Showing papers by "University of Lapland published in 2015"

Upper Limit for Sea Level Projections by 2100

Abstract: We construct the probability density function of global sea level at 2100, estimating that sea level rises larger than 180 cm are less than 5% probable. An upper limit for global sea level rise of 190 cm is assembled by summing the highest estimates of individual sea level rise components simulated by process based models with the RCP8.5 scenario. The agreement between the methods may suggest more confidence than is warranted since large uncertainties remain due to the lack of scenario-dependent projections from ice sheet dynamical models, particularly for mass loss from marine-based fast flowing outlet glaciers in Antarctica. This leads to an intrinsically hard to quantify fat tail in the probability distribution for global mean sea level rise. Thus our low probability upper limit of sea level projections cannot be considered definitive. Nevertheless, our upper limit of 180 cm for sea level rise by 2100 is based on both expert opinion and process studies and hence indicates that other lines of evidence are needed to justify a larger sea level rise this century.

Headhunters and the ‘ideal’ executive body

Abstract: In this article, we adopt a critical perspective to study how executive search practices reproduce particular understandings of the ‘ideal’ executive body. We show how this disadvantages not only women but also men who are considered not to fit the ‘ideal’, and further demonstrate how search practices are embodied: how aesthetics, the senses and a sensorial way of knowing permeate the practices through which candidates are evaluated. We identify discourses on embodied co-presence, capabilities and voice in search consultants’ talk, and specify how notions of the ‘ideal’ executive body and embodied search practices become intertwined. We offer this contribution to the discussion on the body, gender and management and to research on executive search practice.

‘Social license to operate’: a relevant term in Northern European mining?

Abstract: The concept of social license to operate (SLO) is increasingly being used throughout the world to describe a specific aspect of company–community relations in resource-extractive projects, in particular how different actors interact to resolve, or not, the social and economic impacts on local communities and other stakeholders. This article will tease out the main elements of the SLO concept and examine the degree to which both actors (mining companies and communities), verbally and in action, respond toward one another. Based on previous empirical studies of scholars in the field, we have applied an analytical framework of SLO to empirically test whether or not it can provide greater insight into the motivations both behind a community's acceptance of or opposition to a company's project, as well as the extent to which a company is willing to appease the public in order to gain their acceptance. The framework combines a set of normative criteria the company must meet as a precondition to gaining SLO, wit...

Vegetation shift from deciduous to evergreen dwarf shrubs in response to selective herbivory offsets carbon losses: evidence from 19 years of warming and simulated herbivory in the subarctic tundra

Abstract: Selective herbivory of palatable plant species provides a competitive advantage for unpalatable plant species, which often have slow growth rates and produce slowly decomposable litter. We hypothesized that through a shift in the vegetation community from palatable, deciduous dwarf shrubs to unpalatable, evergreen dwarf shrubs, selective herbivory may counteract the increased shrub abundance that is otherwise found in tundra ecosystems, in turn interacting with the responses of ecosystem carbon (C) stocks and CO2 balance to climatic warming. We tested this hypothesis in a 19-year field experiment with factorial treatments of warming and simulated herbivory on the dominant deciduous dwarf shrub Vaccinium myrtillus. Warming was associated with a significantly increased vegetation abundance, with the strongest effect on deciduous dwarf shrubs, resulting in greater rates of both gross ecosystem production (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) as well as increased C stocks. Simulated herbivory increased the abundance of evergreen dwarf shrubs, most importantly Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum, which led to a recent shift in the dominant vegetation from deciduous to evergreen dwarf shrubs. Simulated herbivory caused no effect on GEP and ER or the total ecosystem C stocks, indicating that the vegetation shift counteracted the herbivore-induced C loss from the system. A larger proportion of the total ecosystem C stock was found aboveground, rather than belowground, in plots treated with simulated herbivory. We conclude that by providing a competitive advantage to unpalatable plant species with slow growth rates and long life spans, selective herbivory may promote aboveground C stocks in a warming tundra ecosystem and, through this mechanism, counteract C losses that result from plant biomass consumption.

