Search

This study aimed to investigate Finnish primary school teachers' experiences of the three-tiered support system, which was launched in 2010-2011 with the goal of promoting the inclusive approach in Finnish compulsory school. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with eight teachers in Finland, and the analysis was based on a thematic analytical approach. Results show that the teachers experienced having a central role in providing continuous support to pupils with different learning disabilities within the support system. Generally, they had a positive assessment of the system, which they saw as a natural part of their regular job. Nevertheless, they expressed facing challenges, such as the extended documentation and too little time for supporting all pupils in the class. The support from colleagues (i.e. special education teachers) was seen as very important, although their experience of consultation time was limited. Regarding the teachers' competences in handling the system, it was evident they had developed relevant skills by collaborating with the special education teacher and by being active themselves. Despite the challenges, the results show that Finnish primary teachers experienced the support system as a possible and practicable way of supporting pupils with learning disabilities.

This study examined public attitudes towards multi-storey wood buildings (MSWBs) in seven European countries. A questionnaire was distributed to online panellists in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Results from 7007 complete questionnaires indicate that respondents knew less about MSWBs in countries where brick, stone and concrete are the most commonly used house frame elements in construction (United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark) compared to countries with a stronger wood building tradition (Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden). Respondents in Finland and Sweden had the most positive attitudes towards MSWB. The number of respondents, who considered a prospective apartment in an MSWB appealing, was approximately equal to the number that considered it an unappealing alternative. The factors most influencing the respondents' perception of MSWBs as a nice place to live were (i) vulnerability to fire, (ii) material solidity and durability, (iii) healthy indoor environment and (iv) vulnerability to moisture. The results from this study add new knowledge to the understanding of cross-country differences of preferences among the public for living in MSWBs. The results can be used to support the MSWB planning and marketing efforts in the countries involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated people's requirements for multi-story housing attributes and preferences for apartments in wooden-structure versus steel/concrete-structure multi-story buildings. Data came from an online survey conducted in Finland and Sweden that screened for respondents who expressed a preference for living in an apartment, as compared with a low-rise dwelling. Responses were analyzed using exploratory factor and regression analyses. Swedish respondents assigned significantly higher requirements to factors related to environmental and social sustainability performance than Finnish respondents. Requirements in both countries were described across three factors: environmental and social sustainability, quality, and design. Factor scores differed between socioeconomic sub-groups, particularly regarding quality, between urban and non-urban respondents. Preferences to live in an apartment in a wooden building were positively associated with respondents' requirements for environmental and social sustainability, and negatively with requirements for quality-related attributes. Opposite relationships were found in the Swedish sample for apartments in non-wooden structure houses. Design requirements had no significant association with preferences for a specific material in load-bearing structures for multi-story buildings, in either country. The findings can contribute toward enhanced marketing efforts and customized value propositions to increase the social acceptability of multi-story wooden buildings and advance climate-related goals within the housing sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:. Decreased work ability due to mental disorders is a growing concern in Europe. We studied the role of work-family conflicts in association with long-term sickness absence due to mental disorders (LTSA-MD). Methods:. Baseline data were extracted from the Helsinki Health Study for women aged 40 to 55 in full-time work in 2001 − 2002 (N = 2386). Questionnaire responses were linked with register data from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland on SA spells due to mental disorders during 2004–2010. We studied an overall question on satisfaction with combining work and family (WFS) and composite scores of work-to-family conflicts (WTFC) and family-to-work-conflicts (FTWC), and their components in association with the first certified SA spell (≥ 12 calendar days) due to a mental disorder during the follow-up. We performed Cox regression analyses with hazard ratios (HR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for sociodemographic factors, work schedule, perceived mental and physical strenuousness at work, and self-rated health. First, we examined all participants, and second, only those who reported no prior mental disorder. Results:. Poor work-family satisfaction (WFS) was associated with subsequent LTSA-MD, adjusting for all covariates (HR 1.60; 95% CI 1.10–2.16). Both high WTFC (1.64; 1.15–2.23), and high FTWC (1.43; 1.02–2.00) increased the probability of LTSA-MD in the full model. When participants with prior mental disorder were excluded, the association between poor WFS and WTFC with LTSA-MD retained while that between