Sami Petri KurkiUniversity of Helsinki | HY · Ruralia Institute
Sami Petri Kurki
PhD, Professor
About
50
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1,619
Citations
Citations since 2017
Publications
Publications (50)
This study finds that it is possible for organizations in emerging categories to resist stigmatization through discursive reconstruction of the central and distinctive characteristics of the category in question. We examined the emerging market of organic farming in Finland and discovered how resistance to stigmatization was both an internal and an...
Status considerations have recently been linked to prosocial behaviors. This research shows that even everyday consumer behaviors such as favoring organic foods serve as prosocial status signaling. Key ideas from the continuum model of consumer impression formation and the theories of costly signaling and symbolic consumption are synthetized to mak...
Pioneers of organic farming often faced social challenges as their innovative ideas on agriculture not only encountered opposition in the conventional farming community, but led to stigmatization of organic farmers as social deviants. In this study, we examine what kind of stigma management strategies pioneer organic farmers engage with in order to...
This project report describes the current status of business activities related to the Finnish wilderness economy, along with the opportunities and challenges connected to the development of this business sector. This report considers wilderness economy to incorporate hunting, recreational fishing, the products and services related to large carnivo...
As the current research suggests that there are links between prosocial acts and status signaling (including sustainable consumer choices), we empirically study (with three experiments) whether food consumers go green to be seen. First, we examine how activating a motive for status influences prosocial organic food preferences. Then, we examine how...
Hunting is a rural activity and attempts to influence it are often framed, in northern Europe, in terms of ‘urban elites’ seeking to impose their will on ‘rural’ cultures. Hunting cultures are the subject of this paper, but instead of focusing on their relationship with conservation, as most previous work has done, it explores their interaction wit...
The use of natural resources often generates conflict among stakeholders. Conflict analysis and management in this sector has traditionally been based on compliance enforcement and/or education. Recently, however, the need for alternative approaches has been increasingly highlighted. In this study, we address the need for in-depth analysis, and int...
Even though consumers’ status signaling is a heavily researched topic, empirical contributions from two important research areas—the mundane food context and prosocial status signaling between male consumers—to signaling literature are still scarce. Thus, this study empirically investigates how a male signaling about his status through favoring org...
This paper examines the discursive processes through which a stigmatized practice is constructed a new destigmatized status with tenets and characteristics that correspond to the prevailing social order. We employ a media analysis to conduct a qualitative study of a practice that was previously stigmatized but is currently accepted: organic farming...
Wolf (Canis lupus) management policies in Finland are based on the terms for achieving favorable conservation status via strict protection, as specified in the Habitats Directive. Consequently, wolf management has been imposed in a top-down manner and have inevitably been lacking in terms of place-based policy. This has resulted in multidimensional...
In Finland, the conservation of large mammalian carnivores—brown bear, lynx, wolf and wolverine—is undermined by illegal killings that have commonly taken place after the implementation of national carnivore management plans. This hidden form of criminality cannot occur to such an extent without strong support from the local community. We examined...
This evaluation of the Finnish national policy on large carnivores focuses on the success in accomplishing ecological, economic and social sustainability in population management during the period from 2007 to 2012 through objectives and actions in the implemented population management plans.
The conclusions drawn in the evaluation are based on a l...
This article focuses on the roots of the Finnish wolf conflict by using stakeholder evaluations of the wolf as a tool. The
recent growth of the wolf population has highlighted stakeholders’ contradictory objectives and revealed a conflict between
the two main stakeholders, conservationists and hunters, in wolf management. The question of hunting em...
Recreational, or sport hunting, has a strong tradition in many areas of Europe, United States and Canada
(Willebrand 2009; Gordon, Hester & Festa-Bianchet 2004). Hunting tourism has been identified as an
important but currently under developed source of regional development in Northern Europe (Fraser of
Allander Institute 2010; Matilainen & Keskina...
Contradictory attitudes towards lynx Lynx lynx management in Finland have emerged as a consequence of rapid growth of the lynx population together with the strict protection and conservation objectives determined by the European Union. In this study, conducted during 2004-2005, we examined local people's and stakeholders' opinions about lynx manage...
The aim of this report is to discuss the role of the relationship type and communication in two Finnish food chains, namely the pig meat-to-sausage (pig meat chain) and the cereal-to-rye bread (rye chain) chains. Furthermore, the objective is to examine those factors influencing the choice of a relationship type and the sustainability of a business...
SNature tourism in Finland involves watching or photographing large carnivores in the regions of Kainuu, Kuusamo and Pohjois-Karjala, which are the main occurrence areas of all four large mammalian carnivores: the brown bear (Ursus arctos), the grey wolf (Canis lupus), the lynx (Lynx lynx) and the wolverine (Gulo gulo). Nature tourism is centred ma...
