Finnish Research Research Articles

Finnish Maritime Archaeology through its Publications

This article analyses Finnish maritime archaeology through a compiled bibliography of 621 scientific and popular works published between 1942–2020. General trends and turning points in the history of the discipline are identified and discussed vis-a-vis temporal and topical foci discerned in the publications. Special attention is drawn to the concentration in Finnish research on shipwrecks from the historical period, and the low international visibility of scientific production is problematised. While large-scale projects have been carried out in Finnish maritime archaeology, knowledge production within the authorised heritage discourse in particular has aimed to fulfil the needs of local and national rather than international audiences. Our compiled bibliography, which is hereby made available to the wider research community, has potential to become a valuable tool for identifying and developing future research areas.

Geology collection policy of the Finnish Museum of Natural History

The Geology Collection is part of the national collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus. General principles and guidelines for the collections are defined in the General Collection Policy of Luomus. The Geology Collection Policy is subordinate to the General Collection Policy of Luomus, clarifying its content with reference to the special characteristics of the geological collections. The Geological Collection includes mineral, rock, and meteorite specimens worldwide and from all geologic ages to support Finnish research and educational projects. The coverage emphasizes specimens from Finland, Scandinavia, Africa, and Antarctica. The Geology Collection Policy defines the purpose of the collections, the objectives, the distribution of responsibilities for collection management and maintenance in the organisation, and the principles of collection accumulation, preservation, accessibility and use to public.

It takes two to tango: Examining productive interactions in urban research collaboration

Abstract The science–society relations of social sciences and humanities have been increasingly discussed under the concept of productive interactions, which refers to the mutual learning processes between researchers and stakeholders for the benefit of societal development. While most studies have analysed the societal impact from the research performers’ perspective, in this article, we examine the practitioners’ side. We contribute to the evaluation theory by offering a new perspective to examine the emergence of productive interactions. Based on an empirical analysis of collaborative practices in two Finnish urban research programmes and how the practitioners reflected on them, we argue that practitioners’ competencies are essential in leveraging societal impact. The improvement of these ‘pracademic competencies’ need to be raised as an issue in research policy and evaluation promoting responsible research and innovation.

Common good in the era of data-intensive healthcare

In recent years, scholars studying data-intensive healthcare have argued that data-driven technologies bind together new actors and goals as part of healthcare. By combining the expectation studies with justification theory, this article adopts a novel theoretical perspective to understand how these actors and goals are enroled in healthcare. Drawing on a case study of Apotti, a Finnish social services and healthcare information system renewal project, the article shows how new emerging health data assemblages stress the aims of producing the common good in public healthcare. The project is studied by analysing interviews of the project’s key actors and various documents produced in the project. The paper shows how, in the collective expectations, the new information system is justified by multiple understandings of the common good, which might be contradictory with each other. Along with the established goals of improving public healthcare operations, the new information system is expected to empower clients and patients, audit and manage personnel, promote national digital social and healthcare service markets, provide better data and tools for research, and promote Finnish research and business in international competition. These expectations are not all based on the settled understanding of the common good of public healthcare as promoting health; the common good is also defined in other terms such as improving research, promoting markets and business, and making Finland famous and a leading country in the digital social services and healthcare field. These goals and expectations are purposely ambiguous to be loose enough to gain attention and maintain it even when the promises are not met. The paper identifies the ambiguity and plurality of the common good as strategies of data-intensive healthcare and raises concerns of how this might shape public healthcare in the future. As the plural understandings of the common good might not support each other, the paper calls for further assessments of how this will affect public healthcare’s core objectives and for seeking solutions that carefully balance the goals of the current and evolving multi-stakeholder environment of data-intensive healthcare.

