Suchergebnisse

Most of the large Finnish rivers were licensed and built for hydropower after the Second World War. The need for electricity at that period triumphed over all the other interests, leading to a significant decrease in migratory fish species, such as salmon and trout. Throughout their life span, licenses for hydroelectric operations have enjoyed strict protection against administrative or legal review that would result in significant economic losses to the operator. In this way, the Finnish legal framework has been highly resistant and maladaptive in the face of bringing back ecological flows and restoring migratory fish species to the Finnish rivers. Nevertheless, presently the Finnish Government's clear goal is to introduce fish passages and the natural reproductive cycle of migratory fish species in built and regulated rivers in which the ecological continuum of migratory fish is currently blocked. Considering significant normative inputs stemming especially from the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), the presentation discusses possible legal avenues for restoring ecological flows in the built Finnish rivers. We argue that the current obligations stemming from the Finnish Water Law – and their interpretation in relation to migratory fish – are outdated and even legally problematic. Overall, neither the Finnish legislature, nor the Finnish water administration have reacted quickly enough to the changes in circumstances caused by the development of EU law, the declining importance of hydropower for the Finnish energy policy, and the current knowledge of the ecological importance of migratory fish species for the river ecosystems. Finnish Water Law already contains some tools for reviewing fisheries regulations in existing water permits, but also legislative changes are required to implement and to enforce the obligations stemming from the WFD in adaptive manner. It must be noted, however, that the review of fisheries regulations in water permits is a multidimensional and river-specific task. Technically, a fish passage and restoration measures as well as monitoring of the success of measures may be required. Cooperation between authorities and hydropower companies is recommended but authorities must also be able to take necessary measures to bring back ecological flows in the case of unsuccessful cooperation. Furthermore, the water authorities need to have adaptive legal tools fit for this purpose. ; peerReviewed

The achievement of a radical global reduction of greenhouse gases requires a legal-institutional setting capable of facilitating such a transition on a wide range of renewable technologies. This paper identifies and critically evaluates the key institutional, procedural and substantive legal mechanisms facilitating or preventing sustainable production of blue renewable energy with Finland as a case study country. The focus is on offshore wind power and hydropower. While we approach energy transition from the perspective of an EU member state, we simultaneously shed light on the relevant parts of the EU legal framework that significantly affect national legal frameworks.

This article analyses the legal adaptive capacity for increasing sustainable fish aquaculture production in EU-Finland. Currently, fish aquaculture is driven by increasing global demand of fish, declining natural fisheries, food security and blue growth policies. At the same time, environmental policies such as the EU Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive set tightening legal-ecological requirements for the industry's nutrient emissions. Against this background, the success of blue growth policies related to aquaculture – and the hope of reconciling competing interests at sea – boil down to measures available for dealing with excess nutrients. In line with the mitigation hierarchy, the article establishes four alternative pathways for the fish aquaculture industry to grow without increasing its environmental nutrient footprint significantly, and evaluates the legal adaptive capacity and the legal risks attached to these pathways.

This article analyses the legal adaptive capacity for increasing sustainable fish aquaculture production in EU-Finland. Currently, fish aquaculture is driven by increasing global demand of fish, declining natural fisheries, food security and blue growth policies. At the same time, environmental policies such as the EU Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive set tightening legal-ecological requirements for the industry's nutrient emissions. Against this background, the success of blue growth policies related to aquaculture – and the hope of reconciling competing interests at sea – boil down to measures available for dealing with excess nutrients. In line with the mitigation hierarchy, the article establishes four alternative pathways for the fish aquaculture industry to grow without increasing its environmental nutrient footprint significantly, and evaluates the legal adaptive capacity and the legal risks attached to these pathways. ; Peer reviewed

This Article contributes to the development of adaptive governance theory by articulating and situating the role of formal law and government as the facilitator, but not central controller, of adaptive governance. To advance the understanding of adaptive governance, we argue that it can be understood in the broader context of scholarship covering the observed emergence of new governance, the efforts to develop theoretical understandings through decentered theory, and the refinement of constitutional understanding through democratic experimentalism. Synthesis of these three themes in turn informs the role of law and government in working with emergent governance responses to complexity to manage change and wicked problems. This inter- and transdisciplinary exercise reveals that the role of law and government in adaptive governance is to leave space for local innovation and private governance. Law and government must provide the catalyzation, facilitation, steering, and oversight essential for public and private institutions to respond at the rate and complexity of change in large-scale social-ecological systems, and they must do so while advancing good governance.

Blue growth is a relatively new policy of EU enhancing sustainable use of the sea resources. The relation between blue growth and maritime spatial planning (MSP) are not obvious. Both belong to a class of EU policies and both cover the sea space. Since maritime spatial planning in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) has recently gained its momentum, the maritime spatial planners face the challenge of incorporating the concept of the blue growth into their planning processes. This paper facilitates this task by providing a comprehensive information on the international projects executed by the maritime spatial planners and the relations of those projects to the concept of the blue growth. This is important in order to capitalize on what has been achieved so far. However, it seems that has been so far no single "planning project" focusing exclusively on the blue growth and this growth has been tackled in such projects rather at ad hoc and non-systematic manner. Thus, the research on relations between MSP and blue growth seems to be still pending. Possible directions of its development are suggested in the final part of the paper ; Renata Kozak

The scale, pace, and intensity of human activity on the planet demands radical departures from the status quo to remain within planetary boundaries and achieve sustainability. The steering arms of society including embedded financial, legal, political, and governance systems must be radically realigned and recognize the connectivity among social, ecological, and technological domains of urban systems to deliver more just, equitable, sustainable, and resilient futures. We present five key principles requiring fundamental cognitive, behavioral, and cultural shifts including rethinking growth, rethinking efficiency, rethinking the state, rethinking the commons, and rethinking justice needed together to radically transform neighborhoods, cities, and regions.