Erityistä tukea tarvitsevan taaperon päiväkotiryhmään sopeutuminen : Monitapaustutkimus vuorovaikutussuhteista ja niiden rakentumisesta

How toddlers with special needs adjust to the daycare setting A multiple case study of how the relationships with adults and children are built The aim in this study is to describe how toddlers with special needs adjust to daycare. The emotional well-being and involvement in daycare activities of toddlers are especially investigated in this study. The relationship and how it is built between an adult and a child, a child and a child is examined. The daycare is examined through the socio-cultural theory as a pedagogical institution, where the child adapts by participating in social and cultural activities with the others. The development of the child is the result of the experiences that are gained through the constant relationship between the child, the family and social context. By the attachment theory the inner self-regulation, that allows the child safely adapt to new situations, develops most in the relationship between the child under 3years of age and the attending adult. The relationships between toddlers in daycare are usually built by the coincidental encounters in play and daily activities. In these relationships, the toddler gets the information of themselves and the other children. The complexity of the rules in the setting that organize the social action is challenging for the children and they need constant support from the adults. The participants of the study were five toddlers with special needs. When applying to daycare they were less than three years old and they got the specialist statement for their special needs, and the reference for daycare. The children were observed by recording their attending in the daycare once in the 3-4 months from the first day in daycare. Approximately 15 hours of material that was analysed with the Transana-program. The qualitative material was analysed by first collecting a descriptive model that explains and theorises the phenomenon. By the summery of the narrative it is placed a hypothesis that is tested by quantitative methods using correlations and variance analyses and general linear modeling that is used to count the differences between repeated measures and connections between different variables. The results of the study are built theoretically for the consistent conception between the theory and the findings in research. The toddlers in the study were all dependent on the support given by the adults in all the situations in the daycare. They could not associate with the other children without the support of the adults and their involvement in activities was low. The engagement of an adult in interaction was necessary for the children’s involvement in activities, and the co-operation with the other children. The engagement of teachers was statistically significantly higher than the engagement of other professions.

Expression of functional GABAc receptors in the brain

γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory transmitter in the nervous system and acts via three distinct receptor classes: A, B, and C. GABAC receptors are ionotropic receptors comprising ρ subunits. In this work, we aimed to elucidate the expression of ρ subunits in the postnatal brain, the characteristics of ρ2 homo-oligomeric receptors, and the function of GABAC receptors in the hippocampus. In situ hybridization on rat brain slices showed ρ2 mRNA expression from the newborn in the superficial grey layer of the superior colliculus, from the first postnatal week in the hippocampal CA1 region and the pretectal nucleus of the optic tract, and in the adult dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed expression of all three ρ subunits in the hippocampus and superior colliculus from the first postnatal day. In the hippocampus, ρ2 mRNA expression clearly dominated over ρ1 and ρ3. GABAC receptor protein expression was confirmed in the adult hippocampus, superior colliculus, and dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus by immunohistochemistry. From the selective distribution of ρ subunits, GABAC receptors may be hypothesized to be specifically involved in aspects of visual image motion processing in the rat brain. Although previous data had indicated a much higher expression level for ρ2 subunit transcripts than for ρ1 or ρ3 in the brain, previous work done on Xenopus oocytes had suggested that rat ρ2 subunits do not form functional homo-oligomeric GABAC receptors but need ρ1 or ρ3 subunits to form hetero-oligomers. Our results demonstrated, for the first time, that HEK 293 cells transfected with ρ2 cDNA displayed currents in whole-cell patch-clamp recordings. Homomeric rat ρ2 receptors had a decreased sensitivity to, but a high affinity for picrotoxin and a marked sensitivity to the GABAC receptor agonist CACA. Our results suggest that ρ2 subunits may contribute to brain function, also in areas not expressing other ρ subunits. Using extracellular electrophysiological recordings, we aimed to study the effects of the GABAC receptor agonists and antagonists on responses of the hippocampal neurons to electrical stimulation. Activation of GABAC receptors with CACA suppressed postsynaptic excitability and the GABAC receptor antagonist TPMPA inhibited the effects of CACA. Next, we aimed to display the activation of the GABAC receptors by synaptically released GABA using intracellular recordings. GABA-mediated long-lasting depolarizing responses evoked by high-frequency stimulation were prolonged by TPMPA. For weaker stimulation, the effect of TPMPA was enhanced after GABA uptake was inhibited. Our data demonstrate that GABAC receptors can be activated by endogenous synaptic transmitter release following strong stimulation or under conditions of reduced GABA uptake. The lack of GABAC receptor activation by less intensive stimulation under control conditions suggests that these receptors are extrasynaptic and activated via spillover of synaptically released GABA. Taken together with the restricted expression pattern of GABAC receptors in the brain and their distinctive pharmacological and biophysical properties, our findings supporting extrasynaptic localization of these receptors raise interesting possibilities for novel pharmacological therapies in the treatment of, for example, epilepsy and sleep disorders.