98 What We Think We “know” About Beef X Dairy Crossbred Cattle in the Feedlot

Abstract To increase profitably, dairy farms across the United States have rapidly adopted breeding a portion of their cows to beef sires, generating crossbred progeny. The resulting progeny have, in some cases, increased the value of the calf to the dairy, due to their perceived potential for improved growth, feed efficiency, and carcass characteristics for beef production. U.S. research is behind our European counterparts in recommending the appropriate beef sires for dairy matings, and U.S. semen trends show Angus sales over many other breeds. However, Kempster et al. (1982) reported that calves sired by British breed bulls were actually at a disadvantage in growth performance compared to even purebred Holstein calves. Finnish researchers agreed, reporting that the resulting crossbreds from Aberdeen Angus and Hereford bulls were extremely variable, making them undesirable for beef production. However, resulting crossbred calves from late maturing breed types (Charolais, Limousine, and Simmental) had better average daily gain and carcass characteristics than their counterparts from early maturing breeds (Huuskonen et al., 2013). A comprehensive review of early crossbred systems similarly suggested that calves sired by Continental breeds, like Charolais, had an advantage in the feedlot and the packing house (Shank, 2003). Going a bit further, another European study examined the used of 3 beef breeds (Belgian Blue, Limousine, and Galacian Blonde) known for heavy muscling, but not common in the United States, for use as crossbreeding sires (Fouz et al., 2012). Holstein cows bred to Belgian Blue sires had the greatest difficulty calving; however, calving difficulties were reduced with increasing dam age (Fouz et al., 2012). Unfortunately, that trial did not go on to evaluate feedlot performance. Thus, there remains a dearth of scientific references for crossbred mating decisions as well as subsequent growth performance and carcass outcomes.

Experiences of Opening Up Communicative Spaces for Large-Scope Issues

The continuously changing world creates new challenges, large-scope issues, both at the community and the organizational level. Currently, sustainable development is among the key issues demanding organizational learning and new ways of operation. The paper looks for the potential of Scandinavian communicative-oriented action research (AR), applied in dialogue forums, to enhance learning and planning of integrative solutions to meet the needs of various actor groups. The paper links two intertwined AR lines of a Finnish work research institute to the contexts of classic and current AR discussion and their original social conditions in the early 1990s, when they were challenged by a severe recession. The characteristics of communicative spaces applied in the two cases are analysed qualitatively. The data, consisting of case reports, are reread and interpreted in a framework that concretizes Habermasian ideals of free communication. The elements of organisational learning and power embedded in the organisational positions of the participants dealing with large-scope societal issues are made explicit. Free communication and joint agreements of concrete plans require active agency that can be learned in a psychologically and socially safe communicative space where Habermasian lifeworld and system interact. The research shows the malleability of dialogue-based communicative spaces that can be applied in versatile social and organizational conditions. A future option would be a continuous dialogue applied in permanent dialogue structures.

‘Ain’t I also a migrant?’ An ethnodrama of weaving knowledges otherwise in Finnish migration research

ABSTRACT Previous Nordic migration and minority studies focus little on who produces research about migration and migrant education and in what ways. In contrast, by inquiring into how migrants and researchers themselves as knowing subjects are constituted through research and educational practices, this article seeks to destabilize established modes of knowing and of performing research. Through ethnodrama, it explores the effects of performing abilities to pass as non/not-quite/white, and the related abilities to pass as a knowing subject or not. This enables enquiring what counts as valid knowledges and ways of knowing, and who is considered a legitimate knowing subject in migrant educational and research settings and practices in Finland. This study joins a growing body of auto/ethnographic research exploring Eastern European proximities-to/distances-from whiteness in the Nordic space, through embodiment and discomfort with established ways of knowing. The ethnodrama brings into dialogue discussions on (epistemic) racism and (contested) whiteness with current controversies on racialized researcher positionality in feminist circles.

A National Survey of EMR Usability: Comparisons between medical and nursing professions in the hospital and primary care sectors in Australia and Finland

