Changes in the thermal growing season in Nordic countries during the past century and prospects for the future

Selostus: Termisen kasvukauden muutokset Pohjoismaissa viimeisen vuosisadan aikana ja tulevaisuudessa

Climatic conditions for crop production in Nordic countries

Selostus: Kasvintuotannon ilmasto-olosuhteet Pohjoismaissa

Adult education policy in the European Union during the Lisbon decade : the shift to vocational adult learning and work skills matching

This doctoral dissertation investigates the adult education policy of the European Union (EU) in the framework of the Lisbon agenda 2000–2010, with a particular focus on the changes of policy orientation that occurred during this reference decade. The year 2006 can be considered, in fact, a turning point for the EU policy-making in the adult learning sector: a radical shift from a wide--ranging and comprehensive conception of educating adults towards a vocationally oriented understanding of this field and policy area has been observed, in particular in the second half of the so--called ‘Lisbon decade’. In this light, one of the principal objectives of the mainstream policy set by the Lisbon Strategy, that of fostering all forms of participation of adults in lifelong learning paths, appears to have muted its political background and vision in a very short period of time, reflecting an underlying polarisation and progressive transformation of European policy orientations. Hence, by means of content analysis and process tracing, it is shown that the new target of the EU adult education policy, in this framework, has shifted from citizens to workers, and the competence development model, borrowed from the corporate sector, has been established as the reference for the new policy road maps. This study draws on the theory of governance architectures and applies a post-ontological perspective to discuss whether the above trends are intrinsically due to the nature of the Lisbon Strategy, which encompasses education policies, and to what extent supranational actors and phenomena such as globalisation influence the European governance and decision--making. Moreover, it is shown that the way in which the EU is shaping the upgrading of skills and competences of adult learners is modeled around the needs of the ‘knowledge economy’, thus according a great deal of importance to the ‘new skills for new jobs’ and perhaps not enough to life skills in its broader sense which include, for example, social and civic competences: these are actually often promoted but rarely implemented in depth in the EU policy documents. In this framework, it is conveyed how different EU policy areas are intertwined and interrelated with global phenomena, and it is emphasised how far the building of the EU education systems should play a crucial role in the formation of critical thinking, civic competences and skills for a sustainable democratic citizenship, from which a truly cohesive and inclusive society fundamentally depend, and a model of environmental and cosmopolitan adult education is proposed in order to address the challenges of the new millennium. In conclusion, an appraisal of the EU’s public policy, along with some personal thoughts on how progress might be pursued and actualised, is outlined.

Innovation in a Non-Formal Adult Education Organisation – Multi-Case Study in Four Adult Education Centres

More than ever, education organisations are experiencing the need to develop new services and processes to satisfy expanding and changing customer needs and to adapt to the environmental changes and continually tightening economic situation. Innovation has been found in many studies to have a crucial role in the success of an organisation, both in the private and public sectors, in formal education and in manufacturing and services alike. However, studies concerning innovation in non-formal adult education organisations, such as adult education centres (AECs) in Finland, are still lacking. This study investigates innovation in the non-formal adult education organisation context from the perspective of organisational culture types and social networks. The objective is to determine the significant characteristics of an innovative non-formal adult education organisation. The analysis is based on data from interviews with the principals and fulltime staff of four case AECs. Before the case study, a pre-study phase is accomplished in order to obtain a preliminary understanding of innovation at AECs. The research found strong support for the need of innovation in AECs. Innovation is basically needed to accomplish the AEC system’s primary mission mentioned in the ACT on Liberal Adult Education. In addition, innovation is regarded vital to institutes and may prevent their decline. It helps the institutes to be more attractive, to enter new market, to increase customer satisfaction and to be on the cutting edge. Innovation is also seen as a solution to the shortage of resources. Innovative AECs search actively for additional resources for development work through project funding and subsidies, cooperation networks and creating a conversational and joyful atmosphere in the institute. The findings also suggest that the culture type that supports innovation at AECs is multidimensional, with an emphasis on the clan and adhocratic culture types and such values as: dynamism, future orientation, acquiring new resources, mistake tolerance, openness, flexibility, customer orientation, a risk-taking attitude, and community spirit. Active and creative internal and external cooperation also promote innovation at AECs. This study also suggests that the behaviour of a principal is crucial. The way he or she shows appreciation the staff, encouragement and support to the staff and his or her approachability and concrete participation in innovation activities have a strong effect on innovation attitudes and activities in AECs.

