A conspectus on estimating function theory and its applicability to recurrent modeling issues in forest biometry

Summary

The application of agricultural land rating and crop models to CO2 and climate change issues in Northern regions : the Mackenzie Basin case study

Selostus: Viljelyvy��hykkeiden ja kasvumallien soveltaminen ilmastonmuutoksen tutkimisessa: Mackenzien jokialue, Kanada

Entry Strategy Issues in the Ophthalmic Industry: Entry Mode, Pricing and Distribution

Maahantulostrategia asettaa yrityksen kansainv��lisi�� liiketoimintoja ohjaavat tavoitteet, p����m����r��t, resurssit ja toiminnan suuntaviivat. T��m�� diplomity�� k��sittelee yrityksen maahantulostrategian elementeist�� operaatiomuodon valintaa, hinnoittelua ja jakelua. Ty��ss�� rakennetaan teoriakehys elementteihin liittyvien p����t��sten tutkimiseksi l����keteollisuuden ominaispiirteet huomioiden. L����keteollisuudella on muihin teollisuudenaloihin verrattuna useita erityispiirteit��, joihin ty�� perehdytt����. Lis��ksi ty��n olennainen osa on selvitt���� l����keteollisuuden maakohtaisia s����d��ksi�� ja toimintamalleja. Diplomity�� on tehty silm��l��kkeit�� valmistavalle, kehitt��v��lle ja markkinoivalle Santen Oy:lle, joka suunnittelee toimintansa laajentamista Keski- ja Etel��-Euroopan markkinoille. T��ss�� laajentumisprosessissa ensimm��isen�� kohdemaana on Saksa, jonka markkinoille suuntautuvia toimenpiteit�� ty�� tutkii. Teoriakehyksen, markkinoiden ominaispiirteiden sek�� useiden erilaisten analyysien pohjalta ty��n tavoitteena on antaa operaatiomuotoa, tuotteiden hinnoittelua ja jakelua koskevia suosituksia.

Identification of the Emerging Issues in Recycled Fiber Processing

The objectives of this research work ���Identification of the Emerging Issues in Recycled Fiber processing��� are discovering of emerging research issues and presenting of new approaches to identify promising research themes in recovered paper application and production. The projected approach consists of identifying technological problems often encountered in wastepaper preparation processes and also improving the quality of recovered paper and increasing its proportion in the composition of paper and board. The source of information for the problem retrieval is scientific publications in which waste paper application and production were discussed. The study has exploited several research methods to understand the changes related to utilization of recovered paper. The all assembled data was carefully studied and categorized by applying software called RefViz and CiteSpace. Suggestions were made on the various classes of these problems that need further investigation in order to propose an emerging research trends in recovered paper.

Social competence and loneliness during the school years - Issues in assessment, interrelations and intergenerational transmission