BackgroundElectronic Medical Record Systems (EMRs) are now part of nursing and medical professionals daily work in the acute and primary care sectors in Australia. Usability is an important factor in their successful adoption and impacts upon clinical workflow, safety and quality, communication, and collaboration. This study replicates a significant body of work conducted by Finnish researchers applying a usability focused survey to understand medical and nursing professionals’ experiences in the Australian context. As we implement EMRs across health systems, their usability and design to support clinicians to effectively deliver and document care, is essential. MethodsWe conducted an observational study using a cross sectional survey, the National Usability-Focused HIS Scale (NuHISS) developed and validated by Finnish researchers. For this study 13 usability statements collected clinician impressions of EMRs related to technical quality, ease of use, benefits, and collaboration. We report the responses from medical and nursing professionals working in clinical practice settings in Australia, including primary care and hospital sectors in 2020. ResultsNursing and medical professionals have different experiences with EMR usability. This depends on the sector they work in and the usability feature measured. In our sample, technical quality features were more positively experienced by doctors in the primary care sector than nurses as well as ease of obtaining patient information and prevention of errors. In the hospital sector nurses experiences with EMRs were more positive with respect to support for routine task completion, learnability, ease of obtaining patient information and entry of patient data. ConclusionsThe NuHISS is a suitable tool for measuring the usability experiences of Australian clinicians and the EMRs utilised. Differences in usability experiences were noted between professional groups and sectors. A focus on the usability perspectives of clinicians when enhancing or developing EMR solutions is advocated.

Périphéries vs centres : le cas de la traductologie en Finlande

The article analyzes the history of translation studies (TS) in Finland from its beginnings to the present with the help of the polysystem theory, while also examining the impact of various individuals and communities on the development of the Finnish TS tradition. My analysis indicates that the “centrality” of Finnish researchers in translation studies — which was particularly visible before the discipline went global in the 2010s — can be explained by some general trends in European higher learning, but even more than that by the strong relations that Finnish translation scholars have had with local translation professionals, international colleagues, and, last but not least, each other.

Letters from Corona Ground Zero to Helsinki: Notes on the pandemic and the environmental crisis

This is a special kind of article, based on a combination of essay-style writing and references to both academic studies and public discussion. Toni Lahtinen, a Finnish ecocritic, arrived in Seattle just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He sent electronic postcards to Helsinki to Panu Pihkala, a Finnish researcher on eco-anxiety. The correspondence between the two internationally recognized scholars contains first-hand observations and wide-ranging meditations on global anxieties. One important theme is how the dynamics of othering and privilege are evoked instinctively in threatening circumstances. The first COVID-19 infections in the USA were confirmed in Seattle on January 21, 2020, and until mid-March, the state of Washington had more infections per capita than any other state. Before Lahtinen returned to Finland, 75 000 Americans had lost their lives due to the pandemic and the number of unemployed had increased with 20 000 000 people. The fourteen letters between Lahtinen and Pihkala provoke the reader to think about coronavirus anxiety, eco-anxiety, and methods of coping.

Gustav Mannerheim in the XXI Century Studies (on a New Book by Henrik Meinander)

The article-review is an analysis of the book by a major Finnish researcher H. Meinander about the life and work of the most prominent military and political figure of Finland, Gustav Mannerheim. Following the author, the reviewer goes through the milestones of Mannerheim's life, analyzing both the convincing and the controversial statements of the historian. The book is written on the basis of various sources and contains polemics with other authors who were engaged in the same subject. The author strove for objectivity, neither embellishing the thoughts and actions of his hero, nor detracting from their meaning and significance, and in many ways achieved his goal. The monograph is divided into chapters that characterize particular periods in Mannerheim's life and consist of separate thematic sections-essays. The result is a dynamically developing picture of the formation of the hero's personality against the background of the most important events in the history of the world, Finland and Russia. The author traces how one of the most important European politicians, who has learned the contradictory experience of the history of the twentieth century, grows out of an aristocrat and a dandy officer. Central to the narrative is the theme "Mannerheim and Russia". Conscientious military service in the Russian Empire, the struggle with Soviet Russia, and, finally, the realization of the need to look for ways to form peaceful relations with a powerful neighbor - this is the evolution of Mannerheim's attitude to our country. A lot of space is also devoted to the problem of Finland's relations with other countries – Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom. "The lessons of Mannerheim", as they are presented in the book, will be useful for the current and future generations of Finnish and Russian political scientists and political practitioners.

