Simo Sarkki

University of Oulu · Department of Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities

Toistuvuuden taika: refleksiivinen tiedontuotanto tutkijan ja tiede-politiikkakytkösten näkökulmista

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are considered as means to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss while simultaneously enhancing human well-being. Yet, it is still poorly understood how NBS could be mainstreamed. We address this gap by proposing a framework on NBS and employing it in Finland's Kiiminkijoki River basin through participatory worksh...

In this paper, we provide conceptual and practical insights into social innovation, highlighting its role in achieving a more sustainable provision of ecosystem services from forests, as well as its role in tackling societal challenges and utilising the opportunities available in marginalised mountain areas across Europe. The findings indicate that...

Scenarios are a powerful way in which the scientific community can inform future policies for transformative change. Forthcoming scenario work holds promise for the Nature Futures Framework, which through the concept of relational values, seeks to recognize a multiplicity of value positions on human-environment relations, including those of Indigen...

For decades, a post-Cold War narrative heralded a 'new Arctic', with melting ice and snow and accessible resources that would build sustainable communities. Today, large parts of the Arctic are still trapped in the path dependencies of past resource extraction. At the same time, the impetus for green transitions and a 'new industrialism' spell oppo...

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, UN Member States pledge “to leave no one behind” and “endeavour to reach the furthest behind first”. The EU Just Transition Fund (JTF) was designed to meet these policy objectives. It is one of three pillars of the Just Transition Mechanism, aiming at fair delivery of the European Green Deal and reducing advers...

Social innovation literature focuses commonly on roles of cooperation in addressing co‐evolution of civil society initiatives and state‐based governance toward sustainable solutions. However, roles of conflicts in driving social change are scarcely addressed in social innovation literature. We elaborated a concept of bottom‐linked environmental gov...

Tulevaisuus on huomisen tosiasia, porotaloudessakin. Siihen kannattaa varautua. Ihmiset myös muokkaavat tulevaisuutta toiminnallaan. Tulevalta odotetaan hyvinvointia, niin ettei uusien sukupolvien mahdollisuuksia kuitenkaan kuluteta loppuun.

In Sápmi and beyond, the practice of reindeer herding is under increasing pressure from competing for land use, large carnivores and climate change. The governing systems are, however, ill-equipped and unable to address resulting cumulative and interacting impacts. This has led to a difficult situation for reindeer herding due to the loss of land,...

This chapter examines the complexities and challenges in state governance of the maximum permitted number of reindeer in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The common findings regarding the three countries are that (1) maximum permitted numbers of reindeer set by the nation states primarily seem to promote objectives other than those of herders; (2) vario...

This article proposes new insights on sustainability of tourism through social innovations. The underlying aim is to find practical ways to enhance sustainability in and through tourism, as sustainability has been criticized for its abstract nature. The marginally studied relationship of sustainability of tourism and social innovations is explored...

In this paper, we elaborate an Institutional Analysis and Reconfiguration Framework centered around the ‘action arena’ theoretical approach. We develop this framework to analyze institutional reconfiguration to enhance sustainability, and operationalize it using research methods which focus on documentation of the institutional contexts through an...

In this paper, in the context of the development of bio-economy the Ukraine's Carpathians, we explore existing demands for forest ecosystem services at a local level, as well as institutional capabilities (including the emergence of social innovation) and practical issues of the contribution of non-wood forest products and services (NWFP&S) to the...

Social innovation (SI) impacts are long-term changes that affect different dimensions of territorial capital (i.e., economy, society, environment, governance) for the territory in which SI occurs. Yet, systematic empirical evidence and theoretically sound assessments of the impacts of SI are scarce. This paper aims to fill the gap and assess the di...

Social innovations can tackle various challenges related to gender equity in rural areas, especially when such innovations are initiated and developed by women themselves. We examine cases located in rural areas of Canada, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, and Serbia, where women are mar-ginalized by gender roles, patriarchal values, male dominated economy...

Social innovation is perceived as a collaborative response from civic society actors to societal challenges, and as such is increasingly being recognised as a drive to advance sustainable development. Social innovation promotes civic values, particularly in marginalised rural areas that are often struggling with biophysical and market limits, as we...