V��it��skirjassa tarkastellaan kouluik��isten lasten ja nuorten sosiaalisen kompetenssin ja yksin��isyyden mittaamista, yhteyksi�� ja periytyvyytt�� vanhemmilta heid��n lapsilleen. Alakouluik��isten lasten tutkimusaineisto (n=985) koostuu lapsilta itselt����n, heid��n luokkatovereiltaan, opettajiltaan ja vanhemmiltaan vuosina 2000 - 2004 osana Merkityst�� etsim��ss�� ��� tutkimusprojektia (M. Vauras) ker��tyst�� aineistosta. Mukana on itse-, toveri-, opettaja- ja vanhempien arviot lasten sosiaalisesta kompetenssista, seuranta-aineisto lasten yksin��isyydest��, opettajien arviot lasten motivationaalisesta orientaatiosta, standardoiduin testisarjoin arvioidut akateemiset taidot sek�� lasten ��itien ja isien arviot omasta yksin��isyydest����n ja koetusta kyvykkyydest����n toimia vanhempana. Yl��kouluik��isten nuorten (n=386) aineisto koostuu vuosina 2006 ��� 2007 osana Sosioemotionaalinen oppiminen ja hyvinvointi yl��kouluyhteis��ss�� (P. M. Niemi) ker��tyst�� nuorten yksin��isyyden, sosiaalisen ahdistuneisuuden ja sosiaalisen fobian seuranta-aineistosta. Mitattavuutta (p����tavoite 1) tutkittiin erityisesti monitahoarviointien rakenteiden yhten��isyyksi��, subjektiivisten arvioiden ajallista pysyvyytt�� sek�� mittareiden validiteettia ja reliabiliteettia testaamalla. Sosiaalisen kompetenssin ja yksin��isyyden keskin��isten yhteyksien lis��ksi tarkasteltiin n��iden yhteytt�� alakoululaisten oppimiseen sek�� yl��kou��lulaisten psykososiaaliseen hyvinvointiin (p����tavoite 2). Kolmantena p����tavoitteena oli selvitt���� yksin��isyyden mahdollista periytymist�� vanhemmilta lapsille. Osana ensimm��ist�� p����tavoitetta kehitettiin Monitahoarviointi sosiaalisesta kompetenssista (MASK) -arviointimenetelm�� (artikkeli 1). Konfirmatorisen faktorianalyysin tulosten perusteella nelifaktorinen rakenne (prososiaalisuus sis��lt��en yhteisty��taidot ja empatiakyvyn sek�� antisosiaalisuus sis��lt��en impulsiivisuuden ja h��iritsevyyden) sopi sek�� lasten itsens��, heid��n luokkatovereidensa, opettajiensa ett�� vanhempiensa tekemiin arviointeihin. Eri tahojen arviointien v��liset korrelaatiot olivat tilastollisesti merkitsevi��, joskin suhteellisen matalia, ts. eri tahojen n��k��kulmat lapsen sosiaalisesta kompetenssista ovat toisistaan eri��vi��. T��ten eri arvioitsijatahojen k��ytt��minen on kokonaisuuden tutkimisen kannalta t��rke����. Toisena mittaamiseen liittyv��n�� tavoitteena oli validoida Hozan, Bukowskin ja Beeryn (2000) sosiaalisen ja emotionaalisen yksin��isyyden mittari suomalaisille lapsille (artikkeli 3) ja nuorille (artikkeli 4) soveltuvaksi sek�� tutkia, ovatko lasten ja nuorten arviot omasta yksin��isyydest����n ajallisesti pysyvi��. Alakoululaisten lasten osalta yksin��isyys, erityisesti sosiaalinen yksin��isyys osoittautui suhteellisen pysyv��ksi, mutta vahvistui entisest����n yl��kouluik��isten nuorten aineistoa tarkasteltaessa. Huomionarvoista sek�� ala- ett�� yl��koululaisten aineistoissa oli poikien kokema vahva emotionaalinen yksin��isyys. Molempien mittareiden osalta sek�� validiteetti ett�� reliabiliteetti todettiin hyv��ksytt��v��ksi ja niit�� voidaan suositella lasten ja nuorten sosiaalisen kompetenssin ja yksin��isyyden arviointimenetelmiksi. Toisena p����tavoitteena oli rakenneyht��l��mallinnuksen keinoin tarkastella sosiaalisen kompetenssin ja yksin��isyyden yhteyksi�� sek�� kesken����n (artikkelit 2 ja 3) ett�� suhteessa lasten oppimiseen (artikkeli 2) ja nuorten psykososiaaliseen hyvinvointiin (artikkeli 4). Alakouluik��isten lasten osalta sosiaalinen kompetenssi oli yhteydess�� pait��si yksin��isyyteen my��s opettajien oppilaistaan tekemiin motivationaalisen orientaation arvioihin sek�� standardoiduin testien arvioituihin akateemisiin taitoihin. Yl��kouluik��isten nuorten osalta yksin��isyys oli yhteydess�� sosiaaliseen ahdistuneisuuteen ja sosiaaliseen fobiaan. T��ten sosiaalisen kompetenssin voidaan katsoa olevan koululaisten hyvinvointia ja oppimista vahvistava, ja toisaalta yksin��isyyden nuorten psykososiaalista hyvinvointia heikent��v�� tekij��. Viimeisen�� p����tavoitteena mallinnettiin yksin��isyyden mahdollista periytyvyytt��. Ensimm��isess�� vaiheessa periytyvyytt�� tarkasteltiin koko perheen sis��ll��, vanhempien tai lasten sukupuolta erottelematta (artikkeli 2). T��ss�� rakenneyht��l��mallissa vanhempien kokema yksin��isyys ennusti heikompaa kyvykkyydentunnetta vanhemmuudesta, joka edelleen ennusti lapsen heikompaa toveriarvioitua sosiaalista kompetenssia koulussa ja t��t�� kautta vahvempaa yksin��isyyden kokemusta. Toisessa mallissa eroteltiin ��itien ja isien sek�� tytt��jen ja poikien aineistot, jotta periytyvyytt�� voitiin tarkastella ��iti-tyt��r, ��iti-poika, is��-tyt��r ja is��-poika dyadisuhteissa. Rakenneyht��l��mallinnuksen tulosten perusteella sek�� ��itien ett�� isien kokema yksin��isyys ennusti

