Leena A. Leskinen

Purposes and challenges of public participation in regional and local forestry in Finland

Abstract Public participation in regional and local forest planning in Finland was researched. The questions were: (1) What is the purpose of public participation? (2) What are the challenges of public participation? The results are based on the analysis of discourse communities in a case study concerning a Regional Forest Programme and forest management planning. It was shown that the purpose of participation was to promote communication at the regional level and to gather information at the local level. The general conclusion is, that the regional forest programmes include practices to offer possibilities for communication among participants. This does not mean, that all the programme processes have reached consensus automatically. The case studied here reached compromise. The case study points out problems faced, if public participation would become common practice at the local level on non-industrial private forests lands. In forest management planning it would result in an excessively demanding mediator/expert role for the planner. The need to consider all relevant issues, e.g. biodiversity management, would also become apparent. The study supports the idea that public participation as communication has better possibilities to promote sustainable forest management than public participation as information gathering.

Forestry Organization Network in Northern Finland

This study is a network analysis of the regional network of forest-related organizations in northern Finland. The study shows the position of the organizations in the network by grouping the organizations into clusters in terms of co-operation and mutual appreciation. The results are based on a questionnaire mailed to 1400 representatives of the main forestry organizations. Freemans centrality degree measures, multidimensional scaling, factor analysis and hierarchical clustering were used to synthesize three main subgroups, named the Private-forestry-orientated group, the Environment- and nature-orientated group and the Background group. The results were quite predictable. It was a surprise to note how consistently the respondents answered the questions concerning mutual co-operation and appreciation. The attitudes, on the one hand, towards economical forestry and, on the other hand, towards environmental aims, defined the enduring tendency in the responses.

Assessing objectives of regional forest policy in northern Finland

Stakeholders’ objectives regarding regional forest policy were evaluated for the area covered by four northernmost Forestry Centres in Finland. The data were collected through a postal questionnaire with 431 respondents, and the judges were asked to assess the importance of the objectives of the regional forest policy on a ratio scale. The data were analysed applying statistical techniques developed for preference elicitation in forestry-related decision making. The results showed that the stakeholder group is the most important characteristic describing the objectives of regional forest policy. Regional characteristics in the form of different Forestry Centres had only a minor impact on assessments. Among other things, the analysis indicates that the objectives in utilizing forests more effectively without increasing cuttings are supported throughout the stakeholder groups. A comparison of the results with the corresponding Regional Forest Programmes indicates that some stakeholders have objectives that are not implemented properly. Further research is needed to find out whether this is a problem from the viewpoint of sustainable forest management.

Adaptation of the regional forestry administration to national forest, climate change and rural development policies in Finland

This paper examines the process of adaptation of the regional forestry administration in Finland to cross-scale socio-ecological changes in national policies and in the forest ecosystem. Self-organisation and knowledge building are the key elements employed in this case study conducted in the Southern Ostrobothnia Forestry Centre to analyse how the knowledge claims and networks are created in order to implement wood energy development projects. The case study method and the theory of adaptive co-management are found to be useful in explaining and understanding policy implementation and outcomes at the regional and local levels. A wood energy project met the forest, climate change and rural development policy targets by facilitating the establishment of a small heating business producing renewable energy from young forest thinnings. The practical outputs at the local level were energy generation from a renewable source; an increase in the area of young forest management; and increased rural entrepreneurship and employment. The unintentional output was that a new wood market arose. As a result of the case study, a two-level network has been introduced as an adaptive policy implementation practice.

Identifying and rating cultural sustainability indicators: a case study of wood-based bioenergy systems in eastern Finland

Cultural sustainability has become a much discussed topic in the forestry and bioenergy sectors. However, there are not many indicators available for measuring cultural sustainability. In order to identify indicators for the assessment of the cultural sustainability impacts of wood-based bioenergy in eastern Finland, two-phased expert interviews were conducted. The process was supported by a hybrid approach: A qualitative mapping technique was applied when the indicators were identified, and weights for the indicators were set using a quantitative rating technique. The experts identified 49 indicators of cultural sustainability. Most of the generated indicators were relevant for local uses and highlighted the perceptions of the general public. Furthermore, most of the indicators were relevant from the perspective of raw material acquisition. Applying methods of differing backgrounds enabled advanced problem structuring, which allowed the identification of indicators suitable for assessing cultural sustainability of wood-based bioenergy in Eastern Finland. The quantitative rating technique enabled the determination of the importance of the indicators generated. Nevertheless, it seems that the hybrid approaches have many challenges related to the quantitative measuring of the participants’ perceptions. Cultural sustainability indicators should be identified within a case study, since it seems that most of the cultural sustainability indicators are case specific. The process introduced here offers steps for identifying case-specific cultural sustainability indicators; however, the concept of cultural sustainability cannot be strictly defined.

Metsäteollisuusyhdyskunnat ja yksipuolisuuden loukku

Parin viime vuoden aikana metsäteollisuuden kansainvälistymisen vaikutukset ovat heijastuneet paikallistasolle toden teolla. Metsäteollisuus on kärsinyt huonosta kannattavuudesta jo usean vuoden ajan johtuen painopaperin tuotannon ylikapasiteetista ja toisaalta paperinkulutuksen vähenemisestä länsimaissa. Kustannusten karsimiseksi metsäteollisuuskonsernit ovat sulkeneet yksiköitään, vähentäneet väkeä ja tuotannon painopistettä on siirretty raaka-ainekustannuksiltaan edullisempiin maihin. Tilannetta on pahentanut syksyn 2008 aikana iskenyt maailmantalouden lama. Todennäköistä on, että metsäteollisuuden rakennemuutos jatkuu laman jälkeenkin. Miten metsätalouden myllerryksen vaikutuksia voidaan tulkita oikein ja kuinka tulevaisuuteen pitäisi varautua? Tämän kirjoituksen tavoitteena on jäsentää maailmanlaajuisen ja paikallisen talouskehityksen suhdetta talousmaantieteellisen ja taloushistoriallisen teo rian näkökulmasta. Tarkastelunäkökulman tuloksena esitämme, että olisi aiempaa enemmän kiinnitettävä huomiota yksittäisten tuotantolaitosten säilymisen lisäksi siihen, miten metsästä riippuvainen alue talous laajemmin ymmärrettynä pääsee kehittymään. Lisäksi ehdotamme, että alueellisten metsäohjel mien laadinnan yhteydessä arvioitaisiin ja tuotettaisiin tietoa siitä, mitkä ovat esimerkiksi metsäsektoria tukevan elinkeinopolitiikan odotetut ja ei-toivotut seuraukset alueen elinkeinoelämässä. Resurssiyhdyskunta tapuliteorian näkökulmasta