Finnish doctoral dissertations of nursing education research

Nursing education research has confirmed its place in the discipline of nursing and caring sciences being one of the most central research areas. However, extensive and systematic analysis of nursing education research has been lacking both nationally and internationally. The aim of this study was to describe the focus of nursing education research in Finnish doctoral dissertations in the field of nursing and caring sciences between the years 1990–2014. In addition, the characteristics (i.e. methods, study informants and reporting of validity, reliability, and research ethics) of the dissertations were described. Also, international reviews (N=39) focusing on nursing education research were analysed for a background literature. A literature review was carried out. Altogether 51 (=N) Finnish doctoral dissertations of nursing and caring sciences in the field of nursing education research were included in the final analysis. The data for this research was collected from the open publication lists of each university offering education in nursing and caring sciences in Finland. The dissertations were published in 1990–2014. The data were analysed by content analysis both deductively and inductively. This study consists of a scientific article manuscript and a background literature review. Nursing education research has focused both nationally and internationally on four main areas: structural factors in nursing education, nurse teacherhood, teaching activities, and learning and learning outcomes in nursing education. In Finland, the most central focus area was learning (84.3 %) whereas nurse teacherhood and structural factors in nursing education were studied the least. Students were the predominant study informant group while nurse staff including nurse mentors were next and nurse educators only the third. Surveys and interviews were the most common data collection methods. In the findings there were a lot of similarities with international reviews of nursing education research. Finnish nursing education research has been very student-centred yet studies focusing on the education of other nursing based professions or different levels of education are rare. Future research about nurse teacherhood, curricula and structural factors in nursing education is recommended. There is also a need for experimental designs. In addition, nursing education research should focus on the central phenomena of nursing education and working life. All in all, more nursing education research is needed. Nursing education dissertations cover only 12.3 % of all the dissertations of nursing and caring sciences in Finland.

Opetustoimen valtionosuuden laskennallisten yksikköhintojen soveltuvuus taloudellisuuden mittaamiseen ja arvioimiseen - Case toimiala, Imatran kaupungin koulutoimi

Tämän tutkimuksen päätavoitteena oli arvioida, voidaanko opetusministeriön vahvistamia opetustoimen yksikköhintoja pitää taloudellisuuden mittarina. Tutkimukseni kohdistui peruskoulun ja lukion valtionosuuden oppilaskohtaisiin laskennallisiin yksikköhintoihin ja musiikkiopiston muun koulutuksen ja työväenopiston opetustuntikohtaisiin laskennallisiin yksikköhintoihin. Julkinen talous pyrkii toiminnassaan myös mahdollisimman tehokkaisiin ja taloudellisiin ratkaisuihin. Toiminnan taloudellisuuden määrittämiseen tarvitaan mittareita ja vertailutietoa analysointia varten. Tutkimuksen tavoitteisiin pyrittiin toiminta-analyyttisellä tutkimusotteella, mutta siinä on nähtävissä myös käsiteanalyyttisiä piirteitä. Opetustoimen valtion rahoituksen muuttuessa laskennalliseksi, valtionhallinto kumosi vanhoja sääntöjä, puhuttiin ´normipurusta´. Aikaisempi valtionosuus perustui toteutuneisiin kustannuksiin. Uudistuksella haluttiin korostaa kuntien itsenäisyyttä, taloudellista omavastuisuutta ja tehokkuutta palvelujen järjestämisessä. Lisäksi kustannuksissa oletettiin syntyvän säätöjä, joiden oli määrä koitua kuntien hyväksi, kun valtionosuus ei määräytynyt hyväksyttyjen menojen mukaan. Taloudellisuus merkitsee yksikkökustannusten tunnistamista ja analysointia. Kunnan taloustavoitteita on pyrittävä mittaamaan tunnusluvuilla. Niille on asetettava hyväksyttävät tavoitearvot. Tunnuslukujen arvot eivät sellaisenaan kerro, miten hyvä tai huono toiminnan tulos on. Vasta niiden vertailu ja analysointi antavat kuvan tästä. Kuntien oppilaskohtainen yksikköhinta soveltuu hyvin peruskoulun ja lukion taloudellisuuden mittariksi. Samoin opetustuntikohtainen yksikköhinta musiikkiopiston ja kansalaisopiston taloudellisuuden mittariksi. Kuntien keskinäinen kustannusvertailu ja analysointi antavat hyvän pohjan löytää kustannusten taloudellisuuden taso.

