51. Small wins enhancing sustainability transformations: Sustainable development policy in Finland
- Author
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Hanna H. Salo, Annukka Berg, Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki, Satu Lähteenoja, Suomen ympäristökeskus, The Finnish Environment Institute, Finnish Environment Institute, Department of Design, Aalto-yliopisto, Aalto University, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Department of Forest Sciences, Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), International Forest Policy, Environmental Sciences, and Forest Economics, Business and Society
- Subjects
Transformative governance ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,kestävä kehitys ,Sustainable development policy ,Geography, Planning and Development ,2030 Agenda ,010501 environmental sciences ,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law ,muutos ,Sustainability transformations ,01 natural sciences ,kestävyysmurrokset ,tavoitteet ,politiikka ,Suomi ,1172 Environmental sciences ,Small wins ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge the two projects – “Developmental evaluation of the Finnish sustainable development policies and transformation pathways ( PATH2030 )”, funded by the Finnish Government unit of analysis, assessment and research activities, and “Towards Eco-Welfare State: Orchestrating for Systemic Impact (ORSI)”, funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland (grant no. 327768 ) for their financial contributions to this study. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors No country is on its way to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030. The expectations for rapid transformations have not materialized, and hence a strategy combining both incremental and more radical changes is needed. Such strategies have been discussed in other fields, but they have been largely unaddressed in relation to sustainable development. This article seeks to increase understanding of how changes of various sizes interact in sustainable development policy. Here, we utilize the concept of small wins as concrete, implemented and often incremental changes that can create momentum for larger-scale changes. By analyzing key government documents and reports, interviews, questionnaires and workshop material, we study Finland's sustainable development policy. We focus on changes in the realms of the 4Is, meaning institutions, interests, information and ideas. Based on the research, Finland has been particularly successful in building multi-sectoral institutions and mainstreaming the idea of sustainable development. There is a vast information base available. In practice, however, various conflicts of interest remain unsolved. We conclude that while a sustainable development policy based solely on small wins can be too slow and incremental to meet the major sustainability challenges of our time, it would pave the way for more transformative reforms. These include, for example, the current Government Programme based on the idea of sustainable development and challenging the status quo on various fronts.
- Published
- 2022