Local Environmental Conflicts and the Change in Environmental Consciousness

Abstract

The article examines the change in environmental consciousness by analyzing the environmental conflicts which have arisen in Finland in the past few decades and their structural and attitudinal backgrounds. The development of environmental activity in Finland has been fluctuating; the years 1979-81 and 1988-90 were active periods. During the last wave, battles were waged over the conservation of wilderness and virgin forests. Primeval nature and national cultural values experienced a reawakening. Among the many conflicts, the article analyzes in detail the struggle over the construction of tourist facilities and preservation of the mountain of Koli. For more than a hundred years Koli has been one of Finland's best-known tourist attractions and the dispute over it one of the most publicized environmental conflicts in recent years. The article shows that the bases and motives of environmental protection have been very different at different times and among different groups of people. The environment is filled with various meanings and symbols, and different people seek to protect very different things. Therefore, it is important to study those social actors who participate in the defining of environmental problems.