HIMALDOC: A Tool for a Regional Open Repository on Sustainable Mountain Development Issues in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

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

Issues in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: A critical discourse analysis

Negotiating trade agreements is an important part of government trade policies, economic planning and part of the globally operating trading system of today. European Union and the United States have been active in the formation of trade agreements in global comparison. Now these two economic giants are engaged in negotiations to form their own trade agreement, the so called Transnational Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The purpose of this thesis is to understand the reasons for making a trade agreement between two economic areas and understanding the issues it may include in the case of the TTIP. The TTIP has received a great deal of attention in the media. The opinions towards the partnership have been extreme, and the debate has been heated. The purpose of this study is to introduce the nature of the public discussion regarding the TTIP from Spring 2013 until 2014. The research problem is to find out what are the main issues in the agreement and what are the values influencing them. The study was conducted applying methods of critical discourse analysis to the chosen data. This includes gathering the issues from the data based on the attention each has received in the discussion. The underlying motives for raising different issues were analysed by investigating the authors��� position in the political, economic and social circuits. The perceived economic impacts of the TTIP are also under analysis with the same criteria. Some of the most respected economic newspapers globally were included in the research material as well as papers or reports published by the EU and global organisations. The analysis indicates a clear dichotomy of the attitudes towards the TTIP. Key problems include lack of transparency in the negotiations, the misunderstood investor-state dispute settlement, the constantly expanding regulatory issues and the risk of protectionism. The theory and data does suggest that the removal of tariffs is an effective tool for reaching economic gains in the TTIP and even more effective would be the reducing of non-tariff barriers, such as protectionism. Critics are worried over the rising influence of corporations over governments. The discourse analysis reveals that the supporters of the TTIP have values related to increasing welfare through economic growth. Critics do not deny the economic benefits but raise the question of inequality as a consequence. Overall they represent softer values such as sustainable development and democracy as a counter-attack to the corporate values of efficiency and the maximising of profits.

International bioenergy trade- scenario study on international biomass market in 2020

The markets of biomass for energy are developing rapidly and becoming more international. A remarkable increase in the use of biomass for energy needs parallel and positive development in several areas, and there will be plenty of challenges to overcome. The main objective of the study was to clarify the alternative future scenarios for the international biomass market until the year 2020, and based on the scenario process, to identify underlying steps needed towards the vital working and sustainable biomass market for energy purposes. Two scenario processes were conducted for this study. The first was carried out with a group of Finnish experts and thesecond involved an international group. A heuristic, semi-structured approach, including the use of preliminary questionnaires as well as manual and computerised group support systems (GSS), was applied in the scenario processes.The scenario processes reinforced the picture of the future of international biomass and bioenergy markets as a complex and multi-layer subject. The scenarios estimated that the biomass market will develop and grow rapidly as well as diversify in the future. The results of the scenario process also opened up new discussion and provided new information and collective views of experts for the purposes of policy makers. An overall view resulting from this scenario analysis are the enormous opportunities relating to the utilisation of biomass as a resource for global energy use in the coming decades. The scenario analysis shows the key issues in the field: global economic growth including the growing need for energy, environmental forces in the global evolution, possibilities of technological development to solve global problems, capabilities of the international community to find solutions for global issues and the complex interdependencies of all these driving forces. The results of the scenario processes provide a starting point for further research analysing the technological and commercial aspects related the scenarios and foreseeing the scales and directions of biomass streams.