Ecological restoration is key to counteracting anthropogenic degradation of biodiversity and to reducing disaster risk. However, there is limited knowledge of barriers hindering the wider implementation of restoration practices, despite high level political priority to halt the loss of biodiversity. In Europe, progress on ecological restoration has...

The forest sector in various ways fosters employment, community development and prevents depopulation in marginalized rural areas. Since the economic recession in Europe from 2009, there has been a notable change regarding the roles that public and private actors play in tackling current social and economic problems. The term Social Innovation (SI)...

The implementation challenge of ecosystem-based (fisheries) management (EB(F)M) has entailed calls for integrated governance (IG) approaches in the marine field. We arranged an expert workshop to study the preconditions and applicability of IG, and to suggest how IG could be arranged in practice. Focusing on the management of the dioxin problem sha...

The subarctic Teno River is one of the most significant spawning rivers for Atlantic salmon in Europe. In 2009, research indicated that the Teno salmon stock was in a weak state, and concern about the future of Atlantic salmon in the Teno River arose on both sides of the river, in Finland and Norway. In 2017, the governments ratified the new Teno f...

Denne rapporten har sin opprinnelse i en slik kunnskapsutveksling mellom reindriftsutøvere fra de nordiske landene. Resultatene som presenteres er basert på erfaringer, kunnskap, innsikt og aktivt engasjement i skriveprosessen fra reindriftsutøvere som deltok fra ulike regioner i reindriftsområdene i Norge, Sverige og Finland. Vi håper at dette sam...

Social innovation is recognised for its potential to turn societal challenges into opportunities and develop sustainable solutions for people and nature. We identify and examine challenges that Ukrainian forestry is facing and apply an "action arena" conceptual approach to explore whether and how social innovation can enhance the sustainable develo...

The stakeholder concept has dominated academic discussions for a number of years and has functioned as a normative guide for natural resource management. However, there are at least three characteristics in stakeholder approaches: (1) all-inclusivity; (2) prioritization of economic interests; (3) ahistorical view on rights, which risk continued mar...

This paper considers the hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha) fishery of southern Bangladesh as a case study regarding governance and power dynamics at play in a small-scale fishery, and the relevance of these for the sustainable management of coastal fisheries. Qualitative methods, involving in-depth individual interviews (n = 128) and focus group discus...

Matching knowledge Demand, research Funding and knowledge Supply (DFS) is important in order to enhance societally and policy relevant research, target funding appropriately and enhance the connectivity between science, policy and society. The DFS field around reindeer management in Finland offers a fertile case study to examine interconnected and...

The Greek word nomos is usually taken to mean a law or a convention governing human conduct. The concept has been developed to understand social and economic order comprising three aspects: appropriation, production and distribution. In the present paper, I focus on appropriation and define it as the knowledge claims being made and circulated in sc...

Fisheries management aims to ensure that the fishing activities are environmentally sustainable in the long term, while also achieving the economic, social and food security related management objectives. To facilitate this, both the ecological and human dimensions of sustainability need to be included in fisheries assessment. In addition, assessin...

We examine roles and knowledge by which researchers can enhance connections between science, policy, and society. We arranged a participatory scenario workshop with representatives from environmental administration to discuss how different land-use governance arrangements link to sustainability of reindeer herding in northern Finland. We used fast...

Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) have been playing a crucial role in meeting the basic needs of millions of people around the world. Despite this, the sustainability of global fisheries is a growing concern, and the factors enabling or constraining the sustainable management of small-scale fisheries remain poorly understood. Hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilish...

This article focuses on the dioxin problem of Baltic herring and salmon fisheries and its governance that is based on natural scientific knowledge. The dioxin problem weakens the perceived quality of Baltic salmon and herring as food and affects the way the catches can be used. This influences negatively the fishing livelihood, the coastal culture,...

In this paper, we explore demands for forest ecosystem services at a local level, in the Ukraine's Carpathians, as well as institutional capabilities and practical issues of the contribution of non-wood forest products and services (NWFP&S) to the well-being of rural communities. In our research, we applied participatory techniques (based on stakeh...