Urbanized birds have superior establishment success in novel environments

Abstract: Many animals have adapted to the proximity of humans and thereby gained an advantage in a world increasingly affected by human activity. Numerous organisms have invaded novel areas and thereby increased their range. Here, we hypothesize that an ability to thrive in urban habitats is a key innovation that facilitates successful establishment and invasion. We test this hypothesis by relating the probability of establishment by birds on oceanic islands to the difference in breeding population density between urban and nearby rural habitats as a measure of urbanization in the ancestral range. This measure was the single-most important predictor of establishment success and the only statistically significant one, with additional effects of sexual dichromatism, number of releases and release effort, showing that the ability to cope with human proximity is a central component of successful establishment. Because most invasions occur as a consequence of human-assisted establishment, the ability to cope with human proximity will often be of central importance for successful establishment.

Grazing intensity in subarctic tundra affects the temperature adaptation of soil microbial communities

Abstract: Grazing by large ungulates, such as reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.), in subarctic tundra exerts a considerable effect on the soil microclimate. Because of higher insulation by the aboveground vegetation in light versus heavily grazed areas, soil temperatures during the growing season are considerably higher under heavy grazing. Here, we hypothesized that these grazer-induced changes in soil microclimate affect the temperature sensitivity of soil microbial activity. To test this hypothesis, we conducted soil incubations at different temperatures (4 °C, 9 °C and 14 °C) for six weeks using soils from sites with contrasting long-term grazing intensities. Microbial respiration at low temperature (4 °C) was significantly higher in soils under light grazing than in soils under heavy grazing; however, grazing intensity did not affect respiration rates at 9 °C and 14 °C. In soils under light grazing, post-incubation β-glucosidase (BG) activity at 4 °C was higher in soils that had been incubated at 4 °C than in soils incubated at 14 °C, suggesting functional adaptation of the soil microbial community to low temperature. Similar adaptation was not detected in soils under heavy grazing. Ion Torrent sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes showed major differences in the bacterial community composition in soils incubated at different temperatures. Overall, our results indicate that tundra soil microorganisms may be more cold-adapted under low than high grazing intensity. Due to this difference in temperature adaptation, the consequences of climate warming on soil microbial processes may be dependent on the grazing intensity.

Exhausted by resilience: response to the commentaries

Abstract: Writing our response to the commentaries featured in this volume proved more difficult than either of us anticipated. Not that we are unappreciative and humbled by the positive reception the book h...

Legal Protection of Sami Traditional Livelihoods from the Adverse Impacts of Mining: A Comparison of the Level of Protection Enjoyed by Sami in Their Four Home States

Abstract: As a consequence of the growing global need for minerals, extractive industries are continuously expanding In the North, together with several environmental problems such as climate change, this poses a real threat to the traditional livelihoods of Sami people The article examines how the rights of Sami indigenous people are protected against adverse impacts of mining activities The relevant national legislation is analyzed in all the four countries where Sami are present It is specifically examined how the main mining act in each country protects the right of Sami people to their traditional livelihoods Finally, the article sheds light on the actual effectiveness of the legal regulation This is done by analyzing the results of interviews conducted with relevant actors and stakeholders in the mining industryKeywords: indigenous peoples; Sami rights; mining(Published: March 2015)Citation: T Koivurova et al “Legal Protection of Sami Traditional Livelihoods from the Adverse Impacts of Mining: A Comparison of the Level of Protection Enjoyed by Sami in Their Four Home States” Arctic Review on Law and Politics, Vol 6, No 1, 2015, pp 11-51 http://dxdoiorg/103402/arcticv676

Strong Responses of Subarctic Plant Communities to Long-Term Reindeer Feces Manipulation

Abstract: Deposition of feces is a key mechanism by which herbivores influence soil nutrient cycling and plant production, but the knowledge about its importance for plant production and community structure is still rudimental since experimental evidence is scarce. We thus performed a 7-year long reindeer feces manipulation experiment in two tundra vegetation types with contrasting nutrient availability and analyzed effects on plant community composition and soil nutrient availability. Despite feces being fairly nutrient poor, feces manipulation had strong effect on both the nutrient-poor heath and the nutrient-rich meadow. The strongest effect was detected when feces were added at high density, with a substantial increase in total vascular plant productivity and graminoids in the two communities. Doubling natural deposition of reindeer feces enhanced primary production and the growth of deciduous shrubs in the heath. By contrast, removal of feces decreased only the production of graminoids and deciduous shrubs in the heath. Although the response to feces addition was faster in the nutrient-rich meadow, after 7 years it was more pronounced in the nutrient-poor heath. The effect of feces manipulation on soil nutrient availability was low and temporarily variable. Our study provides experimental evidence for a central role of herbivore feces in regulating primary production when herbivores are abundant enough. Deposition of feces alone does, however, not cause dramatic vegetation shifts; to drive unproductive heath to a productive grass dominated state, herbivore trampling, and grazing are probably also needed.

