Antti Puupponen

Local food and reneweable energy as emerging new alternatives of rural sustainability in Finland

Local food and reneweable energy as emerging new alternatives of rural sustainability in Finland The rurality of small Northern countries such as Finland has traditionally been based on family farm practices. However, rural sustainability is polarizing between the large-scale industrial agriculture and the more regional and multifunctional small-scale specialisations. This paper addresses small-scale entrepreneurship which aims at enhancing sustainable livelihood and sustainable development on farms. We identify two main lines of pioneering rural entrepreneurship in Finland, local food and renewable energy. Firstly, it is asked what kind of barriers and development targets these new productions are expected to have. Secondly, to what extent do they reflect real transformation as described particularly by the multifunctionality and ecological modernisation thinking? The two empirical case studies were carried out in Central Finland. We find that individual farms begin to identify the importance of mutual networking while establishing new businesses meeting the sustainability criteria. This certainly indicates social transformation. However, we also conclude that farmers in Central Finland seldom go for radical alternative productions imitating strong ecological modernisation. Pohjoismaissa maaseutu on perinteisesti rakentunut perheviljelmäkäytännöille. Nykyisin maaseudun kehityskulku on kuitenkin polarisoitumassa teollisen maatalouden sekä pienimuotoisen ja erikoistuneen tuotannon välillä. Tämä artikkeli käsittelee maaseudun pienyrittäjyyttä, joka pyrkii edistämään kestävää toimeentuloa ja maatilojen kestävää kehitystä. Lähiruoka ja uusiutuva energia edustavat tutkimuksessamme edellä käyviä tuotantosuuntia. Selvitämme niiden näköpiirissä olevia esteitä ja kehityspolkuja. Tutkimme myös, missä määrin nämä uudet tuotantosuunnat heijastavat muutoksia, joista puhutaan esimerkiksi ekologisen modernisaation ja monivaikutteisen maatalouden yhteydessä. Empiirisesti artikkeli perustuu kahteen tapaustutkimukseen, jotka on tehty Keski-Suomessa. Päätuloksemme on, että käynnissä oleva maaseudun muutos näkyy erityisesti siten, että viljelijät ovat alkaneet tunnistaa keskinäisen yhteistyön tärkeyden kestävän toimeentulon tavoittelussa. Toisaalta päättelemme, että viljelijöiden ratkaisut tuotantosuuntien valinnoissa eivät muistuta vahvan ekologisen modernisaation dynamiikkaa.

Experiments in sustainable rural livelihood in Finland

This paper addresses rural development and farm level action in Finland by posing the following main questions: What is the pioneering potential of small-scale entrepreneurship in enhancing rural sustainability? What are the specialisations feasible for such entrepreneurship in the present societal circumstances? What kind of local networking does it take to sustain on-farm activity for rural sustainability? We present empirical evidence from Central Finland about the ways in which both local food entrepreneurship and farm-based renewable energy production add to the rural livelihood and particularly to its social dimension. It is concluded that there is a potential overall impact on sustainable rural livelihood generated by novel entrepreneurship in local food and heat production.

Insights into food system exposure, coping capacity and adaptive capacity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider the concepts of exposure, coping capacity and adaptive capacity as a multiple structure of vulnerability in order to distinguish and interpret short-term coping responses and long-term strategic responses to food system vulnerability. Design/methodology/approach This paper applies an abductive approach for qualitative analysis of data, which were collected through 18 semi-structured interviews among Finnish food system actors. Findings The findings suggest that coping capacity and adaptive capacity are indeed two different concepts, which both need to be addressed in the examination of food system vulnerability. Public and private food system governance and related decision-making processes seem to focus on building short-term coping capacity rather than strategic adaptive capacity. In fact, conservative and protective policies can be counterproductive in terms of building genuine adaptive capacity in the food system, highlighting institutional and policy failures as limiting adaptive capacity and affecting future vulnerability. Originality/value This paper is the first to provide evidence on the multiple structure of food system vulnerability. It simultaneously considers the external aspect (vulnerability drivers) and internal factors, including short term coping capacity and more strategic adaptive capacity, as key determinants of vulnerability.