FTWC and LTSA-MD attenuated; however, two items of the FTWC were still associated with LTSA-MD: 'Family worries and problems distract you from your work' and 'Family matters prevent you from sleeping enough to do your job well'. Of the WTFC items, the following remained associated with LTSA-MD: 'Problems at work make you irritable at home' and 'Your job takes so much energy you do not feel up to doing things that need attention at home'. The experience of decreased time for work or family did not associate with LTSA-MD. Conclusions:. Among female municipal employees, dissatisfaction with combining work and family and both work-to-family and family-to-work conflicts were associated with subsequent long-term sickness absence due to mental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipalities across Finland are promoting wooden multistorey construction as a low-carbon alternative for building construction. However, do attitudes towards implementing these alternatives stem from the opportunity to reduce carbon emissions or because these alternatives are perceived to improve local economies? This research employs a survey to collects the attitudes of Finnish municipal civil servants towards implementing wooden multistorey buildings in their municipalities. The respondents represent a mix of administrative professionals such as planners, real estate managers, building inspectors and other strategic managerial professionals (n = 273, 8% response rate). Their responses reflect views from approximately 8% of all municipal civil servants working on municipal land use and planning issues during 2019. The findings reveal attitudes towards implementing wooden multistorey buildings are engendered by fulfilling ecological development, economic development, technical quality and output efficiency goals. Furthermore, comparing municipal planners to other municipal administrators reveals dissimilar planning logics. Municipal planners holistically prioritize the project's ecological and economic development outcomes. Other administrators chiefly prioritize economic development outcomes. Hence, some municipal administrators may value wooden multistorey construction primarily as an activity to improve municipal vitality rather than as a holistic spatial planning solution. Future research should identify whether these divergences lead to planning tensions within municipal administrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People have different beliefs about the environmental impact of forest products. This quantitative web-survey study investigated public beliefs in Finland and Sweden about the environmental and climate impacts of using wood as a construction material for multi-story buildings. It was conducted with consumer panels reflecting the average populations of the two countries. The study analyzed factors affecting beliefs that multi-story Wood Buildings: (1) contribute to mitigating global warming, and (2) adversely impact biodiversity and the climate. It used consumer panel and multivariate statistics. Favorable climate-related beliefs were associated with Finnish nationality, male gender, age, children in household, university degree, and beliefs that climate change is induced by humans and causes weather disasters. Beliefs that wood buildings drive global warming and harm biodiversity were associated with non-rural residence, female gender, young age, children in household, low income, and beliefs that climate change causes weather disasters. No associations were recorded for current residence types. These findings highlight the importance of the wood construction industry to improve, document, and communicate to the public its impact on climate and biodiversity. They also indicate how market information can be formulated and targeted to communicate an accurate environmental image of wood construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding landowners' willingness to act on climate change is important for effective climate policy. This study investigates the determinants of Finnish non-industrial private forest owners' preferences for alternative climate change mitigation strategies related to forests and wood use. The study tests hypotheses concerning the role of risk perception and political leaning for the support of seven alternative strategies with varying degree of disruption to the current logic of commercial forestry in Finland, which further aligns with the temporal delay in the impact of climate change mitigation strategies that landowners are willing to accept. Based on 887 survey responses from three regions, the study finds that forest owners generally support all but one of the seven strategies: reduced harvest. Results from ordinal logistic regression models further indicate that along with socio-demographic determinants, higher perceived risk and left-wing leaning with a university degree explain support for more disruptive strategies with more immediate mitigation impact (increased conservation, reduced harvest), while lower perceived risk and right-wing leaning without a university degree tend to associate with support for the less disruptive strategies (intensified management, increased harvest), both of which arguably sideline the urgency of climate action. In the highly politicized matter of harvest levels in Finland, the study also finds that right-wing leaning may negate the effect of higher education, which otherwise predicts greater support for more disruptive strategies. Implications for policy at the climate-forest nexus are derived. • Preferences of forest owners for mitigation strategies in forests were investigated. • Ordinal logistic regression with 887 survey responses was used. • Forest owners support all but one of the seven strategies: reduced harvest. • High perceived risk and left-wing leaning explain support for strengthening sinks. • Political