiskuntasitoumus on Suomen kansallinen linjaus kestävän kehityksen tavoitta-miseksi vuoteen 2050 mennessä. Sen toteuttamisen keskeinen väline ovat toimenpidesitoumukset, jotka ovat eri tahojen antamia julkisia lupauksia konkreettisista ja vapaaehtoisista toimista. Tässä rapor-tissa esitetään kokonaisarvio toimenpidesitoumusprosessin tähänastisesta toteutumisesta ja hahmote-taan suositukset jatkokehitystä varten. Esitetyt arviot perustuvat toimenpidesitoumusten antajien rapor-toimiin tietoihin, toimijoille tehtyyn verkkokyselyyn, kahteen yhteistoiminnalliseen työpajaan, media-analyysiin, toimenpidesitoumuksille asetettujen kriteereiden analyysiin sekä vertailutietoihin muista vastaavista vapaaehtoisuuteen perustuvista aloitteista ja järjestelmistä. Hankkeen tulokset auttavat luomaan edellytyksiä nykyistä huomattavasti laajemman toimijajoukon aktiiviselle ja vaikuttavalle osal-listumiselle kestävän kehityksen tavoitteiden toteutuksee

Extending the shared socioeconomic pathways for adaptation planning of blue tourism

This paper offers an approach to long-term planning for an industrial sector that is sensitive to climate change, the state of adjacent natural environments and the associated socioeconomic developments. The paper combines exploratory and target-seeking scenarios to understand the future challenges of nature-based blue tourism under alternative global futures, and to develop sequences of actions to accomplish the best achievable future outcome for blue tourism at a local scale. We detail a bottom-up approach to scenario development for tourism, with local stakeholders developing local scenarios within the boundaries provided by the locally extended Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), widely used in climate research. As a demonstration of the approach, a group of invited stakeholders developed locally extended scenario narratives and the adaptation plans for blue tourism for coastal areas surrounding the Helsinki metropolitan area in Finland. The co-creation process yielded several recommendations for immediate action concerning protection of the coastal environments, land use planning, internal communication with the sector and coordinated monitoring of economic, ecological, social and cultural sustainability indicators. The approach offers a way forward for systematically assessing the future risks and opportunities that a changing environment and society create for blue tourism. • Exploratory and normative scenarios are combined to study future challenges of blue tourism. • Locally extended SSPs provide the boundaries for adapting to changing climate and societal conditions. • A group of stakeholders developed scenario narratives and adaptation plans for coastal Helsinki. • Consistent land use and marine spatial planning are keys to safeguarding future opportunities