Exploration of the social dimension of corporate responsibility in a welfare state

This study focuses on corporate social responsibility (or CSR)as the latest dimension to emerge in the corporate responsibility and sustainability agenda, which in the recent past has rapidly risen to the top of the list of concerns for civil societies worldwide. Despite the continuing debates and discussions about the scope, benefits, and impacts of CSR to business and community in various sectors, levels, and types of society, many companies have moved forward to confront the opportunities and challenges of CSR. Thus, this study is about those proactive companies with a focus on the importance of CSR and its management inside and outside the company. It is an exploration and learning from the experience of Finnish companies, as well as other actors interested or involved in shaping the course of CSR, locally and globally. It also looks closely at how national culture affects the views, thinking, and management of CSR in a welfare state. This dissertation primarily draws on the analyses of information collected from a series of qualitative interviews and the existing literature in the area. This is complemented by an analysis of written and published documents on CSR from various sources. The results of the study give insightful information and detailed descriptions of a roadmap useful in learning and understanding CSR in Finnish companies. Despite the varying conceptual connotations, essential roadmap indicators point to the importance of framing CSR within the corporate responsibility concept, Finnish development and the welfare state system, globalization, stakeholders, and the pursuit of sustainable development as the main drivers of CSR, the remarkable progress of CSR in companies, and identification of key management areas and practices relevant to CSR. Similarly,the study reveals the importance of culture as essential in understanding and learning CSR. Finnish culture has a positive influence on the views, thinking, and management practices of CSR issues. Such a positive influence of culture, therefore, makes it easy for business people to discuss and understand CSR, because those CSR issues are already considered common and taken-for-granted by Finns and are implicit in the welfare state provisions. The experience of Finnish companies in implementing CSR policies in the supply chain is a concrete proactive step in advancing the message of CSR, that is, to bring companies and suppliers together to work on improving and strengthening relationships towards socially responsible practices worldwide. Such a forward step to deal with CSR issues in the supply chain reflects the companies' commitments and belief that CSR can be managed with the suppliers and gain positive benefits. Despite the problems and complexities, particularly in the global supply chain, managing CSR for Finnish companies presents new opportunities and challenges that are expected to intensify in the near future. The focus on CSR policy implementation inthe supply chain points to the importance of companies taking initiatives and forging cooperation with suppliers with the aim of addressing and improving CSR questions in the supply chains. The proactive stance of Finnish companies toward CSR is complemented by the active supporting role of important societalactors such as the government and NGOs. These actors carry out various promotional efforts and campaigns, thus bringing CSR into the mainstream of Finnish companies and strengthening the synergistic learning about CSR within the Finnish business and civil circles. The efforts of the government and NGOs to promote CSR are indicative of the importance of multipartite involvement and the emergence of better civil regulations. Likewise, their drive to learn from each other, exchange experiences, and contribute in CSR debates facilitated the evolution of CSRnetworks in the country. The results of this study add to the mounting evidence that CSR, in general, has created a new dimension in managing corporate sustainability. This study provides compelling empirical evidence and some direct quotations about CSR in the Finnish context. This information can be used to learn and gain new useful insights, approaches, and concepts for managing CSR.

Database Rights in Safe European Home: The Path to More Rigorous Protection of Information