leaning influences effect of higher education on support for strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Forest Research is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• Analyzes intermediaries facilitating wooden multi-storey construction in Finland. • Regime and niche intermediaries were identified to be most prominent. • Multiple goals, over-lapping roles and means of policy influencing among the actors. • User and process intermediaries, considered important for transitions, were missing. • Low level of coordination likely reducing effectiveness of intermediaries. Intermediaries can potentially help reduce institutional lock-ins that slow down sustainability transitions by influencing policy processes, because of their connectedness and often high level of legitimacy. In this paper, we analysed intermediaries seeking to accelerate the diffusion of wooden multi-storey construction (WMC) in Finland, their roles and engagement in policy processes. Increasing the use of wood in construction has high policy support nationally, backed up with climate and forest policies. Yet, market diffusion has been slow. The data consist of qualitative interviews of intermediaries and other actors, participatory observation and a review of secondary materials. The results reveal a complex set of intermediaries, including systemic, niche and regime-based ones. The intermediaries are characterised by multiple goals, partly over-lapping roles and means of policy influencing. The low degree of coordination among the intermediaries and the differences in their agenda for transition are critical challenges which limit the effectiveness of their actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the urbanizing society faced with the climate change challenge, wood has major potential as a low-carbon and renewable construction material. Yet, Wooden Multi-storey Construction (WMC) remains a niche even in countries with rich forest resources. This paper compares the institutional and policy setting and assesses the WMC growth prospects in Austria and Finland, based on expert interviews, Delphi surveys, and the review of secondary materials. Clear differences were detected in the policy frameworks and institutional settings between the two countries. The Austrian fairly informal and largely private sector driven approaches to promote the growth of the WMC sector seem to have had a rather similar effect on the markets, as the formal policy measures, typically driven by the public sector in Finland. In both countries, the interviewed experts suggested additional, but partly different, policy measures and institutional changes to accelerate WMC market diffusion. In spite of the increase in WMC activity within the past ten years, the WMC market share is likely to remain rather low by 2030 in both countries, as the institutional frameworks are not expected to change abruptly. However, the future market prospects appear to be somewhat more positive in Finland compared with Austria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-storey wood building (MSWB) provides options to enhance sustainable development. Despite this, no comprehension exists on how consumer perceptions differ regarding (1) willingness to live in modern houses made of timber or (2) prejudices against living in houses made of wood, although they play important role in marked demand of MSWB. In this research, views of consumers on the benefits of wood from technological, ecological, social and economic perspectives are being studied. The material of the study is based on data gathered in June–July 2018 by a postal survey sent for 1000 people living in Finland with a response rate of 25.6%. According to the factor analysis results, there are two main consumer categories based on their perceptions on sustainability benefits of wood, i.e. the ones favouring ecological and physio-technological benefits of wood and the ones favouring aesthetic and well-being benefits of wood. Additionally, according to binary regression analysis results, they differ from each other in their willingness to live in wooden houses and in their prejudices against the appropriateness of wood as a structural material. The results emphasize the need for deepening the understanding of the sustainability issues affecting the acceptability of wood among different types of consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Forest Research is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper provides an analysis on the integration of prices for imported coniferous pulpwood and sawlogs, and respective domestic stumpage prices in the Finnish wood market. Eight real price series were investigated during 2002–2014 using monthly observations. The bounds testing approach by Pesaran et al. [(2001) Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. J Appl Econom. 16: 289–326. doi:10.1002/jae.616], indicates there are long-run relationships between prices of domestic and imported wood. For more detailed information, the vector error correction model (VECM) approach was used. Estimation of a system with all eight prices with interpretable results did not succeed; therefore, we estimated models for prices of sawlogs and for pulpwood separately. For sawlogs, two co-integrating vectors, one for pine and one for spruce, were found. For pulpwood prices, one co-integrating vector was identified. The estimated VECMs confirm the results of bounds testing approach, suggesting that causation in the Finnish wood market runs from domestic prices to prices of imported wood. We conclude that prices of domestic and imported coniferous logs and pulpwood are closely connected. The question of full integration remains open, as border prices and stumpage prices by definition differ, at least, by logging and transportation costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of the Finnish