Rural futures in developed economies: The case of Finland

Kuhmonen, Tuomas; Kuhmonen, Irene

doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2015.07.028

Cited by 25 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Echoing Kuhmonen & Kuhmonen (2015) and the findings from our previous studies on rural localities, it is evident that negative development trajectories and ignorance of the local resources built up a negative "structural inheritance" leading to path dependence, which in the worst case scenario is a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the same strengths, weaknesses, possibilities and threats are repeated for decades. Therefore, it is crucial that rural localities are challenged to creatively think 'outside-the-box' and overcoming the silo-or needs-based view.…”

Section: /616mentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Being critical-emancipatory by nature, the exploratory and normative perspectives of future research have also provided methodologies to analyse and arrange multiple change factors and weak signals in the environment to alternative future paths (Quay, 2012;Oliver, 2014;Wilenius, 2015). In Vieremä, a scenario planning method was applied as a design tool in social learning (Kuhmonen & Kuhmonen, 2015). It has a long history in tackling complex and wicked problems (Rittel & Webber, 1973) and uncertainty of the future.…”

Section: Methodology To Support Strengths-based Community Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the fact that NSPA regions share joint challenges including harsh climate, fragile natural environments, sparse population and long distances from markets, these areas are gaining increasing global attention due to geopolitical and economic interests. Undeniably, many major challenges, such as the transition to a bio-economy, sustainable provision of food, or the scarcity of freshwater, have essentially rural solutions (Kuhmonen & Kuhmonen, 2015). On the other hand, large-scale investments related to e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are also neglected in terms of policy frameworks, causing them to fall between urban development strategies and policies for disadvantaged peripheral villages. Even within academia, intellectual monocultures tend to dismiss the diversity of the rural areas (Kuhmonen & Kuhmonen, 2015), and facts about unemployment, lower incomes, social exclusion, the decline of local services and a general feeling of losing power are often overly generalised as 'rural deprivation' (Moseley, 2003, 1-2). On this account, we are addressing especially the spatial scale of rural localities, a fundamental concept of settlement structure, which is spatially distinguished from sparsely populated areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards Strengths-Based Planning Strategies for Rural Localities in Finland

Rönkkö

Aarrevaara

2017

European Countryside

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Abstract:In this article, we will introduce the topic of strengths-based planning strategies for rural localities in Finland. The strengths-based approach focuses on capacity building and competence enhancement with the local people, encouraging communities to valorise, identify and mobilise existing but often unrecognised assets. Setting focus only on the deficiencies and problems easily inflicts a 'surrender mentality' in places outside of the urbanisation impact, creating a narrative that both decision-makers and community members start to believe. Hence, the role and potential of smaller rural localities is easily forgotten by planners, politicians and the public at large. Addressing the scale of rural localities in spatial planning, we will first reflect upon the main findings from our earlier research project "Finnish rural localities in the 2010`s" conducted by Lahti University of Applied Sciences, the University of Oulu and Aalto University in 2013-2015. Findings from the research project affirmed the unfortunate consequences of rapid urbanisation, rational blueprint planning and overoptimistic expectations of growth in the 1960s and 70s, which have resulted in the state of permanent incompleteness in rural localities today. However, these localities possess many under-utilised strengths, and we consider it essential for the future development of rural localities to make the most of this potential, and not only tackle the downwards spiral. This requires the ability to engage local stakeholders around a common vision for the future, and strategic approach based on endogenous strengths. We will discuss these possibilities via two theoretically informed case studies. The first one, Vieremä, is situated in the region of Northern Savo, and the other one, Vääksy, is the main centre in the municipality of Asikkala, situated in the region of Päijät-Häme in Southern Finland. Our study design can be characterised as qualitative research benefiting from a case study approach, mixed methods research and participatory action research. Being critical-emancipatory by nature, the exploratory and normative perspectives of Future Studies have also provided methodologies to explore future alternative paths and the available, yet possibly hidden, resources of people, commodities and skills in new ways. Through these case studies, we have identified an urgent need for capacity building and preparedness for sustainable resource management in Finnish rural localities, including natural and cultural heritage protection, climate change management and human well-being. There is a need to start thinking creatively 'outside-the-box' and create strategic alliances between civil society, business and government, and most importantly, between urban and rural areas. Now is the time to start innovating a range of policy options and strategic objectives for addressing rural localities as places where a sustainable future can be developed in Finland.

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Section: /616mentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Methodology To Support Strengths-based Community Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards Strengths-Based Planning Strategies for Rural Localities in Finland

Rönkkö

Aarrevaara

2017

European Countryside

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“…In the context of the transition towards low carbon, biobased and circular economic systems, and considering the need to reduce resource use and related impacts by high income countries, SDG-aligned bioeconomy outcomes are most likely to emerge at the sub-national level of society. At the sub-national level, a multi-sector perspective can support social and technical innovations in multi-actor networks of urban and rural communities [139]. Highlighted in the literature, multi-actor engagement is among the most challenging, yet critical, aspects of successful governance of natural resources and dependent on human resources and funding [140].…”

Section: Conclusion and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioeconomy Transitions through the Lens of Coupled Social-Ecological Systems: A Framework for Place-Based Responsibility in the Global Resource System

et al. 2019

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Bioeconomy strategies in high income societies focus at replacing finite, fossil resources by renewable, biological resources to reconcile macro-economic concerns with climate constraints. However, the current bioeconomy is associated with critical levels of environmental degradation. As a potential increase in biological resource use may further threaten the capacity of ecosystems to fulfil human needs, it remains unclear whether bioeconomy transitions in high income countries are sustainable. In order to fill a gap in bioeconomy sustainability assessments, we apply an ontological lens of coupled social-ecological systems to explore critical mechanisms in relation to bioeconomy activities in the global resource system. This contributes to a social-ecological systems (SES)-based understanding of sustainability from a high income country perspective: the capacity of humans to satisfy their needs with strategies that reduce current levels of pressures and impacts on ecosystems. Building on this notion of agency, we develop a framework prototype that captures the systemic relation between individual human needs and collective social outcomes on the one hand (micro-level) and social-ecological impacts in the global resource system on the other hand (macro-level). The BIO-SES framework emphasizes the role of responsible consumption (for physical health), responsible production (to reduce stressors on the environment), and the role of autonomy and self-organisation (to protect the reproduction capacity of social-ecological systems). In particular, the BIO-SES framework can support (1) individual and collective agency in high income country contexts to reduce global resource use and related ecosystem impacts with a bioeconomy strategy, (2) aligning social outcomes, monitoring efforts and governance structures with place-based efforts to achieve the SDGs, as well as (3), advancing the evidence base and social-ecological theory on responsible bioeconomy transitions in the limited biosphere.

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Education, Human Capital and Knowledge—The Paradigm Shift and Future Scenarios on Polish Rural Areas

Czapiewski

Janc

2019

Three Decades of Transformation in the East-Central European Countryside

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Rural futures in developed economies: The case of Finland

Cited by 25 publications

References 38 publications

Towards Strengths-Based Planning Strategies for Rural Localities in Finland

Towards Strengths-Based Planning Strategies for Rural Localities in Finland

Bioeconomy Transitions through the Lens of Coupled Social-Ecological Systems: A Framework for Place-Based Responsibility in the Global Resource System

Education, Human Capital and Knowledge—The Paradigm Shift and Future Scenarios on Polish Rural Areas

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