Rwanda Crisis and Genocide in Case Law of Rwanda Tribunal

After the Second World War the public was shocked to learn about the horrors perpetrated. As a response to the Holocaust, the newly established United Nations adopted the Genocide Convention of 1948 to prevent future genocides and to punish the perpetrators. The Convention remained, however, almost dead letter until the present day. In 1994, the long-lasted tension between the major groups of Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda erupted in mass scale violence towards the Tutsi ethnic group. The purpose was to eradicate the Tutsi population of Rwanda. The international community did not halt the genocide. It stood by idle, failing to follow the swearing-in of the past. The United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (the ICTR) to bring to justice persons responsible for the genocide. Ever since its creation the ICTR has delivered a wealth of judgements elucidating the legal ingredients of the crime of genocide. The case law on determining the membership of national, ethnic, racial or religious groups has gradually shifted from the objective to subjective position. The membership of a group is seen as a subjective rather than objective concept. However, a totally subjective approach is not accepted. Therefore, it is necessary to determine some objective existence of a group. The provision on the underlying offences is not so difficult to interpret compared to the corresponding one on the protected groups and the mental element of genocide. The case law examined, e.g., whether there is any difference between the words killing and meurtre, the nature of mental harm caused by the perpetrator and sexual violence in the conflict. The mental element of genocide or dolus specialis of genocide is not thoroughly examined in the case law of the ICTR. In this regard, reference in made, in addition, to the case law of the other ad hoc Tribunal. The ICTR has made a significant contribution to the law of genocide and international criminal justice in general. The corpus of procedural and substantive law constitutes a basis for subsequent trials in international and hybrid tribunals. For national jurisdictions the jurisprudence on substantive law is useful while prosecuting international crimes.

"Miksi lehmät pitää tappaa?" : Etnografinen tutkimus 2000-luvun alun huumemarkkinoista Helsingissä

The present study focuses on the drug market in Helsinki in the early 2000s, mainly on the dealing in and use of amphetamines, cannabis and the pharmaceutical Subutex. The drug market is usually analysed into upper, middle and lower level markets. These levels are very different in terms of their operating practices, although there may be some mingling. The present study is mainly concerned with drug dealers and users in the lower and middle level markets. Operations also differ depending on whether the dealing involves just one drug or several. Dealing in and using Subutex is a very different business from dealing and using home grown cannabis, for instance: both the customers and the dealers are mostly quite different. The study material was mostly collected through ethnographical field work, including observations and interviews. Interviews with officials and minutes of pre-trial investigations concerning aggravated drug crimes are also included. The study discusses the roles of dealers on the various levels of the drug market in Helsinki and traces activities at various levels. Ethnographical methods are employed to observe day-to-day drug dealing and use and leisure pursuits in private homes and in public premises. The study takes note of the risks inherent in drug dealing and estimates what kind of drug dealers can last the longest on the market without the authorities intervening. At the same time, the study discusses how small groups on the middle and lower levels of the drug market avoid control measures undertaken by the authorities and how the authorities address these groups. Moreover, the study discusses what the drug market is like in prison from the perspective of a drug dealer sent to prison, what their everyday lives are like after release, and how much money dealers on various levels of the drug market make. The study demonstrates that drug dealing in Helsinki, whether we consider the very top or the very bottom of the pyramid, is a far from rational pursuit. The undertakings are not very systematic; they are more a reaction to intoxicant addiction( s) and other problems caused by other dealers, the dealers own actions and the actions of the police. The everyday lives of drug dealers are often chaos only alleviated by drug use in the company of buyers or alone. If a drug dealer uses drugs himself/herself, things become even more complicated and a vicious circle develops. At the same time, everyday life is certainly exciting, and a drug dealer often has a highly eventful if brief life. Drug dealing is a very masculine pursuit, and there is a sort of macho code governing it, although this does not nearly always work as it should. This macho code, typically for illegal activities, involves the threat of violence as a control measure. Hence the untranslatable slang expression Kill the cows : the Finnish word for calf has the slang meaning snitch or police informant . No more cows, no more calves. But informing on others to the authorities is a fact of life in the drug-dealing world. Contributing factors to being reported to the authorities are the dealer s own mistakes and the actions of other dealers and the police. A determined drug dealer will not be deterred from drug dealing by a prison sentence. However, following time in prison only few dealers manage to gain an income from drug dealing commensurate with its risks.