Käännöstieteen aihealue Tieteen termipankissa

This article describes the first findings and the framework of our project that focuses on how Finnish translation researchers have enhanced and can enhance the terminology of their field through continuous and persistent voluntary terminology work. The material examined consists of the terms that are related to translating and translation theory and included in the Helsinki Term Bank for the Arts and Sciences (HTB), available online. Today, the field of Translation Studies is represented in the HTB by 327 terms and their definitions, many of which are drafts and not full entries. The aim of our project is to describe and evaluate the status of the terminology currently available and to propose some further lines of development for the HTB, on the one hand, and for translation researchers’ collaborative terminology work, on the other. In this article, we present some tentative proposals which include an outline of what can be called the best HTB practices for Translation Studies. The approach to terminology work and the emphasis which we advocate in our article implies a transition from researcher-centredness towards audience awareness which, in our project, means an increased awareness of the Term Bank users and their needs.

Palaeontology Collection Policy

The Paleontological Collection (PalCo) is one of partial collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus. General principles and guidelines for the collections are defined in the General Collection Policy of Luomus. The PalCo Policy is subordinate to the General Collection Policy of Luomus, clarifying its content with reference to the special characteristics of the paleontological collections. The PalCo includes fossil plant, invertebrate and vertebrate specimens worldwide in scope and from all geologic ages to support Finnish research and educational projects. The coverage emphasizes Paleozoic and Quaternary specimens from Finland, the Baltic countries and Scandinavia. The PalCo Policy defines the purpose of the collections, the objectives, the distribution of responsibilities for collection management and maintenance in the organisation, and the principles of collection accumulation, preservation, accessibility and use.

Science policy meets post-New Public Management: Estonian and Finnish reforms 2012–2015

ABSTRACT The study compares recent Estonian and Finnish research steering reforms. Both cases exhibit post- New Public Management (post-NPM)-style policy ideas that seek to enhance coordination over institutional boundaries but diverge in their horizontal and vertical configurations for coordination. This study combines perspectives on coordination from science policy and public administration with a historical institutionalist approach for understanding case divergence. This article argues that post-NPM reforms can involve rather diverse forms of coordination, which are affected by institutional legacies. We also argue that coordination efforts in science policy can involve a strengthened instrumentalization of research for policy-making, and, in such cases, they should be studied in close conjunction with public administration and its policy trends.

ЧЕТВЕРТИЧНЫЕ ОТЛОЖЕНИЯ И РЕЛЬЕФ ОНЕЖСКОГО ОЗЕРА

Many publications have been devoted to the geological and geomorphological study of both Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega – the largest lakes of Northwest Russia and Europe. The last comprehensive geological studies of Lake Onega were carried out by Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition as part of a geological survey at a scale of 1: 500,000 [12] and by Finnish researchers [19] at the beginning of the 21st century. Subsequently, these data were included in the third-generation State Geological Map at a scale of 1:1 000 000 [13]. Study of the basin’s geological structure was resumed in 2016 by researchers from the Northern Water Problems Institute of the Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, Lomonosov Moscow State University and Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, as well as representatives of other scientific organizations. The works included geological sampling, drilling from ice platform, seismoacoustic profiling and side-scan sonar. The aim of the works was to clarify data on the structural features of the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene deposits of Lake Onega and the genesis of the lake basin relief. Based on the data obtained in the course of field studies, a new distribution scheme of the Lake Onega Quaternary deposits was drawn up. Comparison of the scheme with the data on the bottom topography made it possible to characterize its genesis and draw up a geomorphological scheme. The data presented in this article can be used to update and supplement the State Geological Map of the Northwest Russia, as well as to solve other problems of Quaternary geology and paleogeography.

Urban Playground: How Child-Friendly Planning and Design Can Save Cities by Tim Gill (review)