The growth of the Finnish wolf (Canis lupus) population during the last years has highlighted people’s contradictory attitudes toward wolves. The supranational conservation
objectives brought on by Finland’s membership in the European Union (EU) and the regional application of the official policy
on wolves have led to conflicts. This article is bas...
Like other large predators, wolverines have made their mark on human life ever since humans conquered wild areas in order to make a living. As early as the 18th century it was stated in the Finnish legislation that wolverine populations must be regulated. At that time, people sought to eliminate these “enemies of the society”. This practice was enc...
Kansalaisten karhukannat Tiivistelmä Ihmisen ja karhun suhde on aina ollut varsin monitahoinen, ja sen juuret ulottuvat ajassa huomattavan kauas taaksepäin. Ennen kaikkea pohjoisten kansojen keskuudessa karhua on arvostettu, ja karhumyytit ja karhuperinteet ovatkin kautta koko pohjoisen pallonpuoliskon huomattavasti kirjoitettua historiaa vanhempia...
Maamme ilveskanta hävitettiin lähestulkoon olemattomiin 1800-luvun lopulla ja 1900-luvun alussa. Valtion tapporahan maksamisen lopettaminen 1962 sekä idästä rajan yli vaeltavat yksilöt loivat ilveskannalle mahdollisuudet elpyä, ja 1970-luvulta lähtien kannan kasvu onkin ollut varsin positiivista. Suomen liittyminen EU:n jäseneksi vuoden 1995 alusta...
An essential component of the food production sector in lagging regions consists of small-scale enterprises located in rural areas. A high proportion utilise traditional production methods, emphasising local identity and distinctiveness, thereby differentiating products and servicing niche or segmented markets. Such enterprises frequently integrate...
We examined inter-specific interactions among goshawks (Accipiter gentilis), common buzzards (Buteo buteo) and honey buzzards (Pernis apivorus) in western Finland in 1983–1996. Because goshawks are among the largest birds of prey species in boreal forests they may take over the nest of smaller and less-competitive forest-dwelling raptors when searc...
We examined territory occupancy (n = 161; 720 breeding attempts) of northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) in western Finland in 1983-1996. Nest sites of goshawks were characterized by old forests. The proportion of longstanding goshawk territories declined steeply from the beginning of the 1990s, while occasionally occupied goshawk territories bec...
Summary •The effects of human-caused fragmentation of boreal forest on the abundance of red fox Vulpes vulpes L. and pine marten Martes martes L. were studied by combining the Finnish wildlife-triangle snow-track data (1990–94) with land-use and forest resources data employing the GIS. Two study areas (each 45 000 km2) located in northern and south...
The effect of landscape composition on the breeding success of vole-eating Tengmalm's owl (Aegolius funereus) was studied in western Finland at five different spatial scales (250–4000 m) around the nests during two consecutive three-year population cycles of voles. Landscape composition had strongest effects on owl breeding in the decrease phase of...
The management of biological diversity at the landscape level in Finland is complicated by the relatively small size of the holdings and the fact that the habitats of species do not necessarily follow the holding borders. Therefore, there is a great need to develop such forest-planning approaches that aim at solving the problems that some species h...
Risk analysis is increasingly used in assessing the future of rare and vulnerable species. Often, the probability of the extinction of a population in certain time horizon is assessed. Risk analyses are based on a stochastic model of population dynamics. The assumptions about the population model and the values of parameters are crucial in risk ana...
We examined the breeding success of forest grouse in relation to anthropogenic forest fragmentation in Finland. Employing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and grouse data derived from Finnish wildlife triangle censuses conducted during 1989-1994, we combined the locations of 2267 Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix) and 1060 Capercaillie (T. urogallus)...
Modern forestry alters the structure of boreal forest landscapes, and this affects several forest species with different habitat requirements. Quantitative analyses of the structure of real landscapes are scarce, although this information will be needed in landscape- level planning and management applications. We investigated the occurrence and con...
Earlier reports from Fennoscandia and Russia have shown that among adult capercaillies the proportion of females is 60-65%, mainly as a consequence of high mortality of male chicks during their first months of life. The Finnish August censuses of grouse (1964-1988) show that the percentage of female capercaillie has remained unchanged at about 60-6...
Since the introduction of the idea of sustainability in the human use of natural resources, there have been profound changes in the operating environment of commercial forestry also in Finland. Despite that grand goals are set and different 'green policies' adopted, only seldom there is any consensus among different interest groups about the real c...
The spatial distribution and connectivity of forest characteristics, such as soil productivity, stage of forest development, forest tree species composition and forest vertical structure, were studied according to forest ownership groups in Central Finland. The study was based on the data from the Finnish National Forest Inventory. The spatial dist...
Modern forestry during the last decades has strongly increased fragmentation of forest habitats. This may result in harmful effects on raptor species which are strictly dependent on boreal forests, such as the vole-eating Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus). The long-term data from Finland shows that in extensive forest areas, fledgling production of Bo...