Pain measurement and management in elderly patients : Clinical studies in long term hospital care and after cardiac surgery

The proportion of patients over 75 years of age, receiving all different types of healthcare, is constantly increasing. The elderly undergo surgery and anaesthetic procedures more often than middle-aged patients. Poor pain management in the elderly is still an issue. Although the elderly consumes the greatest proportion of prescribed medicines in Western Europe, most clinical pharmacological studies have been performed in healthy volunteers or middle-aged patients. The aim of this study was to investigate pain measurement and management in cognitively impaired patients in long term hospital care and in cognitively normal elderly patients after cardiac surgery. This thesis incorporated 366 patients, including 86 home-dwelling or hospitalized elderly with chronic pain and 280 patients undergoing cardiac surgery with acute pain. The mean age of patients was 77 (SD ± 8) years and approximately 8400 pain measurements were performed with four pain scales: Verbal Rating Scale (VRS), the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Red Wedge Scale (RWS), and the Facial Pain Scale (FPS). Cognitive function, depression, functional ability in daily life, postoperative sedation and postoperative confusion were assessed with MMSE, GDS, Barthel Index, RASS, and CAM-ICU, respectively. The effects and plasma concentrations of fentanyl and oxycodone were measured in elderly (≥ 75 years) and middle-aged patients (≤ 60 years) and the opioid-sparing effect of pregabalin was studied after cardiac surgery. The VRS pain scores after movement correlated with the Barthel Index. The VRS was most successful in the groups of demented patients (MMSE 17-23, 11-16 and ≤ 10) and in elderly patients on the first day after cardiac surgery. The elderly had a higher plasma concentration of fentanyl at the end of surgery than younger patients. The plasma concentrations of oxycodone were comparable between the groups. Pain intensity on the VRS was lower and the sedation scores were higher in the elderly. Total oxycodone consumption during five postoperative days was reduced by 48% and the CAM-ICU scores were higher on the first postoperative day in the pregabalin group. The incidence of postoperative pain during movement was lower in the pregabalin group three months after surgery. This investigation demonstrates that chronic pain did not seem to impair daily activities in home-dwelling Finnish elderly. The VRS appeared to be applicable for elderly patients with clear cognitive dysfunction (MMSE ≤17) and it was the most feasible pain scale for the early postoperative period after cardiac surgery. After cardiac surgery, plasma concentrations of fentanyl in elderly were elevated, although oxycodone concentrations were at similar level compared to middle-aged patients. The elderly had less pain and were more sedated after doses of oxycodone. Therefore, particular attention must be given to individual dosing of the opioids in elderly surgical patients, who often need a smaller amount for adequate analgesia than middle-aged patients. The administration of pregabalin reduced postoperative oxycodone consumption after cardiac surgery. Pregabalin-treated patients had less confusion, and additionally to less postoperative pain on the first postoperative day and during movement at three months post-surgery. Pregabalin might be a new alternative as analgesic for acute postoperative and chronic pain management in the elderly. Its clinical role and safety remains to be verified in large-scale randomized and controlled studies. In the future, many clinical trials in the older category of patients will be needed to facilitate improvements in health care methods.

