Interlinkages between Energy, Environmental Changes and Livelihoods in Laotian Households : Findings from 14 Focus Group Discussions

This publication presents and discusses the findings of 14 focus group discussions (FGD) conducted in different parts of Laos in early 2011 as a part of the project “Interlinkages Between Energy and Livelihoods – Data, Training and Scenarios for Sustainable Energy Planning in Laos (INES)”, which is a project funded by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Nordic Development Fund in the framework of Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP) Mekong in South East Asia. The INES project was implemented by Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Laos. The overall objective of the project is to improve the capacity of decision makers in Laos to promote sustainable long-term energy planning. In addition, the aim has been to provide qualitative and quantitative data on rural and urban resources and livelihood strategies and increase the knowledge of energy resources and use, and sustainable use of natural resources in Laos

Energy, Environment and Livelihoods in the Lao PDR : Results from a 2011 Household Survey

This report presents the main results of a household survey collected in 2011. The data was originally collected for FFRC project Interlinkages between energy and livelihoods - Data, training and Scenarios for sustainable energy planning in Laos (INES), funded by the Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP) with the Mekong Region, financed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the Nordic Development Fund. The demographic profile of the households was surveyed first. The actual questions were related to the following topics: (1) household assets, (2) livelihood activities, (3) income and liabilities, (4) food security and (5) survival strategies, (6) energy use; and (7) environment. This publication is also organized according to these research themes. While the section exploring residential energy use was fairly extensive and utilized throughout the project, the other themes received less attention. The main reason for compiling this e-book was to disseminate all the key results from the survey, especially those with little publicity so far. Similar, recent household level data from Laos is not currently available from any other sources, as far as we know. Thus, this e-Book report provides unique results on the Laotian society and economy based on the household survey findings

Projektikurssilta työelämätaitoja maataloustieteiden opiskelijoille

Yliopisto-opetuksessakin korostetaan nykyään työelämärelevanssia. Substanssiosaamisen lisäksi kartutetaan mm.tiimityö-, verkostoitumis-, projektityö- ja digitaalisuusosaamista. Helsingin yliopiston maataloustieteidenkandi- ja maisteriohjelmien 5 op laajuisella projektikurssilla toteutetaan projektitöitä ulkopuolisille asiakkaille. Ensimmäisellä, vuoden 2016 kurssilla, oli 8 opiskelijaa 2 ja 3 ohjaajaa eli yliopisto-opettajaa; toisella, vuoden2017 kurssilla, oli 15 opiskelijaa 4 tiimissä ja 6 ohjaajaa. Kunkin tiimin asiakasorganisaatiota edusti yksi tai usea henkilö. Kurssia tutkittiin ja kehitettiin suunnitteluperustaisella tutkimusmenetelmällä. Kirjallisella kyselyllä kerättiin opettajien ja opiskelijoiden arvioita kurssin onnistumisesta ja opiskelijoiden oppimista taidoista (tietokäytäntökysely), haastatteluilla opettajien ja asiakkaiden näkemyksiä kurssin toteutuksesta ja kehittämisestä. Aineisto analysoitiin kvalitatiivisin ja kvantitatiivisin menetelmin.Tietokäytäntökyselyn mukaan opiskelijat kokivat oppineensa hyvin tietotyötaitoja, erityisesti jaetun kohteen kehittämistä, yksilöllisen ja yhteisöllisen työskentelyn yhdistämistä sekä tuotosten pitkäjänteistä kehittämistä (keskiarvot molemmilla kurssikerroilla >4, väittämä “Opin kurssin aikana…”, asteikko 1 “en ollenkaan” − 5 “hyvin paljon”). Avointen vastausten perusteella opiskelijat arvostivat erityisesti tiimityöskentelyä yhteisen tavoitteen saavuttamiseksi, projektityö- ja työelämätaitojen kehittymistä, mielenkiintoisia projektiaiheita sekä kanssakäymistä työelämän edustajien kanssa. Haastaviksi koettiin avoin tehtävänanto ja siihen liittyen epätietoisuus toimintatavoista, ryhmätyöskentelyn koordinointi sekä puutteet omassa osaamisessa esimerkiksi kyselytutkimuksen tekemisessä. Vuonna 2016 tiukka 11 viikon aikataulu koettiin ongelmaksi, joten v. 2017 kurssin kesto pidennettiin 16 viikkoon. Kaikki asiakkaat kokivat osallistumisen kurssille myönteisenä. He arvostivat sitä, että voivat auttaa opiskelijoita harjoittelemaan työelämäkäytäntöjä ja yliopistoa kehittämään opetusta. Yhteistyö nähtiin hyvänä tapana luoda kontakteja opiskelijoihin tulevia työpaikkoja ajatellen. Projektityö toi uutta tietoa organisaatioiden toiminnan kehittämiseksi tai täydensi ja vahvisti aiempaa tietoa. Kehittämiskohteina asiakkaat näkivät sopivan toimeksiannon määrittelyn sekä vuorovaikutuskäytäntöjen tehostamisen, kuten etäkokousten järjestämisen. Tiimien ohjaajille positiivista oli opiskelijoiden motivoitunut työskentely ja töiden valmistuminen aikataulussa. Haasteita oli mm. asiakkaiden toimeksiannon määrittelyssä, kurssin vaatimuksissa suhteessa opiskelijoiden osaamiseen ja ajankäyttöön sekä omassa ajankäytössä liittyen ohjaamiseen ja ohjausyhteistyöhön.Työelämälähtöiset kurssit todettiin tarpeellisiksi ja palkitseviksi kaikille osapuolille. Opetusta tulee kehittää myös tutkimusperustaisesti, mikä muun muassa auttaa ottamaan huomioon niin opiskelijoiden, asiakkaiden kuin opettajienkin näkökulmia