Book Review: Urban Playground: How Child-Friendly Planning and Design… 151 Urban Playground: How Child-Friendly Planning and Design Can Save Cities Tim Gill (2021) London: RIBA Publishing, 208 pages $47.50 (paperback); ISBN: 978-1859469293 Many urban designers and planners will have come across the idea of child-friendly cities, however few are likely to fully appreciate the enormous potential for childfriendly planning and design to improve cities for all citizens. In Urban Playground Tim Gill provides a cogent explanation of why child-friendly planning is not only important for children, but for the future survival of cities themselves. This book is full of insights to help urban designers, planners, politicians and policy makers create more livable, resilient and prosperous cities. Moreover, the implications of the arguments in this book go further than “saving cities.” Child-friendly urban planning provides an effective strategy for responding to the global challenges currently facing humanity, including the climate emergency and biodiversity loss. Gill explains: “Looking at planning and design through children’s eyes does not just offer fresh perspectives and a compelling new urban vision. It reveals the best way to set cities on a firm course away from ecological, economic and social decay.” This book shows why child-friendly planning is needed and how it can be done. Tim Gill is ideally placed to explain the link between child-friendly planning and sustainable cities that are livable for all city residents. His experience in urban design, transport, children’s play and well-being advocacy, planning, and public policy provides a rich understanding of the complexities involved in understanding the changing nature of children’s play and the importance of the people and places around children to their well-being. Gill’s research has been widely published in academic and mainstream media. This book provides a holistic perspective that brings together the understandings from researchers, policy makers and children and families themselves. Gill explains that not only do children value play opportunities and facilities, they also value walkability, lack of traffic, and the presence of nature. Not surprisingly, many of the child-friendly initiatives discussed in the book involve the promotion of child-friendly, active transport modes: walking, cycling and public transit. Throughout Urban Playground, Gill emphasizes the importance of taming traffic, particularly on residential streets. Child-friendly street design necessitates reducing both the speed and the volume of traffic. Gill explains that there is a strong rationale for reducing motor vehicle speeds on almost all urban streets, and this is an integral component of the child-friendly planning in many of the case studies outlined in Chapters 3 and 4. Lower speeds not only support child-friendly neighborhoods in terms of enhancing children’s safety and mobility; they can also provide opportunities for reclaiming space for play and thus help increase the affordances provided for children. Book Review: Urban Playground: How Child-Friendly Planning and Design… 152 Many cities appreciate that slower streets are safer for children, and many city mayors also realize that prioritizing initiatives for children increases community support for road safety or sustainability initiatives. This is the case, for example, in Fortaleza, Brazil, where the city focused on the benefits for children in tackling public resistance to initiatives to tame traffic and reduce road space. Gill argues that child-friendly planning “is unsurpassed as a way to overcome unreasonable opposition.” Urban Playground begins by introducing the links between children and urban planning, explaining why planning for children matters. Chapter 2 then provides a working definition of child-friendly planning: “an evolving set of ideas about shaping streets, parks, squares and other public spaces so that children are active and visible in urban life. It takes children’s views and experiences seriously, and aims, through planning and design, to expand their opportunities to play, explore and get around their neighborhood and the wider city.” Gill employs a conceptual framework devised by the Finnish researcher Marketta Kyttä to describe two key dimensions of child-friendly urban planning. The first focuses on children’s mobility—their ability to get to places, especially on their own (their independent mobility). The second is the number and type of spaces and facilities on offer...

Katastrofitutkimuksen käsitteistöä suomeksi ja Suomessa: kimmoisasti vaaroja kohti?

Katastrofitutkimus (disaster studies) pureutuu vaaroihin, katastrofeihin ja kriiseihin. Tutkimusalue ei ole vakiintunut yhteiskuntatieteiden osaksi Suomessa, mutta sillä on annettavaa erityisesti luonnonilmiöihin kietoutuneita katastrofeja tutkittaessa. Tämä katsausartikkeli tarkastelee, millaista suomenkielistä käsitteistöä katastrofeja tutkittaessa käytetään tai voitaisiin käyttää. Käsitteistön tarkastelu on tärkeää useasta syystä: (1) katastrofit ovat ajankohtaisia kansainvälisesti ja Suomessa, (2) aiempi kotimainen käsitteistö on osin ongelmallista luonnonilmiöihin liittyvien vaarojen yhteydessä, ja (3) käsitteistön selkeys auttaisi yhteistyötä katastrofikontekstissa, jossa aihepiirin politiikka ja tutkimus ovat kytkeytyneet toisiinsa. Artikkelissa käymme läpi avainkäsitteitä kolmelta kantilta. Ensiksi ammennamme käsitteitä kansainvälisestä katastrofitutkimuksesta. Toiseksi käymme läpi Suomen katastrofiriskien hallinnoinnin politiikkaa ja sen sanastoa. Kolmanneksi tarkastelemme suomalaista riskejä ja poikkeusoloja koskevaa tutkimusta. Keskustelussa tutkimusalueen avainkäsitteet hahmottuvat ja kirkastuvat. Haastamme esimerkiksi ”luonnononnettomuuden” käytön käsitteenä katastrofeista puhuttaessa, sekä pohdimme, kannattaako puhua ”resilienssistä” vai kantaisiko kimmoisuus oleelliset merkitykset paremmin. Vaikka painotammekin tiettyjä käsitteiden tulkintoja, emme pyri lyömään lukkoon yksittäisiä määritelmiä, sillä käsitteiden monisyisyys kuuluu tutkimukseen.