Unprecedented recent warming rate and temperature variability over the east Tibetan Plateau inferred from Alpine treeline dendrochronology

Abstract: Despite instrumental records showing recent large temperature rises on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), only a few tree-ring temperature reconstructions do capture this warming trend. Here, we sampled 260 trees from seven Alpine treeline locations across the southeast TP. Standardized tree-ring width chronologies of Abies squamata and Sabina squamat were produced following Regional Curve Standardization detrending. The leading principal component of these records is well correlated with the regional summer (JJA) minimum temperature (MinT) (R2 = 0.47, P < 0.001, 1953–2009). Hence we produce a regional summer MinT reconstruction spanning the last 212 years. This reconstruction reveals a long-term persistent warming trend, starting in the 1820s, at a rate of 0.45 ± 0.09 °C/century (1820–2009). This trend is also detected since the 1820s in the Asian summer MinT reconstruction produced by the PAGES 2K project, with a very close warming rate (0.43 ± 0.08 °C/century, 1820–1989). Our record also displays an enhanced multi-decadal variability since the mid-twentieth century. The 1990s–2000s are the warmest of our whole record, due to the superposition of the gradual warming trend and decadal variability during this interval. The strongest decadal cooling occurs during the 1950s and the largest warming trend during the 1970s. The magnitude of warming from 1973 to 2003 was larger than the total warming trend from 1820s to 2009. Extreme events are also more frequent since 1950. The pattern of multi-decadal variability has similarities with the Atlantic multi-decadal oscillation, suggesting common causality. CMIP5 historical simulations fail to capture both the magnitude and timing of this multi-decadal variability. The ensemble CMIP5 average produces a steady warming trend starting in the 1970s, which only accounts for about 60 % of the observed warming trend during this period. We conclude that TP summer temperature could reflect a climate response to increased greenhouse gas concentrations, however modulated by multi-decadal variations common with the Atlantic sector.

Contextualizing entrepreneurial learning in basic and vocational education

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine and model entrepreneurial learning processes as a continuum from non-business basic education to vocational education. Previous studies and policy programs in Europe suggest that entrepreneurship education should be a core part of the education system. Design/methodology/approach – This is an action research piece of work in which two researchers (the authors) have first studied each other’s own data independently, and then combined these two sets of data. One data set has been collected in a non-business, basic education setting, whereas the other focuses on business studies in vocational education. Here, the entrepreneurial learning process is seen as a synthesis of experimentation with discovered and created opportunities and managing knowledge and competences through reflective practices and decision-making processes. Findings – The main finding is that entrepreneurial learning can be enabled and may manifest itself as a useful process both in non-busi...

Atlantic hurricane surge response to geoengineering

Abstract: Devastating floods due to Atlantic hurricanes are relatively rare events. However, the frequency of the most intense storms is likely to increase with rises in sea surface temperatures. Geoengineering by stratospheric sulfate aerosol injection cools the tropics relative to the polar regions, including the hurricane Main Development Region in the Atlantic, suggesting that geoengineering may mitigate hurricanes. We examine this hypothesis using eight earth system model simulations of climate under the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) G3 and G4 schemes that use stratospheric aerosols to reduce the radiative forcing under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario. Global mean temperature increases are greatly ameliorated by geoengineering, and tropical temperature increases are at most half of those temperature increases in the RCP4.5. However, sulfate injection would have to double (to nearly 10 teragrams of SO2 per year) between 2020 and 2070 to balance the RCP4.5, approximately the equivalent of a 1991 Pinatubo eruption every 2 y, with consequent implications for stratospheric ozone. We project changes in storm frequencies using a temperature-dependent generalized extreme value statistical model calibrated by historical storm surges and observed temperatures since 1923. The number of storm surge events as big as the one caused by the 2005 Katrina hurricane are reduced by about 50% compared with no geoengineering, but this reduction is only marginally statistically significant. Nevertheless, when sea level rise differences in 2070 between the RCP4.5 and geoengineering are factored into coastal flood risk, we find that expected flood levels are reduced by about 40 cm for 5-y events and about halved for 50-y surges.

