Out of the Peat: Preliminary Geophysical Prospection and Evaluation of the Mid-Holocene Stationary Wooden Fishing Structures in Haapajärvi,Finland

The huge scientific and interpretive value of wetland archaeological sites has been well demonstrated in several studies. The management of the archaeological resource of wetland landscapes is problematic, however, and there is an urgent need for noninvasive techniques to detect waterlogged organic archaeological remains. Stationary wooden fishing structures associated with fishing sites constitute an important wetland archaeological resource in northern Europe. In Finland, similar wooden constructions have been used for fishing from prehistory to the early modern era. The discovery of sites has been accidental, because the waterlogged organic remains have been considered invisible to conventional geoprospection techniques. Because of this, a small project was launched at Lamminoja, northwest Finland, in order to investigate whether it would be possible to improve our chances to detect fishery sites in demanding wetland habitats. New information was obtained through geophysical prospection, trial excavations, and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating. Geophysical testing was hampered by several factors, including complex sediments affected by modern drainage. New information was obtained, however, on the composition, age, and spatial distribution of the wooden fishing structures preserved in peat over 5000 years.     

Childhood in the shadow of war: filled with work and play

This study was focused on war-time childhood. The target period covers the war years 1939–1945 and the years of post-war reconstruction. The research was based on memories of 13 participants who lived in the countryside in northern Finland during the Second World War. The purpose of the study was to find out what children's everyday life was like during the war. According to the results, children did play regardless of the war situation. Children also participated in household work actively. By highlighting children's experiences and perspectives, this study provided important information about children's survival during war time. The study also helps understanding the effects of wars from children's point of view.     

From enlightenment to experience: cultural centres in Helsinki neighbourhoods

The article explores how key cultural policy objectives have been negotiated and realised in the urban cultural centres of three neighbourhoods in the city of Helsinki, Finland. We analyse how the ideological basis and the meaning of the centres for their users are related to the overall rationales of urban cultural policy: Enlightenment, Empowerment, Economic impact and Entertainment (Skot‐Hansen 2005 Skot‐Hansen, D. 2005. “Why urban cultural policies?”. In EUROCULT21 Integrated Report, Edited by: Robinson, J. 31–39. Helsinki: EUROCULT21.  [Google Scholar]). Based on our data, consisting of documents on the centres, interviews with decision makers, producers and other professionals, as well as a survey (N = 814) of the visitors to these centres, we argue that even though the roots of the centres date back to 1970s concepts about the democratisation of culture and cultural democracy, the centres are not old‐fashioned fortresses of outdated cultural forms. On the contrary, as providers of experiences, the cultural centres reflect the latest developments of society.     

Social enterprises in regional innovation systems: a review of Finnish regional strategies

The aim of modern innovation policies is to enhance the innovation capability of regions, their organizations and people. Regional innovation system (RIS) theory has been one of the most popular frameworks for realizing innovation policies. Yet, adopting the perspective of sustainable innovation policy where innovation is also seen as a solution to various societal and environmental problems has been slow. Social enterprises (SEs) are discussed here as a means to address those problems, particularly through collaboration between sectors and focusing on social sustainability. The aim of this paper is to identify whether and in what way SEs are communicated as an innovative solution and as a source of innovations for economic and development activities through regional strategies. The data consist of regional innovation and business strategies from all Finnish regions, analysed using qualitative content analysis. We argue that there is a need to go deeper and include effective support mechanisms for SEs in these documents. Better inclusion of SEs as part of innovation systems and communicating this through regional strategies would help to develop SEs and to have them perceived as potential innovators and active entrepreneurial actors in innovation systems contributing to economically, environmentally and socially sustainable development.     

Innovation platforms as a solution to the proximity paradox

The paper studies what kind of proximities and distances can be found in complex innovation environments. Case-study methods were used, with the research strategy building on experiences of creating a regional innovation platform aimed at development of new models for collaborative co-operation between the private, public and third sector in the context of physical-activity promotion. Building the innovation platform brought various proximities and distances between actors into focus. Distances may explain why some of the actions have not been successful or why some actions involved should be repeated several times. However, this study also highlights the role of distances as sources of various innovation. Distances and proximities are not static, and they could be exploited from a position of knowledge.