Artikkelit

Lukkarinen, J., Lähteenoja, S., Hyysalo, S., Marttila, T., Faehnle, M. & Korhonen-Kurki, K. (2025). Trade-offs in expanding citizen participation in low-carbon transitions: Seven transition arena experiments.

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Julkaisun nimiTrade-offs in expanding citizen participation in low-carbon transitions: Seven transition arena experiments
KirjoittajatLukkarinen, J., Lähteenoja, S., Hyysalo, S., Marttila, T., Faehnle, M. & Korhonen-Kurki, K.
JulkaisijaEnvironmental Science and Policy
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104198
Julkaisupäivä26.8.2025
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Abstract

Amid the complex and persistent challenges of sustainability transitions, experimental governance has emerged as a way to foster reflexivity, learning, and policy innovation through diverse participatory practices. This paper examines the role of transition arena methodologies in expanding and deepening civic engagement in low-carbon transitions, specifically through seven experimental processes focused on ”climate-wise housing” in Finland in 2023. These experiments combined digital and in-person facilitation in an attempt to involve citizens in co-producing actionable insights on climate-smart behaviors, building renovations, and renewable energy adoption, hitherto directing the envisioned transition. The research explores three “avenues” of widening participation in transition arenas, namely expanding, complementing, and opening such arenas to explore questions regarding the potential and limitations of widening transition arena participation and the impact of such breadth on the depth of citizen engagement. Findings highlight trade-offs between different scopes and modes of citizen participation and reveal how participatory processes shape public engagement and policy responsiveness. By suggesting four implications on designing and implementing citizen engagement processes, the study contributes to a nuanced understanding of participation in transition governance and its implications for sustainability transformations.

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Normann, H. E., Nylén, E.-J., Toppinen, A. & Lukkarinen, J. (2025). Building on solid ground? Policy (in)coordination in Norwegian and Finnish wood construction policies.

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Julkaisun nimiBuilding on solid ground? Policy (in)coordination in Norwegian and Finnish wood construction policies
KirjoittajatNormann, H. E., Nylén, E.-J., Toppinen, A. & Lukkarinen, J.
JulkaisijaForest policy and economics
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2025.103630
Julkaisupäivä18.9.2025
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Abstract

Increased use of wood represents a potential way to reduce emissions from construction. However, its adoption depends on coherent and well-coordinated policy support. This paper examines how policies in Norway and Finland align, or fail to align, across sectors and levels of governance. We investigate how policy consistency and coordination shape the development and implementation of wood construction policies in Finland and Norway.

Drawing on literature on innovation policy sustainability transitions, and policy mixes, we analyse the consistency and coordination of goals, strategies, and instruments across policy domains and governance levels. The analysis is based on policy documents and interviews in both countries.

Both countries have promoted wood construction for decades, leading to innovation and the adoption of new solutions, but with varying levels of policy integration and commitment. In both cases, fragmentation across policy fields and limited vertical integration have hampered more transformative change. Horizontal coordination has been hindered by fragmented ministerial ownership, while vertical coordination is challenged by differences in local capacity and priorities, and a lack of stronger national level requirements.

This paper contributes to sustainability transitions research by offering a comparative analysis of how policy consistency and coordination shape wood construction policies in two forest-rich countries. It shows that fragmented responsibilities, weak regulatory direction, and limited vertical and horizontal coordination hinder the realisation of wood’s decarbonisation potential. Strengthening policy alignment and institutional coordination is essential to enable wood to play a larger role in low-carbon construction transitions.

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Lukkarinen, J. P., Das, RR., Laakso, S. & Martiskainen, M. (2024). Using energy vulnerability framework to understand household agency in sustainability transitions: Experiences from Canada and Finland.

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Julkaisun nimiUsing energy vulnerability framework to understand household agency in sustainability transitions: Experiences from Canada and Finland
KirjoittajatLukkarinen, J. P., Das, RR., Laakso, S. & Martiskainen, M.
JulkaisijaEnvironmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2024.100892
Julkaisupäivä1.9.2024
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Abstract

Sustainability transitions research is increasingly engaged with the complexities of justice and equitability. In housing, policy lock-ins and infrastructural inequalities expose people to volatile energy markets, energy poverty and climate impacts. These problems have often been dealt with reactively, without resolving their underlying systemic and structural causes. We examine household energy vulnerabilities, their exposure and sensitivity to certain risks, and what their adaptive capacity is in navigating those. Based on qualitative case studies of social housing in Canada and housing cooperatives in Finland, we show that interconnected exposures and sensitivities to risks are contextual. This can lead to energy vulnerability, further triggered by changes in policies, energy markets and the environment. In Canada, neglected housing maintenance causes exposure, while in Finland, policy utilizing bottom-up action does not always strengthen household agency, especially for vulnerable households. We call for more empirical studies on household energy vulnerability in different contexts.

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Lazarevic, D., Mokkila, S., Kivimaa, P., Lukkarinen, J. & Toppinen, A. (2024). Municipal experimental policy engagements in the built environment.

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Julkaisun nimiMunicipal experimental policy engagements in the built environment
KirjoittajatDavid Lazarevic, Saija Mokkila, Paula Kivimaa, Jani Lukkarinen, Anne Toppinen
JulkaisijaEnvironmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
ISBN/DOIDOI:10.1016/j.eist.2024.100888
Julkaisupäivä31.7.2024
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Abstract

Experimentation is a key theme in the sustainability transition literature, where cities are recognized as key intermediaries in experimentation. Whilst attention has focused on the role of the cities as intermediary actors, the ways in which municipalities engage in and support experimentation is less known. In a collective case study of four Finnish municipalities, we draw on the transformative innovation policy literature to investigate the experimental policy engagements and the types of transformative outcomes the municipalities aim to influence. The municipalities engaged in socio-technical experimentation, both as regime-based intermediaries and as innovators experimenting with internal processes and tools. Their attention was focused on building and expanding niches, with unlocking regimes seen to be something beyond their scope. We can observe an experimental culture beginning to emerge at the local governance level. Whilst projectification in the public sector has enabled this emergence, it also influences the form and continuity of experimentation.

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Lazarevic, D., Salo, H. & Kautto, P. (2022). Circular economy policies and their transformative outcomes: The transformative intent of Finland’s strategic policy programme.

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Julkaisun nimiCircular economy policies and their transformative outcomes: The transformative intent of Finland’s strategic policy programme
KirjoittajatDavid Lazarevic, Hanna Salo, Petrus Kautto
JulkaisijaJournal of Cleaner Production
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134892
Julkaisupäivä27.10.2022
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Abstract

This paper analyses how Finland’s circular economy policy attends not only to the promotion and acceleration of innovation, but also the reconfiguration of resource intensive systems. Socio-technical transitions research has historically focused on niche innovation processes. Yet recently, increasing attention has been placed on policy processes that seek to destabilise and disrupt incumbent systems and practices. Furthermore, the social justice aspects of system phase out policies have been brought to the fore. Our qualitative analysis of Finland’s circular economy policy programme draws upon the transformative innovation policy and sustainability transitions policy-mix literatures, extending the transformative outcome framework to include outcomes related to the repercussions of regime destabilisation, coordination and tilting the socio-technical landscape. Our analysis shows that Finland’s circular economy policy programme aims predominantly at niche stimulation and acceleration, with little emphasis on the regime destabilisation or coordination. Overall, the policy proposals aim toward a strategy of progressive system change, an orientation shaped by the country’s corporatist approach to policy making and pre-existing plans.

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