Impulsivity, health-related behaviour and disease : A prospective study

In clinical settings impulsivity refers to a symptom of psychiatric disorder, but nonclinically oriented research treats impulsivity as a personality and temperament dimension. This prospective study examined whether impulsivity predicts adverse health-related behaviour and increased risk of health problems in a large, nonclinical sample of 5433 subjects working in 12 Finnish hospitals. The data were collected using two questionnaire surveys at a 2-year interval. After controlling for alcohol use at baseline, higher impulsivity predicted increased alcohol consumption at follow-up in both genders (p < .01) and was associated with increased likelihood of becoming a heavy drinker or taking up smoking (p < .05). Impulsivity also predicted an increased number of cigarettes smoked per day in the follow-up among women (p < .001), but not among men, although adjustment for the number of cigarettes smoked at baseline attenuated these associations (p = .08 for women). In men, higher impulsivity was associated with shorter sleep duration and waking up several times per night independent of baseline characteristics (p < .01), whereas in women, higher impulsivity predicted difficulty in falling asleep and waking up feeling tired after the usual amount of sleep (p < .05). In women, these associations became nonsignificant after adjustment for pre-existing somatic and psychiatric diseases. Finally, higher impulsivity was associated with an increased 2-year incidence of physician-diagnosed peptic ulcer disease (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.21 - 4.82) and onset of depression (OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.28 - 2.97) after adjustment for a variety of baseline covariates. In conclusion, this study shows that in a nonclinical population, impulsivity appears to be a risk factor for various unhealthy behaviour and health problems.

Kuva tikkeinä kankaalla : Kokemuksia PE-design 6.0 -kirjontakuvion suunnitteluohjelman kahden automaattisen tekniikan käytettävyydestä

The aim of the thesis was to compare the correspondence of the outcome a computer assisted program appearance compared to the original image. The aspect of the study was directed to embroidery with household machines. The study was made from the usability point of view with Brother's PE-design 6.0 embroidery design programs two automatic techniques; multicoloured fragment design and multicoloured stitch surface design. The study's subject is very current because of the fast development of machine embroidery. The theory is based on history of household sewing machines, embroidery sewing machines, stitch types in household sewing machines, embroidery design programs as well as PE-design 6.0 embroidery design program's six automatic techniques. Additionally designing of embroidery designs were included: original image, digitizing, punching, applicable sewing threads as well as the connection between embroidery designs and materials used on embroidery. Correspondences of sewn appearances were examined with sewing experimental methods. 18 research samples of five original image were sewn with both techniques. Experiments were divided into four testing stages in design program. Every testing stage was followed by experimental sewing with Brother Super Galaxie 3100D embroidery machine. Experiments were reported into process files and forms made for the techniques. Research samples were analysed on images syntactic bases with sensory perception assessment. Original images and correspondence of the embroidery appearances were analysed with a form made of it. The form was divided into colour and shape assessment in five stage-similarity-scale. Based on this correspondence analysis it can be said that with both automatic techniques the best correspondence of colour and shape was achieved by changing the standard settings and using the makers own thread chart and edited original image. According to the testing made it is impossible to inform where the image editing possibilities of the images are sufficient or does the optimum correspondence need a separate program. When aiming at correspondence between appearances of two images the computer is unable to trace by itself the appearance of the original image. Processing a computer program assisted embroidery image human perception and personal decision making are unavoidable.

Hemodynamics and outcome of septic shock

Septic shock is a common killer in intensive care units (ICU). The most crucial issue concerning the outcome is the early and aggressive start of treatment aimed at normalization of hemodynamics and the early start of antibiotics during the very first hours. The optimal targets of hemodynamic treatment, or impact of hemodynamic treatment on survival after first resuscitation period are less known. The objective of this study was to evaluate different aspects of the hemodynamic pattern in septic shock with special attention to prediction of outcome. In particular components of early treatment and monitoring in the ICU were assessed. A total of 401 patients, 218 with septic shock and 192 with severe sepsis or septic shock were included in the study. The patients were treated in 24 Finnish ICUs during 1999-2005. 295 of the patients were included in the Finnish national epidemiologic Finnsepsis study. We found that the most important hemodynamic variables concerning the outcome were the mean arterial pressures (MAP) and lactate during the first six hours in ICU and the MAP and mixed venous oxygen saturation (SvO2) under 70% during first 48 hours. The MAP levels under 65 mmHg and SvO2 below 70% were the best predictive thresholds. Also the high central venous pressure (CVP) correlated to adverse outcome. We assessed the correlation and agreement of SvO2 and mean central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) in septic shock during first day in ICU. The mean SvO2 was below ScvO2 during early sepsis. Bias of difference was 4.2% (95% limits of agreement 8.1% to 16.5%) by Bland-Altman analysis. The difference between saturation values correlated significantly to cardiac index and oxygen delivery. Thus, the ScvO2 can not be used as a substitute of SvO2 in hemodynamic monitoring in ICU. Several biomarkers have been investigated for their ability to help in diagnosis or outcome prediction in sepsis. We assessed the predictive value of N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) on mortality in severe sepsis or septic shock. The NT-proBNP levels were significantly higher in hospital nonsurvivors. The NT-proBNP 72 hrs after inclusion was independent predictor of hospital mortality. The acute cardiac load contributed to NTproBNP values at admission, but renal failure was the main confounding factor later. The accuracy of NT-proBNP, however, was not sufficient for clinical decision-making concerning the outcome prediction. The delays in start of treatment are associated to poorer prognosis in sepsis. We assessed how the early treatment guidelines were adopted, and what was the impact of early treatment on mortality in septic shock in Finland. We found that the early treatment was not optimal in Finnish hospitals and this reflected to mortality. A delayed initiation of antimicrobial agents was especially associated with unfavorable outcome.

