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Abstract The sustainable use of forest resources is an intensively debated topic, raising environmental, socio-cultural and economic concerns. The debate culminates around forest bioenergy. The bioenergy debate has been characterized by a strong polarisation between different perspectives on environmental impacts. In particular, the claims about carbon sequestration have been contrasted with other ecological impacts. This article focuses on the debate over the use of tree stumps as a relatively novel source of forest bioenergy. To shed light on the constellation of the different arguments and actors in the debate on the sustainability of forest bioenergy, we conducted an empirical qualitative analysis of Finnish argumentation on tree stump removal, using media and interview data and relating the emerging sustainability arguments to the dimensions debated in the EU biofuel sustainability policy. The analysis shows the variation of views across Finnish expert stakeholders and the fora where the arguments are made. Climate impacts dominate the media discussion, while other sustainability dimensions are covered in expert discussion. Our findings have implications for the interpretation and use of scientific arguments in energy debates, in particular regarding environmental sustainability. Highlights • Bioenergy is an important part of renewable energy portfolio. • Sustainability of forest-based bioenergy is debated. • The arguments in the media and among experts adhere to different framings. • Climate impacts stand out in the media discussion of stump energy use. • The results show that science contributes to public discussion and concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic, social and ecological implications of the extraction of mineral resources have been increasingly discussed under the heading of the social licence to operate. In Finland, critical public framings characterized by impressions of failed economic promises, unreliable technology and environmental hazards have dominated the recent mining debate. Operators probing for opportunities to establish new mines have faced critical public reactions. Changes to legislation, natural resource management and corporate responsibility have been demanded in order to effectively address environmental concerns and local social acceptability issues. We studied media representations and planning documents in order to identify the variety of publicly presented concerns related to a planned gold mine and mining company’s social licence to operate. Our case study focuses on the planning processes of a gold mine adjacent to an important tourist destination in the Kuusamo municipality in north-east Finland. We highlight the role of public debate on the formation and erosion of legitimacy and the fragility of the social licence to operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light pollution resulting from artificial lighting is a global environmental change that profoundly alters the nocturnal environment. Various ecological and health effects are caused by the alteration of natural levels of light and disruption of cycles of light and dark. Emissions of artificial light into the night environment have increased rapidly over the last decades and this trend is likely to continue due to the introduction of new cost-efficient light sources, urban sprawl, increasing traffic, population growth, and economic growth. Efficient measures to reduce light pollution are needed. Most measures so far have been based on top-down approaches such as legislation, technical norms and guidance. Based on the results from an online survey in Finland, household-level efforts aimed at reducing light pollution are reviewed and obstacles to action based on bottom-up approach are discussed. The systems intelligence is proposed as a context sensitive approach to light pollution management. Systems intelligence emphasises personal and active involvement in socio-technological systems, characterised by complex cross-scale interactions and feedbacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to formulate relevant understanding of key sustainability challenges, evidence-based decision-making relies on comprehensive data. While the complexity of producing and processing spatial data and the potential for biases are well recognised, the social process of making sense of data and its implications for societal uses is less analysed. In this article, insights of critical data studies are applied to study the production of, as well as uses and misuses of, the Finnish urban-rural classification. The classification structures Finland into three urban classes and four rural classes and offers an alternative to classifications that utilise administrative, municipal, and regional boundaries. The classification acts as a boundary object, functioning as a common reference for parties with varying information needs and interests. Using document analysis, as well as an insider action research methodology and our own experiences as data producers, this article aims to understand the processes of sense-making of data in the context of urban-rural classification and identify ways of improving related information systems and data practices. Intended and realised uses of the classification are analysed in order to identify different ways in which data producers and users make sense of data and justify the utilisation of the classification. The process of sense-making starts from the planning of data production and shapes how data and eventually information system are formulated throughout the data cycle. Communication about the limitations of the classification remains an issue and highlights the nature of sense-making as a collective process wherein users are actively shaping data practices as they translate information systems into their own contexts. This also draws attention to the