When do grazers accelerate or decelerate soil carbon and nitrogen cycling in tundra? A test of theory on grazing effects in fertile and infertile habitats

Abstract: It is generally predicted that grazers enhance soil microbial activity and nutrient availability and promote soil bacteria in fertile ecosystems, but retard microbial activity and nutrient availability and promote soil fungi in infertile ecosystems. We tested these predictions in tundra by comparing grazing effects between fertile and infertile habitats and with/without nutrient manipulation by fertilization. Grazing decreased soil N content in fertile and in fertilized plots in infertile habitats while increased it in infertile tundra habitats, which directly opposed our prediction. We conclude that this unpredicted outcome probably resulted from nutrient transport between habitats. Also contrasting with our hypothesis, grazing increased fungal rather than bacterial abundance in fertilized plots at both habitats. In support with predictions, grazing increased microbial activity for soil C decomposition in fertile but decreased it in infertile habitats. The effect of grazing on soil C decomposition followed same patterns as grazer-induced changes in the activity of β-glucosidase, which is an extracellular enzyme synthesized by soil microorganisms for degrading soil cellulose. We suggest that the theoretical framework on grazer–soil interactions should incorporate microbial potential for extracellular enzyme production (‘microscale’ grazer effects) and nutrient translocation by grazers among habitats (‘macroscale’ grazer effects) as important mechanisms by which grazers influence soil processes and nutrient availability for plants at contrasting levels of habitat fertility.

Children's Everyday Lives Shadowed by Stalking: Postseparation Stalking Narratives of Finnish Children and Women

Abstract: This qualitative study discusses post separation stalking and its implications in children's everyday lives. Based on narratives of 13 Finnish children and 20 women, the research fills a gap in the knowledge regarding the psychosocial, emotional, and physical impacts of stalking on children when their mothers are stalked by a former partner. It identifies four forms of impact: (a) an atmosphere of fear and feelings of insecurity; (b) disguised acts of stalking and the father's performance of care, love, and longing; (c) exploitation of children in stalking; and (d) physical abuse, acts of violence, and threats of death. The findings indicate that stalking severely constrains children's everyday lives and strengthens, yet often distorts, the mother-child bond. The study concludes that in cases where mothers are stalked, professionals in the social and health services, law enforcement, and criminal justice should view the children, too, as victims and construct supportive social relationships for women and children facing threatening life situations.

Design probes study on user perceptions of a smart glasses concept

Abstract: Until today, mobile computing has been very much confined to conventional computing form factors, i.e. laptops, tablets and smartphones, which have achieved de facto design standards in outlook and shape. However, wearable devices are emerging, and especially glasses are an appealing form factor for future devices. Currently, although companies such as Google have productized a solution, little user research and design exploration has been published on either the user preferences or the technology. We set ourselves to explore the design directions for smart glasses with user research grounded use cases and design alternatives. We describe our user research utilizing a smart glasses design probe in an experience sampling method study (n=12), and present a focus group based study (n=14) providing results on perceptions on alternative industrial designs for smart glasses.

Visitor discourses on experiences: reasons for festival success and failure

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to unfold factors anchored in visitors’ experiences possibly determinant of the success or failure of cultural festivals. Design/methodology/approach – The studied data included 931 experience descriptions, 23 interviews and 51 empathy-based stories collected from 17 cultural festivals around Finland during the summers of 2012 and 2013. The nature of the study was exploratory, the theoretical framework was social constructionism, and the analysis was done using Foucauldian discourse analysis. The Method of Empathy Based Stories, a non-active role-playing technique, was used in the data collection. Findings – The identified success factors were the programme, good quality food, sense of community, chill-out opportunities and building blocks of one’s identity. The factors that might cause failures were commercialised and low-quality programme, the low quality of services, commercialism demonstrated by elevated ticket and service pricing, VIP services confronting egalit...

Rethinking poster presentations at large-scale scientific meetings – is it time for the format to evolve?