Ruumis ja rauta : esseitä esineiden sosiaalisuudesta

"Body and Iron: Essays on the Socialness of Objects" focuses on the bodily-material interaction of human subjects and technical objects. It poses a question, how is it possible that objects have an impact on their human users and examines the preconditions of active efficacy of objects. In this theoretical task the work relies on various discussions drawing from realistic ontology, phenomenology of body, neurophysiology of Antonio Damasio and psychoanalysis to establish both objects and bodies as material entities related in a causal interaction with each other. Out of material interaction emerge a symbolic field, psyche and culture that produce representations of interactions with material world they remain dependent on and conditioned by. Interaction with objects informs the human body via its somatosensory systems: interoseptive and proprioseptive (or kinesthetic) systems provide information to central nervous system of the internal state of the body and muscle tensions and motor activity of the limbs. Capability to control the movements of one's body by the internal "feel" of being a body turns out to be a precondition to the ability to control artificial extensions of the body. Motor activity of the body is involved in every perception of environment as the feel of one's own body is constitutive of any perception of external objects. Perception of an object cause changes in the internal milieu of the body and these changes in the organism form a bodily representation of an external object. Via these "muscle images" the subject can develop a feel for an instrument. Bodily feel for an object is pre-conceptual, practical knowledge that resists articulation but allows sensing the world through the object. This is what I would call sensual knowledge. Technical objects intervene between body and environment, transforming the relation of perception and motor activity. Once connected to a vehicle, human subject has to calibrate visual information of his or her position and movement in space to the bodily actions controlling the machine. It is the machine that mediates the relation of human actions to the relation of her body to its environment. Learning to use the machine necessarily means adjusting his or her bodily actions to the responses of the machine in relation to environmental changes it causes. Responsiveness of the machine to human touch "teaches" its subject by providing feedback of the "correctitude" of his or her bodily actions. Correct actions form a body technique of handling the object. This is the way of socialness of objects. While responding to human actions they generate their subjects. Learning to handle a machine means accepting the position of the user in the program of action materialized in the construction of the object. Objects mediate, channel and transform the relation of the body to its environment and via environment to the body itself according to their material and technical construction. Objects are sensory media: they channel signals and information from the environment thus constituting a representation of environment, a virtual or artificial reality. They also feed the body directly with their powers equipping their user with means of regulating somatic and psychic states of her self. For these reasons humans look for the company of objects. Keywords: material objects, material culture, sociology of technology, sociology of body, mobility, driving