nature of information systems as inherently unneutral, inevitably affected by negotiations shaped by the various information needs. • Sense-making within spatial data practices is studied. • A methodology for classifying an urban-rural continuum is analysed as a case study. • Uses of the classification are difficult, yet important to anticipate. • Communicative and social considerations cannot be disentangled from information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ongoing complex global ecological and societal transitions pose challenges of including actors with different knowledge. We focus on approaches to gaining shared understanding and acting on it in the converging fields of environment, health care and environmental health. Starting from similarities between these fields with regard to knowledge and actor inclusion, we rethink ‘knowledge’, ‘brokering’ and ‘science–policy interfaces’. Using conceptual models, we structure and characterize the multi-dimensional and interactive co-production and application of types of knowledge (scientific and other) in governance contexts shaped by institutions, political agency and policies (sectorial and integrative). We investigate cases of knowledge brokering, representing different types from formal to informal, international to national, and research-centered to action-oriented. We find both shared and isolated problems and solutions in the studied sectors and settings regarding knowledge brokering, for instance with respect to precaution, reflecting the dynamics in environmental and health care and their contexts. Methodologically, our analyses show the importance of heuristic and participatory approaches to explicating interpretations and dealing with disagreements about knowledge, values and premises for actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of an impact assessment (IA) can mean both instrumental success of applying IA results directly in decision-making, and conceptual success linked to learning about policy problems more generally. Both instrumental and conceptual success can be claimed to be reliant on the knowledge exchange context of the IA, shaped by factors such as the complexity of the policy problem, type of policy area, organisational norms, actor constellations and continuance and openness of information sharing. Even though such context factors may be pre-set, they are nevertheless contested and reformulated during each IA process. This paper ties together lessons from six different IA processes that were performed between 2011 and 2013. The cases include agricultural policy at the EU and regional level in Greece, national-level climate change and energy policy in Finland and Estonia, resource efficiency policy at the German national level, and sustainable land use policy in Inner Mongolia, China. The paper introduces and applies a typology of knowledge brokerage context factors. The paper asks how knowledge brokerage is shaped by different contexts and what determines the consequent application (or non-application) of IA tools and the use of IA results. The paper concludes by highlighting the significance of identification and acknowledgement of different knowledge exchange contexts in IA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public perceptions and expectations towards ecosystems are an important part of environmental management and planning. This article focuses on the media representations that disseminate information, create framings and influence public attitudes. More specifically, the focus is on print media representations of ecosystem disservices. Ecosystem disservices are functions or properties of ecosystems that cause negative effects on human well-being or that are perceived as harmful, unpleasant or unwanted. Results from a case study focusing on the Finnish newspaper coverage of ecosystem disservices are presented. The results show that a wide variety of harms and nuisances related to ecosystems are brought up and discussed by the media. Implications for environmental management are discussed. The key claim is that taking into account the full repertoire of media representations of ecosystem functions is vital for preventing, anticipating and solving controversies related to environmental management and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Indicators describing sustainability and, more recently, well-being have raised considerable interest throughout the world. Much conceptual and empirical research exists focusing on the criteria for sustainability and development of indicators, while relatively few studies examine the actual use and influence of indicators. Employing document analysis and interviews of key actors, we explore the use of sustainable development indicators at national and EU level and draw forth lessons relevant for topical discussion of the measurement of human well-being. We apply a conceptual model of three main types of indicator use: instrumental, conceptual, and political. The results indicate that the use of sustainability indicators is mainly confined to the ‘indicator circuit’ formed by indicator-developers themselves and actors obliged to use the indicators. The results suggest that direct instrumental use of indicators shows limited potential, whereas conceptual use is the key for enhanced indicator influence in the long term. Political use of indicators cannot be controlled by the indicator-developers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Societies are increasingly characterised by increasing mobility of people and materials. Consequently, harmful environmental impacts of transport are likely to increase unless specific policies aimed at mitigating these impacts can be successfully implemented. Based on EU-level requirements for carbon dioxide emission reductions, a car tax reform was enacted in Finland in 2008. By using the environmental protection process (EPP) framework as a conceptual tool, we perform a quantitative content analysis of media discussion of the car tax reform. The EPP framework is an integrative tool, aimed at an overall view of the characteristics of environmental problems and mitigation measures. The results show that societal factors, emissions, measures and the potential side-effects of the reform dominated the media discussion. Short-term impacts were emphasised over longer-term perspectives in the discussion’s future-orientation. Overall, it seems that in spite of a relatively wide-ranging discussion, the media debate contributed only marginally to public understanding of the prerequisites for environmentally sustainable transport. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: New information is often emphasized as a basis of effective and scientifically sound environmental policy and management. However, outdated or incorrect information is not automatically nor instantly replaced by new insights. This article focuses on the various ways environmental information can be unintentionally left with insufficient attention or purposefully neglected. Energy-related emissions caused by road traffic in Finland are used as an illustrative example and light pollution caused by artificial lighting is identified as an emerging issue that has gained especially low recognition in the environmental agenda. Four different reasons for this lack of recognition are discussed: recognized unawareness, false awareness, deliberate unawareness and concealed awareness. Paying attention to light pollution is important because of various ecological, socio-cultural and economic effects but also because implementing measures aimed for reducing light pollution create possibilities for alleviating other social and environmental problems in transport and land use policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The importance of ecosystem services for human well-being has been highlighted by several recent environmental studies and assessments. These assessments provide useful information for urban green management, but they largely exclude various nuisances and losses produced by ecosystem functions. Lack of attention to these ecosystem disservices may seriously hamper environmental management in general and urban green management in particular. Ecological, social and technological changes will affect both what kind of disservices will emerge and how they will be experienced and managed. Especially in urban areas, environmental, social and technological changes spanning from global to local levels are continuously altering urban ecosystems. Our ways of perceiving and valuing ecosystem functions are also undergoing rapid change. Here we discuss the concept of ecosystem disservices from the perspective of northern European urban ecosystems. It is concluded that perceptions about ecosystem disservices have an increasing influence on how urban green areas are experienced, valued, used, managed and developed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Societal debates are often constructed through dichotomies influenced by various factors such as cognitive capabilities of individuals, culturally shaped valuation processes, underlying societal struggles for power and prestige, economic competition, technological changes or lock-ins and operation logic of the media and social media. Debates over emerging technologies of renewable energy provide an illustrative example of this polarisation. Based on national-level studies focusing on the development of the biogas sector in Finland, we identify ten pertinent dichotomies of renewable energy and discuss their implications for the transition towards a more sustainable energy system. The dichotomies include: producer vs. consumer, urban vs. rural, local vs. national, domestic vs. foreign, centralised vs. distributed, food vs. energy, environment vs. economy, traditional vs. innovative, long-term vs. short-term, and private vs. public. These diverse and deeply rooted dichotomies structure societal debate. In some cases they may encourage and guide critical thinking, but they may also hinder the renewing of the current energy behaviour and energy system. Societal capabilities that enable the bridging of different but inherently linked dichotomies are a key precondition of sustainable energy transition. • Dichotomies give shape to the energy debate and create framings highlighting or hiding issues. • Dichotomies and societal polarisations based on multiple materials were analysed. • Ten key dichotomies were identified from the national biogas debate in Finland. • Impressions of small-scale and bottom-up types of technologies have dominated the debate. • As a combined effect of the dichotomies, biogas remains to be understood as an isolated solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Aiding the theoretical understanding of how sustainable change can take place. • Showcasing conceptual and methodological common points of futures studies and multi-level perspective. • Suggesting to use historical development paths in MLP and building towards the future with combined methods. • Scenario building and backcasting as the most prominent methods to link the two approaches in practice. • New effort to link the two approaches that could open up novel ways in building preferred futures. This article focuses on a key framework of sustainability transition studies, the multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions (MLP), and its potential and relationships with futures studies. We propose that there are various co-benefits in creating convergence between the two fields of study. Out of established frameworks in sustainability transition studies we focus on MLP due to its popularity and flexibility in analysing the dynamics of societal changes. Our analysis shows that there are various conceptual, content-based and methodological connections between MLP and futures studies