Freedom of Expression Challenged: Scientists’ Perspectives on Hidden Forms of Suppression and Self-censorship

The media have become an important arena where struggles over the symbolic legitimacy of expert authority take place and where scientific experts increasingly have to compete for public recognition. The rise of authoritarian and populist leaders in many countries and the growing importance of social media have fueled criticism against scientific institutions and individual researchers. This paper discusses the new hidden forms of suppression and self-censorship regarding scientists’ roles as public experts. It is based on two web surveys conducted among Finnish researchers in 2015 and 2017. We focus on answers to the open-ended questions in these surveys, where respondents reflect upon issues of freedom of expression and the feedback they receive in public arenas. Building on previous research on suppression, “research silencing,” and the “chilling effect,” we discuss the connection between freedom of expression and freedom of inquiry. We make a distinction between four forms of suppression: political and economic control, organizational control, control between rival academics, and control from publics. Moreover, we make explicit and discuss the means, motives, and practices of suppression within each of these four forms.

The being of a teacher: teacher pedagogical well-being and teacher self-care

ABSTRACT This article adopts a phenomenological-oriented approach to explore the perceptions of a small cohort of teachers about teacher pedagogical well-being (TPWB), the experience of which is intimately connected with a teacher’s sense of self-care. Existing Finnish research on this topic informed the design of semi-structured interviews across two schools. The findings were analysed initially with reference to the existing research. It identified management and collegial support, as well as student engagement as cornerstones for TPWB. In order to extend the analysis beyond the existing research, the Foucaudian optic of governmentality was introduced, in particular, Stephen Ball’s application of it for education. This highlighted the extent to which the experience of TPWB, of teachers’ sense of self-care, can be impacted by the culture of performativity. Significantly, it also emerged that a teacher’s capacity for self-definition, for reflexivity, can offer a mantle of resistance for the being of a teacher, especially at a time when they are being subjected to governance by performativity.

THE PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIALLY RELEVANT PROMOTION OF WORK WELL-BEING – A FINNISH PERSPECTIVE

Despite abundant research indicating that promotion of work well-being is basically profitable for the corporations, the management in many organizations fails to see the financial potential of improving the working conditions of their personnel. The purpose of this paper is to present recent findings on the financial effects of work well-being activity mainly in Finland, and extract five success principles in this context. This study is based on a number of empirical studies in which the author of this article has participated during the past decade and similar studies in Finland and other countries. The main focus is on the relationship between activities which promote work well-being and their financial consequences for the employers. Particularly the findings generated by the decadelong Finnish strategic well-being-project are exploited. Survey data from more than 2000 randomized Finish private and public organizations were collected and analyzed. Finnish cases indicate that companies can benefit up to 20 % of their profits by investing in their personnel. Comprehensive Finnish surveys indicate that the management of work well-being is far from optimal and that companies that take well care of their people do financially well. It is maintained that companies have a limited view of the scope and possibilities of work well-being activity and therefore fail to see its financial potential. The main limitation of this study is that it is based on mainly Finnish and Nordic data and research. This means that some of the cost structures of the companies studied may vary from those of companies in other countries. The magnitude of the financial effects is, however, so large that the findings should be indicative for other countries as well. The practical value of the principles generated and presented in this paper is in that they demonstrate the mechanisms of how promotion of safety and well-being at work is transformed into financial value. That may help public and private policymakers in developing national and company-level human resource strategies. The findings add to the literature of the economic feasibility of occupational safety and health by introducing new explanations to how the economic effects emerge.