Abstract: Conferences have been recorded since the mid-1600s [1], and form a key professional practice in scientific and other academic/professional domains. Conference events range in scale from small local affairs to vast international gatherings, but their underlying objectives are the same: to allow like-minded people to gather and exchange knowledge and views, and to promote networking within the field. The motivations for attending conferences are both intrinsic and extrinsic. As individuals, we like to learn more about our fields of study, meet our peers, and also revitalize ourselves away from our daily routines. Additionally, as a presenter, you may formally contribute your knowledge to the community, which has both altruistic and personal motivations. As individuals, the benefits of conference attendance are clear (although seldom measurable), but how effective are these meetings and presentations in disseminating information and facilitating professional interaction? Multiple presentation streams at conferences give delegates choice over what conference content they engage with, as well as offering more opportunities to present information to a gathered audience. As podium space is limited, poster sessions evolved to create interactive opportunities whereby delegates could share their work [2]. In large group settings, lecturetype presentations create a greater sense of educational value among delegates than more interactive approaches; however, no significant difference has been noted in the actual degree of knowledge retention and transfer that these two approaches facilitate [3]. Nowadays, posters are numerically by far the most prevalent means of disseminating information at conferences, and it is not uncommon to see hundreds, if not thousands, of posters displayed in a single session. This is clearly evident in the number of abstracts published in academic/scientific journals (e.g. FEBS Journal volume 279, supplement S1, provides abstracts for 1663 posters presented at the 22nd IUBMB & 37th FEBS Congress in 2012 [4]), and has also been noted in other fields [5]. As an example of the growth of poster presentation and its accommodation, the 1969 FEBS meeting [6] was the first recorded example of an international scientific poster-type display session. It hosted 105 posters over 4 days, with 12 h dedicated to the sessions (averaging 1.5 h per display period and 13 posters on display per session). In contrast, the 2014 FEBS/ EMBO conference [7] hosted 2098 posters over 4 days, but only 6 h were dedicated to the sessions. Whilst the latter meeting also allocated 1.5 h per scheduled display period, an average of 525 posters were on display at each session – more than 40 times the number presented in 1969 (Fig. 1). On the surface, this appears to be a positive indication that members of the scientific community are actively engaging in the conference process and are keen to share their work with fellow delegates. However, on a practical level, this mass of information has the potential to hinder delegate interaction, in that not only is it impossible to devote meaningful attention to so many ‘exhibits’ in the time available, but it is also difficult to select particular items of interest from the many on offer in conference proceedings. An editorial in Nature Chemistry [8] observed: ‘your potential audience has only a limited time resource to spend on a wide choice’, and, as a poster presenter, it is not uncommon to feel that you have failed to attract the attention of a significant number of conference delegates (Fig. 2). If 15 posters are displayed in a room for 1.5 h, it is very easy for delegates to circulate, see what each one was about, determine whether they want to know more, approach the poster and look it at their leisure, and perhaps spend some time talking to the presenter. Increasing this number to 500 posters renders this an impossible and uninviting task (you would have only 10.8 s to view each poster), but this is a common occurrence at large-scale conferences in many fields. Delegates are thought to pre-select items of interest from the published conference programme, but even previewing the abstract titles for these 500 posters

Coordinating co-production in complex network settings

Abstract: This article draws together the concepts of network management and co-production with complexity sciences. So far, these approaches have rarely been connected in research literature. We suggest that this conceptual framework offers new insights for analyzing the challenges of co-production in complex network settings in the local public services. The aim of the article is to find out how complex network structures meet the co-production process in the context of social and health care services. The empirical part of the article presents a Finnish case study of a multiprofessional service network producing social and health care services for youth. Here, the clients, in this case children and young people with a need for social services, often need multiple services from different service providers simultaneously. Our research findings suggest that the outcomes of the service process are not only dependent on the client's needs, but rather on organizational and professional interests. Our research gives ne...

Entrepreneurial learning environments: supporting or hindering diverse learners?