Is there a transition in forest governance in Ukraine? What are the pathways to change? How do people see the future? What are the dominant public attitudes concerning the transition? What policies can be designed and operationalised using socially innovative tools, strategies and adaptive management practices? We conducted a national level survey...

Participatory scenario methodologies are increasingly used for studying possible future developments in the Arctic. They have the potential to contribute to several high-priority tasks for Arctic research, such as integration of indigenous and local knowledge in futures studies, providing a platform for activating Arctic youth in shaping their futu...

Tuning participatory processes is often insufficient to achieve transition from authoritative state to democratic and participatory forest governance due to institutional inertia and unwillingness to truly decentralize decision-making power. Social innovations as reconfigurations of relationships between state, market actors, civil society and scie...

Science-policy interface organizations and initiatives (SPIORG) are a key component of environmental governance designed to make links between science and society. However, the science­policy interface literature lacks a structured approach to explaining the impacts of context on and by these initiatives. To better understand these impacts on and i...

We studied the role of human values in social innovations (SIs) in four forest-dependent communities (FDCs) in Europe. We draw on 71 semi-structured interviews with FDC members in Finland, Slovenia, the UK and Ukraine, and a survey of householders (n = 150) and focus group interviews with related stakeholders in Ukraine. The material collected was...

In this report we present results of evaluation of 11 Social Innovation Case Studies. The assessments of the Social Innovations were based upon three main blocks. The first step of the evaluation of the social innovation initiative focuses on five evaluation criteria: Relevance, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Impacts and Sustainability (REEIS). This wa...

Finding ways to manage interrelations between conservation objectives and social goals is of interest to conservation biologists, social scientists, policy makers, and local and indigenous communities. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Forests provide a long list of benefits to people. Sustainable use of forests contributes to the well-being of local communities. It helps them tackle challenges and address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Sustainability in forest use is enhanced by regulations and improved by market incentives and policy instruments. These instruments,...

The paper reflects on using social innovation for revitalising forest-dependent communities. It was published in Chartered Forester, UK, 2018/2019, Winter, Pages 18-19

Scenario methods can be used to cope with future uncertainties by envisioning plausible futures and identifying paths to reach desirable targets. The objective of this paper is to develop novel proposals revealing generalised dynamics on “HOW” the different normative recommendations can work under different exploratory scenarios. Previous literatur...

1 Міністерство освіти і науки України Міністерство екології і природних ресурсів України Львівський національний університет імені Івана Франка Географічний факультет, кафедра раціонального використання природних ресурсів і охорони природи Департамент екології та природних ресурсів Львівської обласної державної адміністрації ПРИРОДНІ РЕСУРСИ РЕГІОН...

The term “social innovation” (SI) is currently applied to denote a broad range of activities connected to explicit goals and supposedly designed to address inherent societal problems. These problems are rooted in current economic and ecological crises, such as poverty, unemployment, forced migration, brain drain, social inequality or environmental...

Social resilience is an essential aspect of sustainability in environmental management, especially in poor resource-dependent communities. To better understand the dynamics of social resilience, we have conducted a primarily qualitative study of communities dependent on hilsa fishing in two coastal villages in southern Bangladesh. This study applie...

Treeline areas provide a range of ecosystem services, but there are diverging views as to how and for whose benefit, these ecosystem services are managed. Applying a Q-method, we explore experts' attitudes towards forest related decision-making and governance in treeline areas to reveal the attitudinal divergences that exist and analyse patterns of...

One of the objectives of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is to increase the contribution of fisheries to fish food availability and self-sufficiency. Still, the use of catch is often a secondary concern in fisheries governance and management – or not a concern at all – while the focus is on harvesting. This paper examines how the use of forage...

Previous literature on social equity has focused on procedure, distribution and recognition related to land use governance. We propose novel approach to examine social equity by following ideational turn with an aim to explore globally used and locally persistent myths that (mis)inform governance in practice and effect on the three dimensions of so...

To address the pressing problems associated with biodiversity loss, changes in awareness and behaviour are required from decision makers in all sectors. Science-policy interfaces (SPIs) have the potential to play an important role, and to achieve this effectively, there is a need to understand better the ways in which existing SPIs strive for effec...