Future Energy Demand in Laos : Scenario Alternatives for Development

Energy production in Laos is still dominated by traditional fuels. Fuelwood in the main source of energy and most of the energy is consumed at households for cooking. Increase in the number of cars and motorbikes is rapidly increasing the use of imported petroleum products. Electrification is one of the central targets of the Lao government. The electrification rate has increased fast in Laos and in the year 2010 over 70 % households had electricity supply. The target is to have 90 % access to electricity by the year 2020. The World Bank regards the electrification of Lao PDR to be a success story (World Bank 2012). This paper deals with the present and future energy consumption in Laos. First the historical trends of energy use in different sectors are analysed. The future scenarios are constructed using LaoLinda model. Four different future alternative development paths are analysed using the model results. The energy use data source for the analysis is from the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) of Lao PDR. Economic and other data is from the Department of Statistics of Lao PDR

A Roadmap until 2030 and first action plan for the Peruvian agri-food sector, focusing on Andean native crops : results from the 3rd and 4th Futures Workshops of the Pecolo Project

PECOLO, or Native crops for sustainable and innovative food futures in Peru and Colombia, was a collaborative project involving the University of Turku, Finland (UTU), Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru (UNALM) and Universidad el Bosque, Colombia (UEB). From UTU, Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) coordinated the project. In addition, the Functional Foods Forum and Department of Biochemistry of the University of Turku were also participating in the project. One of the key focus areas of the PECOLO project was the development of innovation environments around native Andean crops. Futures research and foresight methodologies were used as novel tools for developing innovation environments in cooperation with academic, public and private sector organizations and NGOs. This is the second of two publications concerning Peru that have been produced based on the results of the PECOLO project’s four-stage futures process. The first, A Scenario for the Desirable Future of the Peruvian Agri-Food Sector 2030, Focusing on Andean Native Crops: Results from the 1st and 2nd Futures Workshops of the PECOLO Project , describes the methods and results of the first two steps of the futures process. The outcome was a futures table describing a set of three alternative futures for the Peruvian agri-food sector that reconsider the potential of Andean crops, as well as a scenario narrative for the most desirable future. This second publication covers the work that took place during the project’s third and fourth futures workshops. The third workshop established a vision for 2030 based on the desirable scenario of the second workshop, and a roadmap for the Peruvian agri-food sector with a special focus on Andean native crops. The fourth and final workshop elaborated concrete actions that can and should be taken by stakeholders in the first implementation period, from 2020–2022, in order to begin to move toward these common goals. The PECOLO project was funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland between 2017–2019 under the HEI-ICI Programme (Higher Education Institutions – Institutional Capacity-building Instrument)

A Scenario for the desirable future of the Peruvian agrifood sector 2030, focusing on Andean native crops : results from the 1st and 2nd futures workshops of the PECOLO project

The Andean region is exceptionally rich in biodiversity, harbouring an important centre of domestication of global food crops, such as potato, quinoa, corn, peanut and tomato. Such biodiversity provides a great potential to discover or, reintroduce, nutritionally rich local varieties and utilize them to develop innovative food applications. Utilization of native plant crops provide promising solutions to address the wider sustainability goals, such as rediscovering crops more resilient to the changing climate and providing local source of nutritious food. Diversification of the local diets with local grains enables better nutrition and can also contribute to food security in areas where food production is threatened by climate change. ‘Native crops for sustainable and innovative food futures in Peru and Colombia (PECOLO)’ is a collabo-ration project between University of Turku, Finland (UTU), Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru (UNALM) and Universidad el Bosque, Colombia (UEB). From UTU, Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) of University of Turku coordinates the project. In addition, Functional Foods Forum and Department of Biochemistry of University of Turku participate in the project. The PECOLO project has a special focus on the development of innovation environments around Andean native crops. Futures research and foresight methodologies are used as novel tools for developing innovation environments in cooperation with academic, public and private sector organizations and NGOs. In addition to the development of innovation environments, the project has capacity-building and mobility components in specialized topics in food science such as nutrition and functional foods, and in sustainability issues along the food value chain, such as environmental impacts of food production, sustainable diets and food waste and loss. This publication is the first of the two publications for Peru that will be published as an outcome of the PECOLO project’s four step futures process around Andean native crops. The publication covers the methods and the results of the 1st workshop, which focused on horizon scanning of the current state of the agri-food sector, as well as the methods and the results of the 2nd workshop, which focused on development of scenarios for the Peruvian agri-food sector with a special focus on Andean native crops. The second PECOLO publication (published later in 2019) will present the roadmaps and action plans for the agri-food sector stakeholders in Peru and Colombia

Future Landscape of the Colombian Agri-Food Sector 2030: The Return of Andean Native Crops : Results from the 3rd and 4th Futures Workshops of the PECOLO Project in Colombia 

The PECOLO project (Native Crops for Sustainable and Innovative Food Futures in Peru and Colombia) was developed as a collaboration between the University of Turku, Finland (UTU), the National Agrarian University La Molina, Peru (UNALM) and the University El Bosque, Colombia (UEB). The objective of the project is for higher education, research and innovation environments to support the establishment and maintenance of sustainable, innovative and profitable value chains for Andean native food plant crops. As part of its strategy, the project focused on transferring tools and methods of future studies and foresight. A series of futures workshops were conducted during the project. With the help of these tools and methods, and through the participation of different interest groups, a set of alternative future states for the Colombian agri-food sector was developed and presented (publication one). Based on the desirable scenario presented in the first publication, a road map and action plan were then developed by the interest groups. This publication presents the results of the last two workshops (3 and 4) of the project. Diverse categories of actors were involved in these workshops, including participants from academia, civil society, public entities and international organizations related to agri-food systems with a significant role in Colombia.</p