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Universities, such as the University of Helsinki, are facing a growing trend to redefine their strategies and organisations along the lines of sustainability. However, the process of building the structures for sustainability research and education requires the breaking down of existing disciplinary silos. In this chapter we analyse the new initiatives in research, education and governance, and management operations to which the University committed during 2015-2018 through the lens of SDGs. We also explore the factors that enable or hinder sustainability transition at a university. The results of the SDG mapping show that SDG 4 (Quality Education) is an overarching goal represented in all new initiatives within research, education and university management. SDG 17 (Partnerships) and SDG 3 (Health and Wellbeing) are also equally strongly emphasised. However, SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and 5 (Gender Equality) are not considered, or if so, given little emphasis. Our analyses revealed that small niche innovations, tactical and operational activities at the grassroots level -networks, science activism and student awareness -pushed for regime-level changes. However, the financial incentives and policy changes initiated on the regime level enabled the niche-level innovations to develop and led to strategic decisions providing a window of opportunity to initiate structural changes.

This article focuses on the governing system of the mitigation of eutrophication in the Baltic Sea. Policies and measures of the Baltic Sea coastal countries, the macro--regional (HELCOM) level, and the level of the European Union are described and governance challenges explicated. We found that the main challenges at different governance levels include: differences between coastal countries in terms of environmental conditions including environmental awareness, overlaps of policies between different levels, the lack of adequate spatial and temporal specification of policies, and the lack of policy integration. To help to meet these challenges, we suggest closer involvement of stakeholders and the public, the improvement of the interplay of institutions, and the introduction of a “primus motor” for the governance of the mitigation of eutrophication in the Baltic Sea.

This review discusses contemporary river history literature of the past two decades. It presents an introduction to the evolution of river history literature and discusses its relation to the scholarly field of environmental history. The review argues that the study of river histories is increasingly sophisticated methodologically, particularly in interdisciplinary breadth and comparative approaches. This article concentrates on selected studies of European and North American rivers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and discusses the recent literature on river histories within three thematic frames. First, this paper discusses the spatial dimensions and different spatial scales of river histories, especially rivers as connectors and dividers. The second theme presents three different types of power relations in human-river interaction. Third, this paper will touch upon the temporal questions of river biographies. This review will pay special attention to the growing literature addressing the attempts to re-establish environmentally sound human-riverine relationships and improve the status of rivers through restorative activities. This article shows that a thematic analysis of contemporary river history offers a fruitful frame to understand the complex and intertwined nature of the temporal, spatial, and power-related dimensions in the narratives.

The article explores the historical process of creating unjust environmental conditions in one geographical area in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. The study traces back the decision making processes about placing environmentally burdensome, communal facilities, such as power plants, waste disposal and other infrastructural facilities. Also the lack of environmental amenities is investigated. The study covers a time period from the latter half of the nineteenth century to the 1980s. The historical analysis of the development of land use decisions in the city is based on documentary and archival sources about the decision-making processes and it is conducted in the framework of distributive and procedural environmental justice. Four different periods of siting policies are identified. The motifs for land use decisions at each phase reflect geographical, political and historical reasoning. The concept of path dependency is introduced to explain, how environmental injustices were reproduced because of past paths of siting policies locked in subsequent decisions and created a negative twist of accumulating environmental burden.