Suchergebnisse

This work, prepared and published during the author's stay at the RSCAS, EUI, is a "compilation thesis" (in Finnish "artikkeliväitöskirja"), Department of Political Sciences, University of Helsinki, and contains the major part of the author's PhD thesis (forthcoming print monograph, 2012). ; The future is uncertain, and the financial system of the European Union has to take into account this uncertainty. This book looks at the different means it has at its disposal to do so, and analyses how these means have evolved since the creation of the general budget of the European Communities in 1968. The analysis is extended to a broader study of the development of the European Union through several case studies: negotiations on the Financial Regulation of 25 June 2002,on its first modifi cation, adopted on 13 December 2006, and on the Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA) of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound fi nancial management and on the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2007-2013. The question of the uncertainty of the future is addressed using the so-called "Theory of Budgetary Flexibility". This theory, developed originally to analyse national budgetary systems, establishes an essential distinction between External Flexibility and Internal Flexibility, on the one hand, and Annual Flexibility and Multiannual Flexibility on the other hand. It is particularly useful here as it enables us to examine under a common framework processes that are often considered separate (and treated in the literature as such), and to draw conclusions at systems' level. The book is divided into three Parts: - Part One (Chapters 1 to 3), which forms the theoretical part of this book, includes an analysis of the specificities and of the functioning of the budgetary and financial systems of the European Union, while presenting an "état des lieux" of studies carried out in these fields; - Part Two (Chapters 4 to 13) deals with changes that have been made to various forms of flexibility since 1968. Special attention is paid not only to the consequences these changes have had for the various actors involved – namely the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and Member States – but also for the financial system of the European Union as a whole; - Part Three (Chapters 14 to 18) addresses the question of how the changes examined in Part Two affect the general development of the European Union.

The book approaches the history of Finnish development cooperation through the experiences of development aid workers. At its core is a small group of Finns (experts and officials from different fields) who have worked with international development aid in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Their memories and experiences, together with diverse archival material offer an interesting window into the world of development (cooperation), or "Aidland", from the 1960s to the turn of the millennium.
The research focuses on the personal motives and experiences of Finnish aid workers from the 1960s to the 2000s. The book offers perspectives on the historical construction of Aidland since the 1940s and on the gradual integration of Finland and the Finns into its structures. It describes the mindset of the first two generations of aid workers and the factors that made them interested in developing countries. The book follows their education, their first contacts with Aidland, adaptation to work and conditions, returning home and the challenges that come with it. The study gives the reader a view of the power positions, hierarchies and contradictions in Aidland and development cooperation, which at times led Finns to reassess their motives and justify to themselves the meaningfulness of the entire undertaking. Through their experiences, the book also deals with the less-known side of development cooperation, such as corruption, prejudices, and opposition to development projects, as well as their occasionally unwanted consequences in partner/recipient countries. It also sheds light on the effects of the Aidland experience on an individual's worldview and identity.
The book is an academic study suitable for a wide audience, from university students to ordinary readers interested in development cooperation. The book helps to understand both the history of development and the construction of multi-level connections of Finnish society with the countries of the Global South. It is therefore also ideally suited for readers interested in the development of Finland's internationalization in the late twentieth century. For its part, the book contributes to wider public debates on development cooperation.

