Search

The recent Covid‐19 pandemic highlighted rural–urban interactions, in particular the fact that cities are dependent on the accessibility of non‐metropolitan and rural spaces and vice versa. This article seeks to understand how these interactions contributed to emergent relational spaces of rurality during the Covid‐19 crisis. The article analyses politicised mobilities between localities and rural–urban linkages that are tied to the sustainability of rural change. The study focuses on two countries: Estonia and Finland, exploring thematic narratives on second‐home practices and related politics during the outbreak of the Covid‐19 crisis. The explored regions were the South Savo region in Finland and the island of Saaremaa and northern coastal villages in Estonia. The analysis indicates ways in which the mobility restrictions and disturbances triggered by the Covid‐19 pandemic attributed certain demands and hopes to rural areas and led the shift in rural–urban interactions. The article contributes to the understanding of co‐existences between im/mobilities and multi‐local living and sustainability in rural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human recognition, valuation, and communication lie at the heart of ecosystem goods and services. We explore how the wellbeing effects of ecosystems are recognized and communicated based on data obtained from an information campaign to increase public awareness of the health and wellbeing benefits of rural nature areas in Finland. Interested members of the public from different backgrounds were asked to outline and publicly share short descriptions of their personal recommendations for improving their wellbeing through interacting with rural landscapes. The results indicate that a wide variety of ecosystem types and functions are perceived to be important for producing a range of wellbeing benefits through experiencing and multisensory observations of natural landscapes. The importance of cultural and experiential ecosystem services were highlighted while provisioning services received only minor attention, and regulating services were almost entirely unnoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the growth of nature-based tourism, national parks and other protected areas have become important tourist attractions and tools for regional development. Meanwhile, research on the impact of nature on human health and well-being is increasing and taken into account in park management. This study examines health and well-being benefits perceived by visitors to Finland's protected areas. It is based on survey data from five national parks and one strict nature reserve in 2013–2015: an on-site visitor survey (N= 3152) and an Internet-based health and well-being survey (N= 1054). The study indicates that visitors’ perceived benefits to their well-being were highly positive. Visits to protected areas promoted psychological, physical, and social benefits. In particular, park visits were found to provide strong and multi-faceted, long-lasting, embodied and sensory well-being experiences as well as escape from everyday life and work. Overnight visitors reported more well-being benefits than day visitors, and different types of park had different well-being benefits. The study suggests that the potential benefits of protected areas for public health are significant, emphasizing the need to integrate health and well-being arguments into the neoliberalist politics assessing the economic benefits of protected areas and their role in regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sparsely populated northern resource communities have been marked by flows of out-migration and an aging population. However, rural places are also becoming the locus of a range of leisure and work related mobilities. The aim of the paper is to identify different forms of rural mobilities and analyse their economic and socio-cultural importance for peripheral development. We introduce a framework of temporary mobilities to study the range of seasonal and temporary movements and mobile groups. The framework is applied to a forestry dependent community in eastern Finland, and a second home community in Finnish Lapland. These northern communities have traditionally been dependent on the use of natural resources. Our analysis shows that during past decades however, their development has become increasingly defined by tourists, recreationists, second home owners and seasonal workers. Our findings highlight the importance of fixity, stopping and staying when evaluating the consequences and potentials of mobilities for rural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiencing nature and enjoying natural amenities have long been identified as key motives for rural second home tourism. However, the more people travel and spend time in the natural environment, the more it is disturbed by their actions and activities. In this paper, we examine how people perceive the environmental impacts of rural second home tourism and how they justify their views. The study focuses on Finland where rural second homes are widespread. Analysis is based on a questionnaire survey conducted among Finns in 2012 (n = 1189). Responses from different groups of respondents (second home owners, regular users of second homes and non-users) are quantitatively and qualitatively analysed. The results indicate that the Finnish respondents generally think that second home tourism poses some degree of harmful environmental impacts. However, it is the second home owners who are least worried about these environmental impacts. They generally justify their opinions using a “place-related” perspective, that is, by referring to their own experiences and actions at the cottage site. In contrast, the non-users see environmental impacts more often from a broader perspective by referring to the wider environmental interconnections with second home tourism. In our discussion, we introduce the notions of place-based (relative) and phenomenon-based (relational) environmental perceptions as a potential framework for future research on this topic. In mitigating the increasing environmental impacts of second home tourism, understanding the environmental perceptions and awareness of second home owners and users is crucial to be successful in mobilising sustainable options and environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural communities are getting more diversified in terms of people's backgrounds, sources of livelihood and interests towards the rural landscape. A common way to discuss rural community change has been to contrast in-migrants and seasonal residents with long-term rural residents. In this article, we aim to challenge this segmentation. We ask what it is to be a dweller in the modern countryside and how much the residential status has to do with people's interests and use of space. Based on a postal survey in a case study area in Finland, we look into the differences in the valuation of different leisure activities performed in rural space between second home owners and permanent residents. After dividing permanent residents and second home owners into further subgroups based on their spatial and temporal possibilities to engage in rural leisure, we found that there are no specific activities or groups of activities typical for certain groups of rural leisure space users. Differences between local residents and second-home owners are rarely explained by this simple dichotomy, rather the differences are better explained by spatial and temporal accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of place attachment has been found to be useful in exploring cottagers' evaluations and management preferences of cottage areas. The point of departure for the article is the conclusion of many previous studies that the natural environment is important to cottagers' place attachment. To understand this attachment and the role of nature in more detail, the article explores the meanings given to nature as well as the ways nature is used and encountered in the context of cottages. Based on interviews conducted in three parks in Finland and Canada, the results show that nature is important as both an abstraction and a concrete platform for different activities. The meanings given to nature affect the ways it is perceived and used and vice versa, but at times what people say does not align with their actions. The results suggest that