Suchergebnisse

This article discusses prospects of strengthening new increasingly global economic activities and environmental governance by focusing on the institutional relationship between information society policy issues and environmental policy issues. These two sets of issues have some common denominators insofar as they are both comprehensive and go beyond traditional sector policy rationalities, as illustrated by the notions of "sustainable development" and "ecological modernization" in the case of environmental issues, and neither can avoid the problem of governance subjects such as social legitimacy and institutional dynamics between the main actors. The article also identifies a more functional relationship between these issues and discusses challenges common to both as well as asking whether there is institutional potential and capacity to find "synergy" by integrating environmental policy elements into moves towards information society and vice versa. The case study of Finland reveals that information society strategy lacks environmental policy objectives and discusses the factors behind this failure. The lack of integration of different policy areas is an issue of organizational power with policy actors showing no real interest in radically changing prevailing bureaucratic institutions and socioeconomic structures. Beyond organizational factors the policy problems seem to be based on the inconsistency of different policy rationalities with information society reasoning being justified by economic‐technical rationality whereas environmental policies are justified by natural scientific rationality, which policy makers do not consider to be in their interests. The article concludes with the assertion that the principles of ecological modernization could potentially unite environmental policies and positive environmental aspects of information society policies.

Addresses Europeanization & ecological modernization, using the case study of Finnish agriculture & analyzing the assumption that there has been a general transition toward the policies of ecological modernization by examining changes in institutional arrangements, discourses, & policy practices since the 1970s. Qualitative analysis of documents & 1996/97 semistructured interviews with policymakers yield somewhat contradictory findings on Finnish agri-environmental policy. On one hand, especially in the policy discourses, there are signs of transition consistent with the ecological modernization theory. On the other, from the institutional & practice-oriented perspective, the evidence suggests only some minor changes, even stability in agrienvironmental regulation. The Finnish response to European Union regulation has been problematic from the viewpoint of agrienvironmental policy: the transition period of Finnish agriculture due to the entrance into the European market has retarded, at least temporarily, the policy process of ecological modernization that began to emerge in the late 1980s. 2 Tables, 68 References. Adapted from the source document.

English
This article deals with the construction of the content and goals of Finnish environmental policy. The basic issue is whether there are discourse and strategy coalitions of key players to be identified as well as interests with which the discourses and strategies coincide. In the study, 41 key players in the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development were interviewed. The main result is that environmental discourses show diversity. Two ideal types of basic environmental policy strategies, termed 'ecological modernisation' and 'structural change', were found. It is concluded that there is no easy starting point for unity in environmental policy making. However, additional research is needed to examine the relevant policy sectors from the broad viewpoint of social development and environmental politics.

In an examination of the content & goals of Finnish environmental policy, the basic issue is whether there are discourse & strategy coalitions of key players to be identified as well as interests with which the discourses & strategies coincide. Interviews with 41 key players in the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development revealed that environmental discourses show diversity. Two ideal types of basic environmental policy strategies -- ecological modernization & structural change -- were found. It is concluded that there is no easy starting point for unity in environmental policy making. However, additional research is needed to examine the relevant policy sectors from the broad viewpoint of social development & environmental politics. 1 Table, 3 Figures, 44 References. Adapted from the source document.

This paper examines the role of cultural actors in promoting sustainability in an urban living lab (ULL). The case study utilizes thematic analysis on the interviews of cultural actors working in the multi-sectoral, circular-economy oriented Hiedanranta ULL in Tampere. The results of the study show, first, that the cultural sector is not detached from the innovative business and experimentation sector of the ULL. On the contrary, cultural actors advance creative ambience and co-develop experimentations, making them an essential part of the ULL innovation processes. Second, cultural actors promote social and cultural sustainability at the local level, which often stays hidden in the processes of upscaling innovations. Third, the sustainable and transformative potential of cultural actors, within and beyond the ULL is mostly horizontal. The results suggest that the cultural sector, comprising civil society actors, can have a multidimensional effect on ULL development.