Tutkimuksen tehtävänä oli selvittää, voivatko valtionhallinnon alueille tuomat uudet instituutiot tukea omaehtoista alueellista kehittämistä ja, jos voivat, niin miten. Instituutioilla tutkimuksessa tarkoitettiin alueellista kehittämistoimintaa ohjaavia, tietoisesti luotuja sääntöjä ja menettelyjä tai käytännön toiminnan myötä kehittyneitä toimintamalleja. Omaehtoisella kehittämisellä taas tarkoitetaan sellaista alueellista kehittämistä, joka lähtee liikkeelle tietyllä alueella asuvista ihmisistä ja siellä toimivista organisaatioista sekä perustuu ennen kaikkea alueen omiin tarpeisiin ja voimavaroihin. Esimerkkeinä valtionhallinnon luomista uusista alueellisen kehittämisen instituutioista oli toimintaryhmätyö Suomesta sekä alueellinen kehittämissuunnittelu ja aluemanagement Saksan Baijerista. Toimintaryhmätyö on paikallisten kehittäjäryhmien ja näiden yhteistyökumppaneiden tekemää alueellista kehittämistyötä. Baijerin aluemanagement tarkoittaa puolestaan erilaisten toimijoiden yhteistyöhön perustuvan alueellisen kehittämisprosessin johtamista. Tutkimuksessa analysoitiin kahden suomalaisen ja kahden baijerilaisen esimerkkialueen kehittämisprosesseja noin neljän vuoden ajanjaksolla. Tärkeimmät metodit tutkimusaineiston keruussa olivat osallistuva havainnointi ja kehittämisprosessien toimijoille tehdyt puolistrukturoidut haastattelut. Tutkimus osoitti, että valtionhallinto voi uusien instituutioiden avulla tukea omaehtoista alueellista kehittämistä. Uusiin instituutioihin tulee tällöin sisältyä osallistavia suunnittelumetodeja ja hanketoiminnan koulutusta, malleja, kannustimia ja ongelmanratkaisuvälineitä paikallisille kumppanuuksille, joustavia rahoitusvälineitä, tukijaviranomaisten kumppanuutta sekä tukea verkostoitumiselle. Uusilla instituutioilla on kuitenkin myös piirteitä, jotka haittaavat omaehtosta kehittämistä. Tällaisia ovat normatiivinen säätely, tiettyjen toimijoiden aseman korostuminen, asiantuntijavetoinen tai liian kiireinen suunnittelu sekä kiinnittyminen sektorihallintoon. Uusien instituutioiden mahdollisuudet vakiintua alueille riippuvat puolestaan siitä, miten ne tehdään tunnetuksi, olemassa olevista instituutioista, uudelta instituutiolta odotettujen julkisten hyötyjen ja paikallisten intressien yhteensopivuudesta sekä toiminnan laajenemisesta ja kehittymisestä alueella. Tutkimusasetelma on ajankohtainen eurooppalaisessa alueellisessa kehittämisessä ja maaseutupolitiikassa, joissa uusia instituutioita parhaillaan luodaan ja kokeillaan. Aiempiin tutkimuksiin verrattuna tutkimus tuo uutta erityisesti analysoimalla rinnakkain kahden, lähtökohdiltaan suuresti toisistaan poikkeavan maan hyvin erilaisia instituutioita. Tutkimuksen tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää alueellisen kehittämispolitiikan suunnista ja toimenpiteistä päätettäessä. Tuloksia voivat hyödyntää myös erilaiset paikalliset yhteisöt tai kunnat halutessaan viedä eteenpäin omaehtoista kehittämistä alueellaan. Aiheellisia jatkotutkimuksen kohteita ovat uusien instituutioiden sekä omaehtoista kehittämistä tukevat että haittaavat elmentit. ; New Institutions Supporting Endogenous Development The recent changes in regional development in Europe were the starting point of the study. The European Union and the national governments of many European countries have reacted to new challenges of regional development by creating and launching special institutions to support endogenous regional and local development. Both Finland and the German state of Bavaria have responded in this way. An example in Finland is the activity of the local action groups consistent with the model of the EU LEADER programme, which has been extended through the national rural development programme for local endogenous development (POMO programme). In Bavaria, the Ministry of State Development and Environmental Affairs has created and launched institutions of regional development planning and regional management. The objective of the study was to determine whether these new institutions launched from outside are able to support endogenous development processes in the regions, and if they are, how do they do it. Answers were sought by analysing how the various elements of the new institutions influence the process of endogenous development in its different stages. Also, the influence of the launching practice was analysed. Four qualitative case studies were carried out: two in Finland and two in Bavaria. In Finland the case studies were carried out in two regions where the POMO programme was being implemented. In Bavaria two relatively rural regions were chosen where a sub-regional plan was made and was being implemented through regional management. The conditions for establishment of the new institutions in the regions are discussed in the study. The theoretical framework of the study is built around the terms regional development, endogenous development and institutions. Institutions are here understood as formal and informal systems of rules that guide the assignment of meanings and so the action. The institutions of regional development supply the framework for the regional and local development. The conclusion that can be drawn from the recent discussion of regional development thinking and practices in Europe is that new models of thinking and acting supporting endogenous development have emerged. Such models include strategic thinking and programming, networking and partnership, and communicative planning. These models have been incorporated in the new institutions of regional development created and launched by central authorities. Finland and Bavaria have different institutional backgrounds for the new institutions and these backgrounds have influenced the aims and forms of the new institutions. The institution of the activity of the local action group in Finland supports endogenous development on the basis of local partnerships. The institutions of regional development planning and regional management in Bavaria are intended to support endogenous development based above all on a partnership of municipalities. The influence of the new institutions on regional development processes depends on the characteristics of the elements of the new institution, how the institution was launched and on pre-existing institutions in the region. The rational incentives offered by the new institutions, together with the values and the beliefs taken for granted of the pre-existing institutions, are playing a central role. There are also other factors peculiar to the region and the actors that influence the development process. The main question of the study - whether the new institutions can support endogenous development processes - can be answered in the affirmative. The supporting characteristics of the new institutions are participatory planning methods and training for project management, models, incentives and ways of problem solving for local partnerships, flexible funding instruments, partnership with supporting authorities and support to networking. However, the new institutions also have characteristics unfavourable to endogenous development. These include normative rules, emphasis on the position of certain actors, expert planning or too hasty planning and attachment to sectorial government structures. The possibilities of the new institutions to root themselves in the region depend on the mode of launching, on the pre-existing institutions, on the compatibility of expected public benefits with the interests of local actors and on the expansion of the activity and development of the practices in the region.

The topic of the book is the incremental growth of linguistic knowledge from lexical to structural-cum-textual during the so-called later language development. Language mastery does not presuppose any acquaintance with prescriptive grammar but, instead, concerns the core of language which the so-called consensus principle applies to: the most frequent words and structures are mastered with certainty by everybody, but uncertainty increases as less frequent and more variable phenomena are taken into consideration. It is the goal of the study to make explicit the knowledge that is common to school children of different age groups, and to show how it develops both in its core and in its fringe areas. The mastery of less common aspects exhibits considerable statistical variation. The research embodies methodological pluralism insofar as it has been carried out by means both of the corpus method and the experimental method. Here experimental subsumes writing tasks, paper-and-pencil tests, and behavior under experimental conditions. The amount of participants native in Finnish varies from 300–2000. The book has a bipartite structure: mastery of meanings (Part I), and mastery of forms (Part II).