Verkkomedian käyttö ja tutkiminen : Iltalehti Online 1995-2001

Marja Heinonen s dissertation Verkkomedian käyttö ja tutkiminen. Iltalehti Online 1995-2001 describes the usage of new internet based news service Iltalehti Online during its first years of existence, 1995-2001. The study focuses on the content of the service and users attitudes towards the new media and its contents. Heinonen has also analyzed and described the research methods that can be used in the research of any new media phenomenon when there is no historical perspective to do the research. Heinonen has created a process model for the research of net medium, which is based on a multidimensional approach. She has chosen an iterative research method inspired by Sudweeks and Simoff s CEDA-methodology in which qualitative and quantitative methods take turns both creating results and new research questions. The dissertation discusses and describes the possibilities of combining several research methods in the study of online news media. On general level it discusses the methodological possibilities of researching a completely new media form when there is no historical perspective. The result of these discussions is in favour for the multidimensional methods. The empiric research was built around three cases of Iltalehti Online among its users: log analysis 1996-1999, interviews 1999 and clustering 2000-2001. Even though the results of different cases were somewhat conflicting here are the central results from the analysis of Iltalehti Online 1995-2001: - Reading was strongly determined by the gender. - The structure of Iltalehti Online guided the reading strongly. - People did not make a clear distinction in content between news and entertainment. - Users created new habits in their everyday life during the first years of using Iltalehti Online. These habits were categorized as follows: - break between everyday routines - established habit - new practice within the rhythm of the day - In the clustering of the users sports, culture and celebrities were the most distinguishing contents. Users did not move across these borders as much as within them. The dissertation gives contribution to the development of multidimensional research methods in the field of emerging phenomena in media field. It is also a unique description of a phase of development in media history through an unique research material. There is no such information (logs + demographics) available of any other Finnish online news media. Either from the first years or today.

Evaluating Option Pricing Models

This study evaluates three different time units in option pricing: trading time, calendar time and continuous time using discrete approximations (CTDA). The CTDA-time model partitions the trading day into 30-minute intervals, where each interval is given a weight corresponding to the historical volatility in the respective interval. Furthermore, the non-trading volatility, both overnight and weekend volatility, is included in the first interval of the trading day in the CTDA model. The three models are tested on market prices. The results indicate that the trading-time model gives the best fit to market prices in line with the results of previous studies, but contrary to expectations under non-arbitrage option pricing. Under non-arbitrage pricing, the option premium should reflect the cost of hedging the expected volatility during the option’s remaining life. The study concludes that the historical patterns in volatility are not fully accounted for by the market, rather the market prices options closer to trading time.

Ideaalin ja todellisuuden välimaastossa - katoavatko perheateriat?

Aims: The recent conversations about disappearing family meals, mental problems of the youngsters and family meals´ protective effect on youngsters problems have been the base of this study. The main aim of this study is to find out, what kind of position family meals do have in the youngsters´lives. Study questions are: 1. What kind of conceptions youngsters have of family meals? 2. What kind of hands-on experience youngsters have about family meals? 3. How youngsters feel family meals on a emotional level? a. Are meals positive moments with the family or do they just limit timetables? b. Do the youngsters need family meals if they do not have those in their families? Why? Why not? Methods: The data was collected using stimulated recall -interviews and basic themed interviews. The data was collected from thirteen 8th graders from Pirkanmaa and Kanta-Häme. The interviews were analyzed with the qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusion: The youngsters´ consepts of the meals and the family meals were quite traditional, assuming that those are warm, varied and eaten with company. The situation of the family meals was good and those were eaten nearly every day in the most of the families. The youngsters thought that the family meals were important social moments with the family and they were able to talk about important things with the family during the meals. They also felt that the daily eating rythm was good and they did not felt that the meals would have been somehow restrictive. Even so that the pupils felt the family meals were important, the pupil whose family did not eat family meals did not long those meals. He felt that he was able to share his thoughts and experiences also in other ways. It is important that youngsters have this channel of communication.