that have been under-represented in both fields of literature. There are considerable similarities between scenarios and development pathways; weak signals and niche innovations; megatrends and landscape pressures. So far, MLP has been underutilized to analyse the variety of alternative futures. The MLP framework gives a structure on the systemic dynamics in societal change and futures studies provide apt methods to construct alternative pathways to societal transitions. We conclude that futures studies and the MLP framework, along with other theories and approaches in transition studies and management, have a high joint potential and thus contribute to better understanding of the dynamics of change for more sustainable futures. Realization of this potential requires further convergence of the approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Five futures images of woodchip energy use in Finland are created. • The futures images vary based on the type of operator and the role of international regulation. • In the futures images, forest use varies from preservation to the strong promotion of using woodchips as an energy source. • Transition pathways for the current regime of using woodchips as an energy source are identified. Wood is the most widely used renewable energy source in the world. However, there are competing views on how wood should be used in the future. The objective of this study is to examine conceptions related to alternative futures for the use of woodchips as an energy source in Finland. We construct futures images based on two data sources describing the views favouring the use of woodchips: thematic interviews with woodchip users and newspaper articles. The futures images are constructed based on two key themes that emerge from our data. First, the alternatives are imagined for the types of the operators using woodchips in the future, varying between small- and large-scale use. Second, the strong role of regulations, particularly at the European Union level, will be the key driver of the future use of woodchips as an energy source. The results show wide variation in the potential goals of public governance, ranging from regulations designed to strongly support the use of woodchips as an energy source to almost complete conservation of forests. Focusing on the regime level, we identify possible transition pathways illustrating how the use of woodchips could change in the future and discuss possible policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The pursuit of commute well-being is versatile. • Routines and critical incidents form past hedonic well-being in commuting. • Time can be both a feature and a setting of present hedonic well-being. • Past hedonic commute well-being impacts commuting behaviour. • Self-expression and meaningful relationships form eudaimonic well-being. Commute well-being is a multidimensional concept. However, existing research on commuting has focused mainly on hedonic well-being, whereas eudaimonic well-being has been given very little consideration. Furthermore, even though the time-related aspects of commute well-being have been acknowledged in conceptual studies, empirical studies have not yet explored them. The aim of this study is to understand both hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions of commute well-being and how these are shaped by time-related aspects relating to the past, present and future. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 108 individuals representing commuters from three different working environments. Data was coded inductively, and the analysis revealed reflections on past commuting, rewards from present-day commuting and long-term justifications of commuting decisions. The study shows how issues related to eudaimonic well-being establish the long-term base of commuting behaviour and how past hedonic commute well-being impacts commuting behaviour. Acknowledging the temporal dimension is important, because inducing long-lasting behavioural changes requires an understanding of the past and present hedonic commute well-being experiences that impact commuting behaviour in the future. Eudaimonic well-being affects commuters over a longer timescale and enables them to live contently with their choices in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local level actors have an important role in developing small-scale energy innovations as well as disseminating the gained knowledge to key audiences. Diffusion of these energy solutions from innovators and early adopters to wider user groups has often been slow. This study explores the innovators׳ and early adopters׳ experiences of their projects, motivations for their behavior, and obstacles that inhibit the diffusion of energy innovations. Four different types of innovators and early adopters of new energy solutions are identified: Enthusiasts, Utilizers, Green Developers and Green Consumers. These groups are characterized by different sets of motivating factors, including environmental concern, interest in technology, economic profit, self-sufficiency, willingness to utilize excess material, promotion of innovations and image reasons. They also have encountered different kinds of barriers to their actions, such as lack of relevant information, poor product quality and lack of economic and institutional support. The different motivating and forestalling factors should be identified and taken into account when developing incentives as well as interaction and communication strategies to enhance the diffusion of innovative, sustainable small-scale energy solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The transport environmental debate is studied through media, expert, and student discourses. [•] A holistic framework of environmental problems is employed. [•] Long-term environmental implications of traffic policies remain obscure in discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]