Mountain forests can assist in reducing societal vulnerability of forest dependent communities. • A combined DPSIR-ES approach proved to be useful for identifying human responses. • The heterogeneity of perceptions reflecting on forest related decision-making has been untangled. • Expert evaluation of the FSES can assist in designing policy and pra...

This paper explores the adaptation possibilities of reindeer herding regarding environmental changes at the Northernmost Swedish-Finnish border region. Four herding communities of Könkämäeno-Muonionjoki River Valley were chosen due to the cultural and environmental diversity of the region and the similarities of livelihood challenges. The objective...

Utría National Park is a remote biodiversity hotspot in Colombia. It encompasses ancestral territories of the Embera indigenous peoples and borders territories of Afro-descendant communities in El Valle. We explore environmental value conflicts regarding the use of the park as a Wicked Problem that has no clear solution. Juxtaposing how the territo...

Social innovation (SI) has rapidly expanded in the debates and agenda of the research and policy communities over the last decade (Adams and Hess, 2010; Baker and Mehmood, 2015; Neumeier 2016, Haxeltine et al., 2017). There are considerable expectations of the potential of SI for addressing urgent societal challenges. Considering the diversity and...

The state of, and changes to, altitudinal and polar treeline ecosystems and their services in selected mountain regions in Europe were analyzed using the drivers-pressures-stateimpacts- responses (DPSIR) framework. The analysis was based on 45 responses of experts from 19 countries to 2 semi-structured questionnaires on treeline ecosystem services...

Global warming, land-use change, mass tourism and a deteriorating socio-economic situation pose serious threats to the sustainability of mountain areas. The future development of these areas could be an example of the Great Transition scenario. Based on iterative and collaborative discussions with 60 treeline experts, we (1) envisioned plausible fu...

“Honest broker” refers to scientists facilitating complex political decisions from a neutral position, aiming to expand the scope of choice available instead of advocating a certain policy. This article reflects on the experiences of three scientists acting as honest brokers while carrying out a multicriteria evaluation to help politicians choose t...

The concepts of resilience and ecosystem services broaden the opportunities for assessing sustainability of social-ecological systems (SESs). The lack of operational frameworks for assessing the resilient provision of ecosystem services by SESs impedes greater integration of resilience thinking in natural resource governance. The greatest challenge...

Achieving social equity among local stakeholders should be a key objective for ecosystem service (ES) governance in Europe’s ecologically fragile treeline areas. The ES literature tends to be biased towards distributional equity and market-based instruments when assessing social equity of ES governance. In this study, we analyze a wide range of soc...

This paper advances existing knowledge of stakeholder attitudes towards ecosystem- based forest strategies and management practices in marginalized mountain areas of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The principal research question was to analyse the state of affairs regarding multi-functional changes in upland woodlands, as viewed by relevant stakeholder...

Tree-line areas are not significant only for the provisioning and regulating of ecosystem services (ESs) but also of cultural ESs. The climatic tree-line ecotone represents an obvious land cover demarcation and characterizes European mountain landscapes. The multifunctional character of tree-line ecosystems calls for the assessment of synergies and...

The state and changes of altitudinal and polar treeline ecosystems and their services in selected mountain regions in Europe were analyzed using the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework. The analysis is based on 45 responses of experts from 19 countries to two semi-structured questionnaires on treeline ecosystem services (ES)...

Equality among stakeholders and sustainable environmental impacts are important themes for good environmental governance. Good governance is a tricky theme to address as localized environmental decision making is deeply connected to issues and actors at various governance levels, from the local to the global, embedded with power relations. The exam...

The world is changing, therefore preparedness to cope with changes, to adapt and to mitigate negative impacts is of utmost importance. Scenario analysis has been frequently used to anticipate future changes. Scenarios can function as a bridge between science and policy and inform policy makers and other stakeholders to orient towards future changes...

Reindeer herding is an emblematic livelihood for Northern Finland, culturally important for local people and valuable in tourism marketing. We examine the livelihood resilience of Finnish reindeer herding by narrowing the focus of general resilience on social-ecological systems (SESs) to a specific livelihood while also acknowledging wider contexts...