1. Introduction "The one that has compiled ... a database, the collection, securing the validity or presentation of which has required an essential investment, has the sole right to control the content over the whole work or over either a qualitatively or quantitatively substantial part of the work both by means of reproduction and by making them available to the public", Finnish Copyright Act, section 49.1 These are the laconic words that implemented the much-awaited and hotly debated European Community Directive on the legal protection of databases,2 the EDD, into Finnish Copyright legislation in 1998. Now in the year 2005, after more than half a decade of the domestic implementation it is yet uncertain as to the proper meaning and construction of the convoluted qualitative criteria the current legislation employs as a prerequisite for the database protection both in Finland and within the European Union. Further, this opaque Pan-European instrument has the potential of bringing about a number of far-reaching economic and cultural ramifications, which have remained largely uncharted or unobserved. Thus the task of understanding this particular and currently peculiarly European new intellectual property regime is twofold: first, to understand the mechanics and functioning of the EDD and second, to realise the potential and risks inherent in the new legislation in economic, cultural and societal dimensions. 2. Subject-matter of the study: basic issues The first part of the task mentioned above is straightforward: questions such as what is meant by the key concepts triggering the functioning of the EDD such as presentation of independent information, what constitutes an essential investment in acquiring data and when the reproduction of a given database reaches either qualitatively or quantitatively the threshold of substantiality before the right-holder of a database can avail himself of the remedies provided by the statutory framework remain unclear and call for a careful analysis. As for second task, it is already obvious that the practical importance of the legal protection providedby the database right is in the rapid increase. The accelerating transformationof information into digital form is an existing fact, not merely a reflection of a shape of things to come in the future. To take a simple example, the digitisation of a map, traditionally in paper format and protected by copyright, can provide the consumer a markedly easier and faster access to the wanted material and the price can be, depending on the current state of the marketplace, cheaper than that of the traditional form or even free by means of public lending libraries providing access to the information online. This also renders it possible for authors and publishers to make available and sell their products to markedly larger, international markets while the production and distribution costs can be kept at minimum due to the new electronic production, marketing and distributionmechanisms to mention a few. The troublesome side is for authors and publishers the vastly enhanced potential for illegal copying by electronic means, producing numerous virtually identical copies at speed. The fear of illegal copying canlead to stark technical protection that in turn can dampen down the demand for information goods and services and furthermore, efficiently hamper the right of access to the materials available lawfully in electronic form and thus weaken the possibility of access to information, education and the cultural heritage of anation or nations, a condition precedent for a functioning democracy. 3. Particular issues in Digital Economy and Information Networks All what is said above applies a fortiori to the databases. As a result of the ubiquity of the Internet and the pending breakthrough of Mobile Internet, peer-to-peer Networks, Localand Wide Local Area Networks, a rapidly increasing amount of information not protected by traditional copyright, such as various lists, catalogues and tables,3previously protected partially by the old section 49 of the Finnish Copyright act are available free or for consideration in the Internet, and by the same token importantly, numerous databases are collected in order to enable the marketing, tendering and selling products and services in above mentioned networks. Databases and the information embedded therein constitutes a pivotal element in virtually any commercial operation including product and service development, scientific research and education. A poignant but not instantaneously an obvious example of this is a database consisting of physical coordinates of a certain selected group of customers for marketing purposes through cellular phones, laptops and several handheld or vehicle-based devices connected online. These practical needs call for answer to a plethora of questions already outlined above: Has thecollection and securing the validity of this information required an essential input? What qualifies as a quantitatively or qualitatively significant investment? According to the Directive, the database comprises works, information and other independent materials, which are arranged in systematic or methodical way andare individually accessible by electronic or other means. Under what circumstances then, are the materials regarded as arranged in systematic or methodical way? Only when the protected elements of a database are established, the question concerning the scope of protection becomes acute. In digital context, the traditional notions of reproduction and making available to the public of digital materials seem to fit ill or lead into interpretations that are at variance with analogous domain as regards the lawful and illegal uses of information. This may well interfere with or rework the way in which the commercial and other operators have to establish themselves and function in the existing value networks of information products and services. 4. International sphere After the expiry of the implementation period for the European Community Directive on legal protection of databases, the goals of the Directive must have been consolidated into the domestic legislations of the current twenty-five Member States within the European Union. On one hand, these fundamental questions readily imply that the problemsrelated to correct construction of the Directive underlying the domestic legislation transpire the national boundaries. On the other hand, the disputes arisingon account of the implementation and interpretation of the Directive on the European level attract significance domestically. Consequently, the guidelines on correct interpretation of the Directive importing the practical, business-oriented solutions may well have application on European level. This underlines the exigency for a thorough analysis on the implications of the meaning and potential scope of Database protection in Finland and the European Union. This position hasto be contrasted with the larger, international sphere, which in early 2005 does differ markedly from European Union stance, directly having a negative effect on international trade particularly in digital content. A particular case in point is the USA, a database producer primus inter pares, not at least yet having aSui Generis database regime or its kin, while both the political and academic discourse on the matter abounds. 5. The objectives of the study The above mentioned background with its several open issues calls for the detailed study of thefollowing questions: -What is a database-at-law and when is a database protected by intellectual property rights, particularly by the European database regime?What is the international situation? -How is a database protected and what is its relation with other intellectual property regimes, particularly in the Digital context? -The opportunities and threats provided by current protection to creators, users and the society as a whole, including the commercial and cultural implications? -The difficult question on relation of the Database protection and protection of factual information as such. 6. Dsiposition The Study, in purporting to analyse and cast light on the questions above, is divided into three mainparts. The first part has the purpose of introducing the political and rationalbackground and subsequent legislative evolution path of the European database protection, reflected against the international backdrop on the issue. An introduction to databases, originally a vehicle of modern computing and information andcommunication technology, is also incorporated. The second part sets out the chosen and existing two-tier model of the database protection, reviewing both itscopyright and Sui Generis right facets in detail together with the emergent application of the machinery in real-life societal and particularly commercial context. Furthermore, a general outline of copyright, relevant in context of copyright databases is provided. For purposes of further comparison, a chapter on the precursor of Sui Generi, database right, the Nordic catalogue rule also ensues. The third and final part analyses the positive and negative impact of the database protection system and attempts to scrutinize the implications further in the future with some caveats and tentative recommendations, in particular as regards the convoluted issue concerning the IPR protection of information per se, a new tenet in the domain of copyright and related rights.