We studied the spatial covariation of breeding success of black grouse and capercaillie and densities of mammalian generalist predators in Finland. Our study was based on six years' data from the Finnish wildlife triangle censuses (1989-1994). At the nation-wide level (100 x 100 km grids), the proportion of hens with a brood in August covaried regi...
The effect of mature forest fragmentation on breeding success of vole-eating Tengmalm's owls Aegolius funereus was studied in western Finland during 1981-1995. The owl pairs produced more fledglings in territories with high (>30%) proportions of clear-cut and plantation areas than in territories with low (<30%) proportions of such areas. Territory...
We used data from the Finnish wildlife triangle censuses (1989-92) to test the prediction that the reproductive success of ground-nesting bird species is lowered in forest landscapes fragmented by the occurrence of agricultural land, presumably as a consequence of increased densities of generalist predators Our study was based on 201 wildlife trian...
Viime vuosina tapahtunut susikannan lisääntyminen ja levittäytyminen on nostanut esiin ihmisten ristiriitaisen suhtautumisen suteen ja erilaiset kannan hoidon tavoitteet. Susikeskustelu on kärjistynyt erityisesti Itä-Suomessa, missä on kannan esiintymisen painopiste ja mihin myös kannan kasvu voimakkaasti keskittyy. EU-jäsenyyden mukanaan tuomien y...
Over the past few years, the wolf population has increased and spread to new areas in Finland. These developments have highlighted people’s conflicting attitudes to wolves and the different objectives for managing the wolf population. The wolf debate has been particularly heated in eastern Finland, where the wolf population and its growth are mainl...
Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tehdä perusselvitys niistä metsästyksen ja siihen perustuvan matkailun toimintamalleista, joita tällä hetkellä on käytössä valtion mailla. Kuvauksen ja kehittämistarpeiden lisäksi arvioitiin tämänhetkisen toiminnan sosiaalista, taloudellista ja ekologista kestävyyttä sekä tulevaisuuden näkymiä kuten väestökehityksen vaik...
Suomessa on kuivattu kosteikkoja viimeisten vuosisatojen aikana maa- ja metsätalouden tehostamisen nimissä. Viljelysten vuoksi toteutettujen ojitusten johdosta on Suomesta hävinnyt merkittävästi kosteikkoja puroista järviin, eikä uusia kosteikoita enää synny luontaisesti, koska alueita on varattu muuhun maankäyttöön. Kosteikot kuuluvat tänä päivänä...
Projects
Projects (3)
StratKIT (InterregBSR, 2019-2021) project is all about how the competences and innovations of public authorities and catering service providers can be shared and combined to support locally adapted and important changes towards sustainability. The co-learning and co-development efforts also apply and enrich European ideas and policies for green and circular economies. StratKIT brings together public authorities, catering service providers and researchers in a network to set up a toolkit and an online open knowledge platform for more sustainable public procurement and catering services.
Sustainable hunting tourism - business opportunity in remote rural areas.
Synopsis:
The project will promote the development of sustainable hunting tourism that will diversify the economical activity of peripheral regions in Northern Europe based on the strengths of these areas. This will be done by developing the companies and the operational environment related to the sector.
The project will focus on practical development and networking activities based on exchange of transnational information and expertise on hunting tourism with the aims of
reducing the obstacles for the entrepreneurship,
enhancing the activities of SMEs and
provoking discussion and raising awareness of the potential and challenges of hunting tourism based on the northern hunting cultures.
As part of the process the project will create sustainable models for hunting tourism and tools for managing sustainability in different institutional settings, which will be combined to the material package and training materials and used in creating the criteria for sustainable hunting tourism.
Sustainable hunting tourism - business opportunity in remote rural areas?
Synopsis:
The project will promote the development of sustainable hunting tourism that will diversify the economical activity of peripheral regions in Northern Europe based on the strengths of these areas. This will be done by developing the companies and the operational environment related to the sector.
The project will focus on practical development and networking activities based on exchange of transnational information and expertise on hunting tourism with the aims of
reducing the obstacles for the entrepreneurship,
enhancing the activities of SMEs and
provoking discussion and raising awareness of the potential and challenges of hunting tourism based on the northern hunting cultures.
As part of the process the project will create sustainable models for hunting tourism and tools for managing sustainability in different institutional settings, which will be combined to the material package and training materials and used in creating the criteria for sustainable hunting tourism.
The project aims at supporting the development of the Finnish hunting tourism, recreational fishing tourism and wildlife tourism (mainly watching and photographing large carnivores). The project explores key business figures of the current tourism activities and their regional economic impact, and brings resource-based value chains to the fore. The aim is to examine and discuss prospects and challenges of developing the tourism activities in national and international context.
