Suchergebnisse

The Baltic Sea environment has since the early 1970s passed through several phases of spatial objectification in which the ostensibly well-defined semi-enclosed sea has been framed and reframed as a geographical object for intergovernmental environmental politics. Based on a historical analysis of this development, this article suggests that environmental politics critically depend on the delineation of relatively bounded spaces that identify and situate particular environmental concerns as spatial objects for politics. These spaces are not simply determined by 'nature' or some environmental-scientific logic, but should rather be seen as temporal outcomes of scale framing processes, processes that are accentuated by contemporary conceptions of the environment (or nature) in terms of multi-scalar ecosystems. This has implications for how an environmental concern is perceived and politically addressed. ; The Baltic Sea environment has since the early 1970s passed through several phases of spatial objectification in which the ostensibly well-defined semi-enclosed sea has been framed and reframed as a geographical object for intergovernmental environmental politics. Based on a historical analysis of this development, this article suggests that environmental politics critically depend on the delineation of relatively bounded spaces that identify and situate particular environmental concerns as spatial objects for politics. These spaces are not simply determined by 'nature' or some environmental-scientific logic, but should rather be seen as temporal outcomes of scale framing processes, processes that are accentuated by contemporary conceptions of the environment (or nature) in terms of multi-scalar ecosystems. This has implications for how an environmental concern is perceived and politically addressed.

The 20th – Anniversary – Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference was held in the Finnish Parliament in Helsinki on 28–30 August 2011 – the site of the very first BSPC in 1991.

In a series of ad-hoc surveys at different academic institutions in the Baltic Sea region, students and young scholars were asked about their views about the environmental issues of the Baltic Sea, and who would be responsible for the management of the Baltic Sea. Overfishing, climate change and waste were considered the most significant issues, while tourism and constructions (of bridges, etc.) were less often recognized as severe. The responsibility for the management of the Baltic Sea was mostly attributed to the European Union or to the respective national governments. Since climate is one of these issues, one question has dealt with the main task of climate science. It turns out that the most frequent assertion was not the genuine scientific task of generating knowledge about the dynamics of the system. Instead, the task of solving the problem and, equally often, supporting climate activism was favored. The results are not representative – neither for the separate surveys, nor for the selection of the sites of surveying. However, when taken all surveys together, the emergence of consistent perceptions may be considered evidence for a general attitude among students and young scholars in the Baltic regions. However, differences between groups – in terms of nationality, seniority and discipline - may be related to sampling randomness.

The article describes the place of St Peters-burg in international cooperation in the Baltic Sea region and the role of the Baltic region as one of the priorities of the international relations of the city. The authors show continual attention of Saint-Petersburg to developing international relations in the Baltic Sea region. The article indicates one of the most important areas of inter-national cooperation – the participation of the city in the renewed Northern Dimension policy.

Phosphorus (P) budgets and flows in particular regions or countries are assessed and suitable strategies discussed to identify and improve the P use efficiency in these countries. These strategies will help to reduce P losses, close the P cycles and protect vulnerable waters, such as the Baltic Sea, from further eutrophication. The P budgets and flow analyses show that in most of the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) countries P inputs exceed outputs, and a high amount of P that entered the system is retained, especially within the soils of the agricultural production sector. The continuous accumulation of P in the soil results in excessive P surpluses and increases the risk of P losses and eutrophication in the long run. Various suitable measures to help to minimize these P losses are proposed, including more stringent recycling of wastewater P (communal sewage sludges and their ashes; struvite and related precipitation products from wastewater treatment), biodegradable solid wastes (biowaste compost) and incinerated slaughter residues. However, the commercial implementation depends on the overcoming of considerable obstacles which include the development and implementation of adequate technology, the adjustment of existing and creation of new governmental regulations and promoting social acceptance of the necessary changes. Furthermore, the monitoring of P fluxes needs improvement in order to generate more consistent and comparable results. It is recommended that fluxes are modelled not only on a national but also on a regional scale in order to be able to account for the specific geographical condition of each country. Also, the P status of agricultural soils with its changes over time and some key soil characteristics need to be considered on a sub-national/regional scale to assess the actual risk of P loss via erosion/run-off/leaching from a particular area/region. Finally, P flow analyses should comprise several years to monitor long-term developments and trends in P flows.