Trust in inter-organizational relationships

Trust in inter-organizational collaborative relationships has attracted substantial research interest among academics and practitioners. Previous studies have concentrated on the benefits of trust to business outcomes and economic performance, as it is considered to be a source of competitive advantage. Despite this increased level of interest, there is no consensus, much less overall agreement, about how it should be conceptualized or about the number of dimensions it incorporates. On the inter-organizational level there is an obvious challenge in defining both the trusting party and the objects of trust. Thus, the notion of trust as an under-theorized and poorly understood phenomenon still holds. Hence, the motivation of this study was fuelled by the need to increase our knowledge and understanding of the role and nature of trust in inter-organizational collaborative relationships. It is posited that there is a call for more understanding about its antecedents and consequences, as well as about the very concept in inter-organizational collaborative relationships. The study is divided into two parts. The first part gives a general overview, and the second part comprises four research publications. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology is utilized. A multi-method research design was used because it provides different levels of data and different perspectives on the phenomenon. The results of this study reveal that trust incorporates three dimensions on both the individual and the organizational level: capability, goodwill, and self-reference. Trust develops from the reputation and behavior of the trusted party. It appears from this study that trust is clearly directed towards both individual boundary spanners and the counterpart company itself ��� i.e. not only to one or the other. The trusting party, on the other hand, is always an individual, and not the organization per se. Trust increases collaboration benefits and lowers collaboration drawbacks, thus having a positive effect on relationship performance. The major contribution of this study lies in uncovering the critical points and drawbacks in prior research and thereby in responding to the highlighted challenges. The way in which these challenges were addressed offers contributions to three major issues in the emerging theory of trust in the inter-organizational context: firstly, this study clarifies the trustor-trustee discussion; secondly, it conceptualizes trust as existing on both individual and organizational levels; and thirdly, it provides more information about the antecedents of trust and the ways in which it affects relationship performance.

Past, present and future - assessing changes in aquatic environments using subfossil diatoms