"Semmosta mikä sopii lasten makuun." Neljäsluokkalaisten ajatuksia kouluruokailusta

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, mitä aiheita lapset nostavat esiin keskusteltaessa kouluruokailusta, mikä kouluruokailussa on lasten mielestä tärkeää ja millaisena lapset kokevat kasvattajien roolin kouluruokailutilanteessa. Tutkimusjoukko koostui erään varsinaissuomalaisen kaupungin neljäsluokkalaisista (N = 35). Tiedonkeruumenetelmä oli puolistrukturoitu fokusryhmähaastattelu, jossa 5–6 hengen lapsiryhmät keskustelivat kouluruokailusta kuvien pohjalta sekä kokosivat paperille asioita, jotka ovat heille tärkeitä kouluruokailussa. Tutkimusmenetelmä oli lapsia osallistava ja tarkoituksena olikin kuulla lasten omia ajatuksia ja antaa heidän keskustella aiheesta mahdollisimman vapaasti. Tutkimus on osa pohjoismaista ProMeal-kouluruokailututkimusta (Prospects for Promoting Health and Performance by School Meals in Nordic Countries). Tutkimuksessa ilmeni, että lapset nostavat esille erityisesti tuotteeseen eli koulussa tarjoiltavaan ruokaan liittyviä asioita: suosituin puheenaihe oli "hyvä ja paha ruoka", minkä lisäksi lapset puhuivat paljon ruoan terveellisyydestä. Lisäksi lapset nostavat esille ruokailutilaan, sosiaaliseen vuorovaikutukseen ja ruokailun reunaehtoihin liittyviä aiheita. Tutkimuksen mukaan lapsille tärkeintä kouluruokailussa on se, että ruoka on hyvää. Muita tärkeitä asioita ovat asiallinen käyttäytyminen, ruoan maksuttomuus, ruokailutilanteen miellyttävyys, ruoan terveellisyys sekä joskus tarjoiltavat herkut. Opettajien rooli kouluruokailussa välittyi lasten puheista lähinnä ruokalan kurinpitäjinä. Ruokalan henkilökunnasta puhuttiin yleisesti ottaen negatiiviseen sävyyn ja heidät nähtiin vain ruoan valmistajina ja ruokamäärän rajoittajina. Tulokset saavat pohtimaan, miten paljon mediasta tai vanhemmilta opittu vaikuttaa lasten ajatuksiin esimerkiksi ruoan terveellisyydestä. Neljäsluokkalaisten ajatukset ovat vielä kovin mustavalkoisia: ruoka nähdään joko tiukan terveellisenä tai epäterveellisenä. Kouluruokailussa ilmeni lasten suunnalta paljon kritiikin aiheita. Lasten puheista välittyi myös, etteivät kaikki kouluruokailulle asetetut tavoitteet ja suositukset täyty. Olisikin ehkä aika puuttua kouluruokailun järjestämiseen kunnissa ja kouluissa tiukemmin. Myös lasten mielipiteitä tulisi kuunnella ja osallisuutta korostaa aiempaa enemmän. Tutkimuksen mukaan lapset puhuvat mielellään heitä koskevista asioista ja olisivat innokkaita vaikuttamaan niihin.

Social class as a factor for the construction of a musician’s identity : The Musician’s social background and identity questionnaire (MSBIQ) – a cross-sectional comparative quantitative online survey research study of music students at two higher education institutions in Finland

