Maria Åkerman

The Challenge of Governance in Regional Forest Planning: An Analysis of Participatory Forest Program Processes in Finland

The opening up of Finnish forest policymaking to new interest groups and a change to more flexible forms of partnerships at multiple levels signals a transition to new governance relations. Drawing on the concept of institutional capacity, we analyze the governance potential of stakeholder forums, called Regional Forest Councils, to balance economic considerations with ecological ones in preparing Regional Forest Programs. More specifically, we look into knowledge resources that are produced and shared in the Regional Forest Program process, relational resources such as trust and reciprocity created and sustained in the Regional Forest Councils, and the capacity to mobilize resources and take action to implement the program. The two processes we have analyzed demonstrate various elements of institutional capacity for collective action, and illustrate the challenges that a traditional hierarchically organized and expert-driven sector can face in developing more inclusive forms of governance.

What does ‘natural capital’ do? The role of metaphor in economic understanding of the environment

At the time of its introduction at the end of the 1980s, the concept of natural capital represented new, more ecologically aware thinking in economics. As a symbol of novel thinking, the metaphor of natural capital stimulated a debate between different disciplinary traditions on the definitions of the concept and research priorities and methods. The concept became a means to control the discourse of sustainable development. In this paper, I focus on the power/knowledge implications of the use of the concept, and I follow the career of the concept of natural capital in ecological economic publications between the years 1988 and 2000. The main interests are: (1) in the use of the concept to affect the rules according to which claims concerning sustainable development can be made and (2) in the constitution of objects of environmental knowledge.At the time of its introduction at the end of the 1980s, the concept of natural capital represented new, more ecologically aware thinking in economics. As a symbol of novel thinking, the metaphor of natural capital stimulated a debate between different disciplinary traditions on the definitions of the concept and research priorities and methods. The concept became a means to control the discourse of sustainable development. In this paper, I focus on the power/knowledge implications of the use of the concept, and I follow the career of the concept of natural capital in ecological economic publications between the years 1988 and 2000. The main interests are: (1) in the use of the concept to affect the rules according to which claims concerning sustainable development can be made and (2) in the constitution of objects of environmental knowledge.

Temporal scales and environmental knowledge production

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the durability of environmental knowledge. We draw upon two case studies on different types of environmental knowledge. One is theoretical: the concept of “natural capital” as an organising element in ecological economics. The other one is practical: knowledge used in the choice of technique in district heating. Our claim is that the validity of knowledge is the result of a process in which knowledge claims are incorporated as natural elements into broader discursive and political contexts. Techniques of creating temporal continuums and ruptures are essential in that process. Thus, the way how knowledge claims relate to people and their goals defines the temporal durability of knowledge, not their intrinsic properties.

‘You Only Start Filling in the Boxes’: Natural Resource Management and the Politics of Plan-Ability:

To an increasing extent, the management of natural resources rests on planning as a means to enhance collaborative deliberation and policy integration. But even before a planning process can start and any joint meeting be held, a lot of organisational and ontological work needs to be done. ‘Plan-ability’ requires the shaping of an analytical and operational platform that allows making sense of, and relating to, natural resources and their evolution. Moreover, the setting must be acceptable for those viewed as important collaborators. By focusing on two regional planning processes in Finland, this paper analyses how plan-ability is created and maintained in practice. The results suggest that the planning of natural resource management depends on material arrangements that operate at two levels. Those of the first level enable focusing of analytical sight and deliberation. As a result, a planning object shapes up. However, what emerges is unlikely to stabilise automatically. Further work is needed, and this may happen at the second level of arranging. At this level, acceptance of the object configuration can be enhanced by disconnecting the plan, or parts of it, from the operational core of policy making. Through the ontological work at the two levels, an ordering of actors and concerns develops that has passed the test of plan-ability. The concept points to the experimental nature of planning, inviting attention to the forces and trajectories that condition policy integration and collaborative policy making.

Emergent publics and affects in environmental governance

ABSTRACT Drawing on the wide social scientific literature on emotions and affects, we highlight the value and potential contribution of the affect theory for understanding public engagement in environmental policy and planning. We suggest that such theorization complements political ontologies that envision concerned publics to arise as citizens are attached to objects and other beings in their everyday life. Focus on emotions and affects enables in-depth exploration of the corporeality of these attachments, increasing understanding about how affected publics get driven for action and how new sensibilities and horizons for action are created. Based on the discussion of affect theory and case examples, we argue that emotions and affects should be treated as crucial carriers of knowledge about transformation of political subjects and their concerns. They also direct analytic gaze beyond public participation procedures and encourage the development of novel, more inclusive settings for public engagement.