The deterioration of surface waters is one of the most important issues in the environmental management of the European Union. Thus, the EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) requires ���good ecological and chemical status��� of surface waters by 2015 allowing only a slight departure from ecological reference conditions characterized by the biological communities typical for the conditions of minimal anthropogenic impact. The WFD requires the determination of ecological reference conditions and the present ecological status of surface waters. To meet this legislative demand, sedimentary diatom assemblages were used in these studies with various methods 1) to assess natural and human activity induced environmental changes, 2) to characterize background conditions 3) to evaluate the present ecological status and 4) to predict the future of the water bodies in the light of palaeolimnological data. As the WFD refers to all surface waters, both coastal and inland sites were included. Two long and two short sediment cores from the Archipelago Sea in the northern Baltic Sea were examined for their siliceous microfossils in order to assess (1) the Holocene palaeoenvironmental history and (2) the recent eutrophication of the area. The diatom record was divided into local diatom assemblage zones (LDAZ, long cores) and diatom assemblage zones (DAZ, short cores). Locally weighted weighted averaging regression and calibration (LWWA) was applied for the quantitative reconstruction of past TN concentrations (short cores). An age model for the long cores was constructed by using independent palaeomagnetic and AMS-14C methods. The short cores were dated using radiometric (210Pb, 226Ra and 137Cs) methods. The long cores date back to the early history of the Archipelago Sea, which was freshwater ��� no salinity increase referable to the brackish phase of the Yoldia Sea is recognized. The nutrient status of the lacustrine phase was slightly higher in the Archipelago Sea than in the Baltic Proper. Initial brackish-water influence is observed at 8 150 ��80 cal. BP (LDAZ4), but fully brackish conditions were established at 7 700 ��80 cal. BP (LDAZ5). The diatom assemblages indicate increasing salinity, warming climate and possible eutrophic conditions during the lacustrine to brackish-water transition. The decreasing abundance of <i>Pseudosolenia calcar-avis</i> (Schultze) Sundstr��m and the increasing abundance of the ice-cover indicator species <i>Pauliella taeniata</i> (Grunow) Round and Basson indicate decreasing salinity and climatic cooling after ca. 5 000 cal. BP. Signs of eutrophication are visible in the most recent diatom assemblage zones of both short cores. Diatom-inferred total nitrogen (DI-TN) reconstructions partially fail to trace the actual measured total nitrogen concentrations especially from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. This is most likely due to the dominating diatom species <i>Pauliella taeniata, Thalassiosira levanderi </i> Van Goor and <i> Fragilariopsis cylindrus</i> (Grunow) W. Krieger being more influenced by factors such as the length of the ice-season rather than nutrient concentrations. It is concluded that the diatom assemblages of the study sites are principally governed by climate fluctuations, with a slight influence of eutrophication visible in the most recent sediments. There are indications that global warming, with reduced ice cover, could impact the spring blooming diatom species composition in the Archipelago Sea. In addition, increased sediment accumulation in the early 90s coincides with the short ice-seasons suggesting that warming climate with decreasing ice-cover may increase sedimentation in the study area. The diverse diatom assemblages dominated by benthic species (54 %) in DAZ1 in the K��ld�� Fj��rd core can be taken as background diatom assemblages for the Archipelago Sea. Since then turbidity has increased and the diatom assemblages have been dominated by planktonic diatoms from around the mid 1800s onwards. The reconstructed reference conditions for the total nitrogen concentrations fluctuate around 400 ��g l-1. Altogether two short sediment cores and eight short cores for top-bottom analysis were retrieved from Lake Orij��rvi and Lake M����rj��rvi to assess the impact of the acid mine drainage (AMD) derived metals from the Orij��rvi mine tailings on the diatom communities of the lakes. The Cu (Pb, Zn) mine of Orij��rvi (1757 ��� 1956) was the first one in Finland where flotation techniques (1911 ��� 1955) were used to enrich ore and large quantities of tailings were produced. The AMD derived metal impact to the lakes was found to be among the heaviest thus far recorded in Finland. Concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn in Lake Orij��rvi sediments are two to three orders of magnitude higher than background values. The metal inputs have affected Lake Orij��rvi and Lake M����rj��rvi diatom communities at the community levels through shifts in dominant taxa (both lakes) and at the individual level through alteration in frustule morphology (Lake Orij��rvi). At present, lake water still has elevated heavy metal levels, indicating that the impact from the tailings area continues to affect both lakes. Lake Orij��rvi diatom assemblages are completely dominated by benthic species and are lacking planktonic diatoms. In Lake M����rj��rvi the proportion of benthic and tychoplanktonic diatoms has increased and the planktonic taxa have decreased in abundance. <i>Achnanthidium minutissimum</i> K��tzing and <i>Brachysira vitrea</i> (Grun.) R. Ross in Hartley were the most tolerant species to increased metal concentrations. Planktonic diatoms are more sensitive to metal contamination than benthic taxa, especially species in the genus <i>Cyclotella</i> (K��tzing) Br��bisson. The ecological reference conditions assessed in this study for Lake Orij��rvi and Lake M����rj��rvi comprise diverse planktonic and benthic communitites typical of circumneutral oligotrophic lakes, where the planktonic diatoms belonging to genera <i>Cyclotella , Aulacoseira</i> Thwaites, <i>Tabellaria</i> Ehrenberg and <i>Asterionella</i> Hassall dominate in relative abundances up to ca. 70%. The benthic communities are more diverse than the planktonic consisting of diatoms belonging to the genera <i>Achnanthes</i> Bory, <i>Fragilaria</i> Lyngbye and <i>Navicula</i> St. Vincent. This study clearly demonstrates that palaeolimnological methods, especially diatom analysis, provide a powerful tool for the EU Water Frame Work Directive for defining reference conditions, natural variability and current status of surface waters. The top/bottom approach is a very useful tool in larger-scale studies needed for management purposes. This ���before and after��� type of sediment sampling method can provide a very time and cost effective assessment of ecological reference conditions of surface waters.