Abstract: Purpose – This study focuses on the implementation of entrepreneurship education in non-business education at the basic education level and in class-teacher education in Finland. The subject to learn was music, which did not include any entrepreneurial content. Accordingly, this study looks closely at the way learners behave when studying music. The purpose of this paper is to see whether entrepreneurial behaviour is appropriate in non-business education. Design/methodology/approach – The study used the action research approach; in particular, it used the special teacher-as-researcher method. The analysis was based on content analysis. Findings – In this study, the teacher-researcher looked at entrepreneurial learning as experimenting with alternative learning methods and different learning contents. To ensure that every learner received the support they needed in their self-chosen tasks, peer learning was encouraged. Learners got the support they needed both from each other and from the teacher-researche...

Towards Deeper Understanding of User Experience with Ubiquitous Computing Systems: Systematic Literature Review and Design Framework

Abstract: Over the past decades, a plethora of innovative ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) systems have been constructed. The acceptance of the systems, however, depends on how users experience them in real contexts. While many of the ubicomp research projects include some form of user study, there is no overview of how user experience (UX) is approached in ubicomp research. To this end, we conducted a systematic literature review of ubicomp UX studies. Our findings reveal that users‘experiences with ubicomp systems have often been investigated in rather lightweight ways, for example by addressing basic usability issues, collecting ratings by simple, predetermined scales, or producing descriptions of general experiences such as fun and trust. Based on the findings we argue that a deeper and more fine-grained understanding of user experience would help developing more successful ubicomp systems. We propose a ubicomp UX framework that can help design and evaluate ubicomp systems with a desirable set of target experiences.

Interactive effects of fearfulness and geographical location on bird population trends

Abstract: This article is a contribution by MD to the project RiskDisp (CGL2009-08430) and to the thematic networks GlobiMed (wwwglobimed net) and REMEDINAL III S2013/MAE-2719 JJ received support from the EU Regional Development Fund via the Project “Rovaniemen kaupunkilintuatlas (A31026)

Dachas on permafrost: the creation of nature among Arctic Russian city-dwellers

Abstract: This article analyses the phenomenon of the post-Soviet Russian summer cottage, dacha, in the Arctic. We take an ethnographic comparative perspective for contributing to the refinement of our understanding of human-environment relations and urban anthropology of incomer-northerners, those with roots somewhere outside the north. Evidence from fieldwork in Murmansk Oblast, West Siberia and Sakha-Yakutia shows how for a socialist and post-socialist northern urban livelihood, the dacha has become an indispensable counterpart of life in the urban concrete housing blocks for most Russian northern inhabitants. We explore in this article the importance of dacha for northern identity of urban dwellers, by analysing spheres of individual and collective agency, freedom, attachment to place and land. We conclude that the dacha movement has filled a gap that had been left open by Soviet Arctic urbanisation: a dacha has come to stand for a human-environment relationship that gradually re-introduces rurality to urban life in the Russian Arctic so permanently that dacha places start losing their seasonal character.

Randomized trial on the effectiveness of long- and short-term psychotherapy on psychosocial functioning and quality of life during a 5-year follow-up

Abstract: Knowledge is incomplete on whether long-term psychotherapy is more effective than short-term therapy in treating mood and anxiety disorder, when measured by improvements in psychosocial functioning and life quality. In the Helsinki Psychotherapy Study, 326 outpatients with mood or anxiety disorder were randomized to solution-focused therapy (SFT), short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (SPP), or long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LPP), and followed up for 5 years from the start of treatment. The outcome measures comprised 4 questionnaires on psychosocial functioning, assessing global social functioning (Social Adjustment Scale (SAS-SR), sense of coherence (Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC)), perceived competence (Self-Performance Survey), dispositional optimism (Life Orientation Test (LOT)), and 1 questionnaire assessing quality of life (Life Situation Survey (LSS)). Short-term therapies improved psychosocial functioning and quality of life more than LPP during the first year. The only exceptions were LOT and perceived competence, which did not differ between SPP and LPP. Later in the follow-up, SOC and perceived competence showed significantly more improvement in LPP than in the short-term therapy groups. No direct differences between SFT and SPP were noted. Short-term therapy has consistently more short-term effects on psychosocial functioning and quality of life than LPP, whereas LPP has some additional long-term benefits on psychosocial functioning.

Sustainable mining, local communities and environmental regulation

Abstract: Sustainable mining is an objective as well as a tool for balancing economic, social, and environmental considerations. Each of these three dimensions of mining – and sustainable development – has m ...