cottagers' management preferences cannot be fully understood merely by studying their environmental preferences and attitudes or the strength of their place attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border and international second home ownership is a worldwide phenomenon and growing in popularity as people seek desirable environments further away than before. As the desired landscapes are also likely to possess a considerable local and national value, research is needed to find out how host societies perceive and receive the newcomers. This paper explores the Finnish public debate on foreign second home ownership from 1990 to 2008, a period that has witnessed a considerable growth in foreign property ownership. The paper uses the concept of cottage landscape to analyse how second homes are positioned nationally and how foreign second home ownership is debated in relation to the national definitions and valuations. Based on changing emphases and fears related to the phenomenon, three periods of public debate are distinguished. The results demonstrate the iconic image of cottage landscape in the Finnish society by showing how foreign second home ownership is perceived as a threat to the Finnish way of life, landownership rights and national identity. From the perspective of the host society, foreign second home ownership is a complicated and emotional matter with potential to raise opposition and even conflicts when the foreign demand focuses on locally or nationally valued landscapes. Therefore research on the internationalisation of second home ownership can no longer ignore the perspective of the host society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Second homes are an integral part of leisure history in many developed countries. They are also increasingly popular in modern societies. While the material well-being of home and work has increased, many people increasingly seek simpler life forms. An essential motive to use and purchase a second home is the landscape. This article explores the concept of second-home landscape on the basis of contemporary research and a case study of second-home owners in the Finnish Lakeland. Attributable to theories of human geography, three prominent approaches of second-home landscape are distinguished: physical, experiential and cultural. The case study illustrates that these are not mutually exclusive, but the landscape has many faces. Even if the physical attributes form the solid basis for the second-home landscape, it does not exist independentally of perception. It is produced through the everyday practices of people, which are adjusted to social and cultural discourses. In the strain of modern society, second-home landscape is often perceived as an ideal habitat. It, however, is in constant change in relation to time and space so that future generations, inheritors and buyers of the cottages will have their say in the contexts in which the landscape is interpreted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular and efficient material use faces challenges stemming from present practices. The current way of managing waste needs revising if material circularity is to increase. Earlier studies on key factors promoting the circular economy (CE) have been theoretically oriented, whereas this study aims to increase understanding of the critical factors faced by practitioners in the transition towards a CE. Practitioners from 25 pilots promoting waste prevention and recycling in various industries were interviewed on the barriers and success factors encountered when implementing pilots. The practitioners were further categorised as developers and intermediaries. Our study showed that different actor groups do not share a similar vision on the barriers. Developers lack systemic thinking, as they primarily only recognise the barriers close to their own development activities, whereas intermediaries identify barriers further along the material supply chain and in different barrier categories. In a CE, the role of waste management is to promote the retention of material value in the cycles through recycling. The findings show that this can be promoted by illustrating the economic benefits of a CE, better sharing of waste-related data, and increasing the dialogue and cooperation between key players. Furthermore, harmonisation of regulations and their interpretations is needed. The waste management sector could take a more diversified role in the implementation of a CE, such as by providing waste processing services for the needs of the manufacturing industry. The study highlights the idea that overcoming barriers requires recognition of their interlinkages and actions at different levels. • Circularity is hindered primarily by socio-cultural, economic and institutional factors. • More accurate and open data on waste is needed to boost innovative business. • Different actor groups do not share the same vision on the barriers. • Developers of circular products and activities would benefit from systemic thinking. • There is a lack of operators enhancing the processing of waste-based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the last ten years, the notion of a green economy has become increasingly attractive to policy makers. However, green economy covers a lot of diverse concepts and its links with sustainability are not always clear. In this article, we focus on definitions of green economy and related concepts and an evaluation of these concepts against the criterion of strong and weak sustainability. The article serves three purposes: Firstly, we identify and describe diverse theories, concepts, approaches and tools related to a “green economy”. Among these are the theories of environmental economics and ecological economics, the concepts and approaches of cleaner production, waste hierarchy, bio-economy, industrial ecology, circular economy, nature-based solutions, and dematerialization through product-servicizing, and tools like life cycle assessment, and cost-benefit analysis. Secondly, we develop a framework that shows the capacity of the green economy concepts, approaches and tools to support the transition towards sustainability. Such a framework can serve as a heuristic to embed diverse concepts and approaches into a green economy framework. Thirdly, we briefly discuss green economy concepts with respect to their impact on strong and weak sustainability. Depending on the different concepts, approaches and tools identified in the green economy framework, different degrees of substitutability and trade-offs between environmental and economic benefits are allowed, and more or less structural changes of our modes of living are required. By discussing the notion of green economy and related concepts, approaches and tools we seek to make a contribution to their definitions and relationships as a prerequisite for operationalizing green economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism produces an increasing share in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These are mostly derived from transport emissions, and long-haul air travel in particular. Short-haul domestic tourism is believed by some to be a potential substitute for long-haul tourism. Using the example of Finland this paper examines the extent to which domestic second home tourism can substitute for other leisure trips and therefore contribute to reductions of travel-generated GHG emissions. Survey data are used to evaluate the CO2emissions caused by travel to domestic second homes, and to create statistical models that verify if the owners of domestic second homes travel to other leisure destinations less frequently than others, and if they cause less emissions by their leisure mobility than others with comparable economic and demographic background. We find that although the owners and users of domestic second homes travel for other leisure purposes less frequently than others, this does not mean their leisure mobility generates less emissions. Overall, owners of second homes produce significantly more CO2by their leisure mobility than non-owners. The use of second homes does not seem to be a substitute for high emission long-haul travels, but rather a part of an overall highly mobile leisure lifestyle. It is therefore necessary to better understand and influence the entire range of individual mobility behaviours in order to reduce travel-related GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]