There is currently little empirical knowledge regarding the construction of a musician’s identity and social class. With a theoretical framework based on Bourdieu’s (1984) distinction theory, Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) theory of ecological systems, and the identity theories of Erikson (1950; 1968) and Marcia (1966), a survey called the Musician’s Social Background and Identity Questionnaire (MSBIQ) is developed to test three research hypotheses related to the construction of a musician’s identity, social class and ecological systems of development. The MSBIQ is administered to the music students at Sibelius Academy of the University of Arts Helsinki and Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, representing the ’highbrow’ and the ’middlebrow’ samples in the field of music education in Finland. Acquired responses (N = 253) are analyzed and compared with quantitative methods including Pearson’s chi-square test, factor analysis and an adjusted analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study revealed that (1) the music students at Sibelius Academy and Metropolia construct their subjective musician’s identity differently, but (2) social class does not affect this identity construction process significantly. In turn, (3) the ecological systems of development, especially the individual’s residential location, do significantly affect the construction of a musician’s identity, as well as the age at which one starts to play one’s first musical instrument. Furthermore, a novel finding related to the structure of a musician’s identity was the tripartite model of musical identity consisting of the three dimensions of a musician’s identity: (I) ’the subjective dimension of a musician’s identity’, (II) ’the occupational dimension of a musician’s identity’ and, (III) ’the conservative-liberal dimension of a musician’s identity’. According to this finding, a musician’s identity is not a uniform, coherent entity, but a structure consisting of different elements continuously working in parallel within different dimensions. The results and limitations related to the study are discussed, as well as the objectives related to future studies using the MSBIQ to research the identity construction and social backgrounds of a musician or other performing artists.

Integrating CRIS and repository – an overview of the situation in Finland and in three other Nordic countries

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Energy Efficiency in Electrical Drive Systems: Technical potentials, barriers and policy approaches for small and medium industries in Ghana

Today industries and commerce in Ghana are facing enormous energy challenge. The pressure is on for industries to reduce energy consumption, lower carbon emissions and provide se-cured power supply. Industrial electric motor energy efficiency improvement is one of the most important tools to reduce global warming threat and reduce electricity bills. In order to develop a strategic industrial energy efficiency policy, it is therefore necessary to study the barriers that inhibit the implementation of cost – effective energy efficiency measures and the driving forces that promote the implementation. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the energy consumption pattern of electric motors, study factors that promote or inhibit energy efficiency improvements in EMDS and provide cost – effective solutions that improve energy efficiency to bridge the existing energy efficiency gap in the surveyed industries. The results from this thesis has revealed that, the existence of low energy efficiency in motor-driven systems in the surveyed industries were due to poor maintenance practices, absence of standards, power quality issues, lack of access to capital and limited awareness to the im-portance of energy efficiency improvements in EMDS. However, based on the results pre-sented in this thesis, a policy approach towards industrial SMEs should primarily include dis-counted or free energy audit in providing the industries with the necessary information on potential energy efficiency measures, practice best motor management programmes and estab-lish a minimum energy performance standard (MEPS) for motors imported into the country. The thesis has also shown that education and capacity development programmes, financial incentives and system optimization are effective means to promote energy efficiency in elec-tric motor – driven systems in industrial SMEs in Ghana

Regional Innovation Policy: Effect on SMEs in Five EU-Regions

Valtaosa eurooppalaisista yrityksistä on pk-yrityksiä, mutta tästä huolimatta seudullisen innovaatiopolitiikan vaikutusta juuri pk-yrityksiin on tutkittu melko vähän. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on luoda yleiskuva pk-yritysten näkemykseen oman seutunsa innovaatiopolitiikasta viidellä EU:n alueella sijaitsevalla seudulla. Kirjallisuuden perusteella rakennettiin seudullista innovaatiopolitiikkaa kuvaava kysely, johon joukko pk-yrityksiä viideltä seudulta vastasi. Kyselyn tulokset kuvailtiin graafisesti, minkä lisäksi etsittiin vastauksiin vaikuttaneita tekijöitä ja yhteyksiä yritysten vastausten välillä. Tutkimus oli luonteeltaan lähinnä kvantitatiivinen. Tutkimus osoittaa, että seudullisessainnovaatiopolitiikassa on vielä paljon kehitettävää, jotta se tavoittaisi kattavasti pk-yritykset. Pk-yritysten tietoisuutta tulisi lisätä, sillä nämä eivät yleisesti ottaen näytä pitävän seudullista innovaatiopolitiikkaa menetykseen vaikuttavana tekijänä tai siihen liittyviä yhteistyömahdollisuuksia tärkeinä omalle toiminnalleen. Erot innovaatiotoiminnan seudullisessa roolissa tulivat esiin tuloksissa. Yritysten vastauksia selittäviä tekijöitä löydettiin, samoin yhteyksiä vastausten välillä, mutta varsinaisten johtopäätösten tekeminen edellyttänee laajempaa tutkimusta