forest sector is in transition due to institutional, social and market-driven factors. While non-industrial private forest owners have been researched extensively, the pressures faced by public forest owners have been left relatively unexplored. Our study is a part of a broader research programme attempting to form new understanding concerning the municipal forest owners in Finland. Our research questions were: (1) how are municipal forests divided into different usage categories, (2) how is their current usage expected to change in the future, (3) what various preferences exist among municipal decision-makers concerning the use of municipal forests, (4) what various aims might the different decision-making preferences represent (both conflicting and complementing), (5) do municipal decision-makers representing different types of municipal backgrounds elicit differences in the way they orientate themselves towards forest usage? Survey data were collected during 2011–2012 using a web-based questionnaire sent to all continental municipalities in Finland. Responses were received from 139 municipalities (a response rate of 43%). Based on the survey, there is need for multifunctional municipal forest management. However, service markets seem to mostly support commercial forest usage. Besides timber production, a four-dimensional structure describing decision-making in municipal forest management was linked with (a) nonwood economic values of forests, (b) health effects of forests, (c) image of the municipality and (d) carbon neutrality goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home decorating is an arena to build up identity and reflect individual taste. Home also represents people's lifestyles and culturally defined aesthetic values and norms. In our study, we focus on the procurement of furniture amongst young Finnish and German consumers who are in the life phase of building up their homes. We study more specifically which aspects of furniture are meaningful for them, and what kind of furniture they consider most valuable for them. Our study shows that for consumers in both countries, visual appearance, price and quality are the most important aspects in furniture acquisition, followed by functionality and ecological aspects. They picture wooden furniture as aesthetic, ecological, durable and expensive. To express their stance towards environmental and ethical values, and because of budgetary reasons, young consumers favour second-hand, inherited and recycled furniture instead of eco-labelled furniture. Consumers also stress the productivity in the process of creating something new. It seems that recycled or inherited furniture appears as a safe ground for young adults struggling to meet their contradictory economic and environmentally sound ideals. A global retailer Ikea represents for young people convenience, availability, low price and youthful design as well as globally shared metaphor for discussing furniture choices and values in live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study focuses on exploring on the dimensionality of sustainability in perceived consumer value regarding wooden products in the Finnish context. Factors affecting consumer value on sustainability were derived from the literature on sustainable consumption and tested on a specific case of wooden terrace products through a developed survey instrument. The dimensions of sustainability-based consumer value were identified using a factor analysis on data consisting of 208 responses collected in the home and building material retail sector in May–June 2013. Four-dimensional structure for consumer value concerning sustainable and responsible wooden products is identified to consist of “Information and product origin,” “Consumer activity,” “Product image,” and “Quality.” The first two, sustainability-related factors were more strongly valued by elderly as well as by female respondents, while “Quality” and “Image” were more preferred by young and middle-aged respondent groups. As for the conclusion, our results suggest that improving the sustainability information content, launching awareness campaigns and environmental education as well as applying greenness as a complementary product attribute would be some of the solutions to attract larger consumer groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: The objective was to explore if burnout, a syndrome from chronic work stress, predicts work disability during eight years among industrial employees. We investigated whether burnout would predict disability in initially healthy employees and all subgroups by the most common causes for disability. Methods: Of the participants in a company-wide survey (n =9705, 63%) performed in 1996, 8371 employees were identified and 7810 provided full information. The impact of burnout and its sub-dimensions, assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, on being granted register-based new disability pension till 2004 was analysed with Cox hazard regression and multinomial regression. The analyses were adjusted for socio-demographic factors, registered medication use, and self-reported chronic illness at baseline. Results: The hazard ratio (HR) for new disability pension was 3.8 (95% confidence interval CI 2.7–5.4) with severe burnout. The risk of severe burnout and severe exhaustion for work disability attenuated but remained significant after adjustments. The association between severe burnout and work disability was significant also in the subpopulation of employees without registered medication at baseline but not among employees healthy by self-report. Crude associations between burnout and all categories of cause-specific disability were significant. The exhaustion dimension predicted work disability due to mental and miscellaneous disorders after adjustments. Limitations: A non-random one-branch sample was used. The final sample covered 50% of eligible employees. Conclusions: In industrial work, burnout-related chronic work disability is general in nature. Burnout predicts work disability among healthy employees when health is assessed with registered use of medication but not when it is determined by self-report. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of this longitudinal study was to recognize the work characteristics and personal resources that are associated with burnout symptoms in the long term. The empirical analyses are based on sample data ( n =174) from a larger survey in 1986 and from a 10-year follow up in 1996 conducted in an international industrial forestry enterprise. The participants were drawn from those workers in Finland, the home country of the enterprise, who responded to the questionnaires at both times. The participants were classified into those having no burnout and those with serious burnout. In order to compare the groups a multivariate analysis of variance and t -tests for two independent groups were used. Four job-related and five organizational factors, 10 work environment hazards and three individual variables were used as predictors. Change variables were formed from the predictors. All the significant changes in work and personal resources during 10 years had shifted to the positive direction in the no-burnout group, and to the negative direction in the serious burnout group. Discriminant analysis was used to identify linear combinations of quantitative predictor variables that best characterized the differences between the groups. Both the cross-sectional and the longitudinal predictors showed that factors related to the social processes at work seem to be crucial to burnout. Of the individual resources, a strong sense of coherence seems to be of particular importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent increases in pulpwood imports to Finland have raised an intense debate about their possible effects on the domestic wood markets. Since important institutional and structural changes in the market environment have taken place in the markets during the 1990s, it is important to take these into account in modelling imports. Our results consider three different time periods between 1986 and 1998, and indicate that market mechanisms in Finnish birch pulpwood imports have improved substantially in the latter part of the 1990s. Imports are found to be elastic with respect to changes in pulpwood import price, domestic pulpwood price and pulp export price. Furthermore, imports of birch pulpwood seem to have complemented the domestic market rather than to have been a substitute for it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents long-run exchange rate elasticities of Finnish newsprint and pulp export prices in the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany over the period 1980-94. The elasticities were estimated for a markup pricing model using Johansen's cointegration method. The magnitudes of the elasticity estimates obtained by imposing price homogeneity indicate that pass-through of exchange rate changes to export prices has been incomplete in both markets. For newsprint, the pass-through elasticity was 0.60 in the UK and 0.46 in Germany, which means that about one half of the changes in the exchange rates is reflected in prices as expressed in the destination countries' currencies and about a half in prices measured in Finnish markka. Instead, in pulp exports the pass-through elasticities differed from each other between the two destination countries more clearly than in newsprint exports, indicating a different pricing behaviour of Finnish pulp exporters in the UK and Germany when exchange rate changes. Pass-through was small in the UK pulp market (0.07) as compared to Germany (0.68). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulpwood prices were found to be directly proportional to sawlog prices during the study period, and the cross-price effects were not statistically significant. The results indicated that the price sensitivity of wood supply in Finland increased during the 1980s and early 1990s Nationwide collective price agreements were found to have increased the level of pulpwood supply and demand from private forests, but to have had no effect on either supply of or demand for sawlogs. Due to a structural change in the 1970s, the models estimated for the whole period cannot be used for short-term forecasting in the 1990s. Higher-than-annual frequency data should be used in developing accurate short-term forecasting models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is uncertain how the traditional forest sector can respond to the changing political environment, evolving markets, and global environmental problems. This study focuses on the development of forest-based bioeconomy (BE) in Finland from the perspective of three forest-based value networks (wooden multistory construction, fiber-based packaging, and biorefining) and thus breaks the tendency of siloed discussions. The study of expert opinions applies a collaborative interdisciplinary research method that combines group discussions and follow-up survey data. The results indicate that transformational regulation, proper incentives, and ways of increasing interaction at the business-consumer interface are required to support the creation of new practices and the destruction of old practices in the industry renewal. • The focus of the study is on the development of forest-based BE in Finland. • The results call for more transformational regulation and proper incentives. • A carbon tax is perceived as a prerequisite for the development of forest-based BE. • More interaction at the business-consumer interface is needed. • A collaborative interdisciplinary research method was applied in the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]