Skiing in a blended virtuality: an in-the-wild experiment

Abstract: In this paper we describe a concept of using a Head Mounted Display (HMD) whilst downhill skiing and snowboarding, and experimenting with it in-the-wild on a skiing slope. The wearer experiences an alternative Virtual Reality (VR) visually through the HMD whilst their other sensory inputs experience the full sensation of real-world skiing, creating a blended virtual/real experience. To enable accurate tracking of the wearer's motion, we implemented a 'snow mouse' device, which rotates on the snow as the skier moves and enables dead-reckoning of the user's position. The prototype device was evaluated in-the-wild, on downhill ski slopes by both a skier and a snowboarder. Initial feedback suggests the level of immersion achieved is high, and particularly, users noticed the non-visual aspects of the experience.

Designing culturally inclusive affordance networks into the curriculum

Abstract: This study addresses the challenges concerning the internationalisation of higher education, with a particular focus on designing new international programmes It presents a case study of a novel international study programme: the MA in Media Education at the Faculty of Education at the University of Lapland, Finland The study looks into its curriculum as an affordance network and asks: How do the planned and experienced curricula respond to and support cultural inclusion? The results shed light on the risks of transforming existing domestic degree programmes into ‘international’ programmes The core curriculum design challenges found in this study stem from the fact that the meaning of internationalisation has been defined ‘from within’; from the existing structures and expectations of the programme and from the host institution We suggest that more attention should be paid to students' life-worlds and the entire multicultural ecosystem that builds on the affordances inscribed in the curriculum

The goals of the EU seal products trade regulation: from effectiveness to consequence

Abstract: When policies are adopted, it seems reasonable to assume that they address a certain issue and provide means to mitigate specific problems. This seems the case with the EU's regime on trade in seal products, but it becomes evident that the goal formulation in this case is blurry and unclear. Taking animal welfare, the so-called ‘Inuit exemption’, and internal market harmonisation into account, this article examines the goals of the seal products trade regime and how they are applied. It becomes clear that the attainment of goals bears consequences that are unprecedented due to conceptual and formulation difficulties. Given the indistinct goal formulation during the policy-shaping process and the goal formulation in the policy itself, it seems fair to say that the regime does not aim to improve animal welfare standards in the commercial seal hunt, but rather aims to shut down the commercial hunt completely. This, however, affects Inuit and non-Inuit seal hunters equally and is inconsistent with secondary goals that are formulated in the EU's documents relating to the Arctic. Therefore, the seal products trade regime has consequences that challenge the EU's ambitions in the north.

Diplomacy on ice : energy and the environment in the Arctic and Antarctic

Abstract: As the race for resources in distant parts of the planet gathers momentum, the Arctic and Antarctic have taken on a more prominent role in international relations. Discussion has mostly centered on the potential for conflict, environmental destruction, and upheaval from climate change. This important book shifts the conversation from conflict to cooperation, bringing to light various underappreciated facets of diplomacy. Expert contributors from a wide variety of disciplines provide a more nuanced view of emerging cooperation in the poles than ever before. The authors discuss the complexities of governing the Arctic and Antarctic, addressing such issues as energy development, indigenous peoples' rights, tourism, invasive species, ship traffic, commercial fishing, military patrols, and mineral exploration. Will we repeat history and do lasting damage to fragile arctic ecosystems and traditional ways of life? Or can we create governance structures to protect these irreplaceable zones of discovery and awe, and usher in a new era of cooperation at the ends of the earth? This compelling book points the way toward finding the best answers.

A situation-aware safety service for children via participatory design

Abstract: Children are mostly neglected as technology end users, even though they have needs and requirements that should be taken into account in the design of new products and services. This paper introduces a process for a designing situation-aware safety service for children with a unique combination of novel participatory tools, a brainstorming workshop, and scenario writing. The design process includes five phases where the service design team, with multi-science expertise, uses the participatory design tools to gather the needs, fears, and hopes from the end users in the very early phases of the design. We report the lessons learned from the usage of the design process by the pupils, their parents and teachers from one primary school in Finland. We used publicity via the news in local and provincial newspapers, radio, and TV to receive feedback and acceptance from the local society. The design process proved to be powerful and it enabled the gathering and receiving of valuable feedback from both end users and the local society.