Ekotuotteet kuluttajan arjessa – vastuullisuutta, puhtautta ja arjen luksusta

Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan kuluttajien näkemyksiä ekotuotteiden valintaan vaikuttavista tekijöistä. Analysoin ekotuotteiden hankintaa kolmen teeman kautta. Ne ovat vihreys ja vastuullisuus, puhtaus tuotevalinnoissa sekä niin sanottu arjen luksus. Tutkimukseni empiirinen osa koostuu 10 teemahaastattelusta. Tutkimuskohteena on ekokauppa Ruohonjuuressa ostoksiaan tekevät kuluttajat. Haastateltavia etsin ilmoituksella ekokauppa Ruohonjuuresta sekä kaupan Facebook-sivuilta. Lisäksi oma haastattelupäivä Ruohonjuuren myymälässä tuotti haastateltavia mukaan tutkimukseen. Kirjoitin haastatteluista yhteenvedon ja analysoin aineistoa teemoittelun avulla. Nykyiset ympäristöongelmat vaikuttavat siihen, millaisena koemme arjen tulevaisuudessa. Vihreä ja vastuulllinen kuluttaja ottaa huomioon kulutuspäätöksiensä vaikutukset ympäristöön. Vihreät kulutuspäätökset tarkoittavat kestäviä kulutustapoja kuten jätteiden lajittelua, kirpputorikierrättämistä ja ympäristöä säästävien ekotuotteiden valintaa. Aineiston perusteella voi todeta, että ekotuotteiden ympäristömyönteisyyteen liitetään läheisesti luomutuotanto ja luomutuotteet. Ekotuotteet nähdään myös eettisinä ja moraalisina valintoina, joiden avulla halutaan vaikuttaa myös muiden hyvinvointiin. Ekotuotteisiin kohdistuu siten monenlaisia odotuksia, mutta myös epäilyjä. Aineistoni perusteella tuotetta ei välttämättä koettu ekotuotteeksi, jos sen valmistamiseen on käytetty paljon resursseja. Kuluttajat ovat kiinnostuneita ruoan alkuperästä ja sen aitoudesta. Ekotuotteet koetaan muita tuotteita päinvastoin puhtaiksi vaihtoehdoiksi. Puhtaus ekotuotteissa mielletään laadultaan turvallisiksi ja terveellisiksi tuotteiksi, jotka maistuvat hyvältä. Haastatteluaineiston perusteella voi todeta, että ekotuotteet koettiin myös arjen ostosten erikoisuudeksi. Arjen luksus lisää käyttäjälleen mielihyvän elämyksiä. Ekotuotteita ostamalla rakennetaan myös omaa elämäntyyliä ja erottaudutaan muista. Aineiston perusteella ekokauppaan mennään kiertelemään, tekemään heräteostoksia ja etsimään uutuuksia. Shoppailu ekokaupassa voi olla nautinnollista ja miellyttävää toimintaa, vaikka ostamista vain harkitaan. Ekotuote lahjana kertoo lahjan antajasta ja tuo lahjan saajalle palan luksusta vaikkapa luomusuklaan muodossa.

Aluekehittämisverkostojen arviointi : Verkostotoimijanäkökulma MAL- ja hyvinvointiverkostoihin aluekehittämisen välineinä

The Finnish regional development system has gone through structural reforms from state centered governed system to multi-actor governance, based on negotiation and cooperation. One of the reforms has been the regional cohesion and competitiveness program (COCO) established in 2010. The aim of the program is to increase competitiveness through all the regions and balance the regional development by supporting networking. The main focus of the program is to improve the methods and tools for regional development. In the program there are seven thematic networks founded around topics seen important national wide. This thesis explores regional development networks and their evaluation COCO:s two thematic networks, Wellbeing and Land use, housing and transportation as examples. The aim of the thesis is to explore the network actors understanding of thematic networks as tools for regional development. In particular, the study focuses on how the actors see the possible network level outcomes and wider effects of the networking activity. In addition, the central themes of the study are the prerequisite for successful network processes and improvement of the network process effectiveness by evaluation. The research material in this study consist the interviews of the network coordinators and national and regional actors participating in the network activities. The interviews were conducted in spring 2011. Based on the research results, the networks act on national regional and network level and across them. The cooperation is based on official and unofficial relations. The structure of the networks seemed to be self-organizing and controlled at the same time. The structural elements were found to set the framework for the network process and evaluation. According to the results, the networks enabled the more effective operation of the national development system, support of the regions and political lobbying. For the regions the networks offered support for areal development, new resources and possibility to influence national discourse. As conclusion, the role of the network was to disseminate information, create possibilities for collaboration and execute projects and studies and to effect on national policy making. These factors determined the effectiveness of the networks. However, because different regions were satisfied with different network level outcomes, the utilization of the networks in the regions should be evaluated by their own objectives. Resources, motivation, competence and perceptions of the effects were found to affect the successful implementation of the network process and cooperation in networks. Some network level obstacles could be overcome with coordination, but the challenge was the ability and motivation of the areas to utilize the networks as resources and see them as part of the comprehensive development agenda. Thus, the development should focus on how to increase awareness on how to improve regional cooperation processes and how multiple regional actors could enhance their working by utilizing the networks.