In this study, we explore how expertise and responsibility are discursively intertwined in professional media. Based on quotations from building and real-estate industry professionals in news texts concerning sustainable building and housing, we identified three responsibility-related discourses: responsibility as a strategic professional vision, responsibility as techno-material expertise, and responsibility as a communal and societal orientation. These discourses of responsible expertise are important for voicing professional perspectives and emphasizing corporate social responsibility (CSR). In the sustainability transition, industry professionals are balancing between organizational and industry-level motives, between utility perspectives for “us” and “others,” and between managing impressions of doing good for the industry and for citizens or society at large. Through and with journalism, these professionals disseminate both individual and organizational expertise to the public in order to “make the industry and the whole society better and more sustainable.”
https://decarbonhome.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DecarbonHome_light.png00Niina Pykäläinenhttps://decarbonhome.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DecarbonHome_light.pngNiina Pykäläinen2024-03-13 12:00:002024-03-14 15:32:20Kääntä, L., Koskela, M., Syrjälä, H. & Salmela, E. (2024). “We Need to Build Carbon-Neutral Houses” – Discourses of Responsible Expertise in Finnish Professional Media.
Land-use planning has been identified as an important tool in pursuing sustainability by guiding the construction and development of our built environment. Sustainability action places large requirements for municipalities to develop and introduce priorities in their planning. Land-use planning system in Finland relate to regulation and decisions of authorities connected to national, regional, and municipal levels. In general, municipal level has the most power in decision making by holding e.g., planning monopolies. Municipal land-use planners operate in the junction of different actors including businesses, local politicians, citizens, and research institutions. Thus, they provide an interesting opportunity to study the operationalization and objectives of land-use planning in different regions. This study takes the regional innovation system approach to illustrate planning systems, involvement of different stakeholders and the sustainability objectives of land-use planning in varying regions in Finland. Quantitative methods (i.e., exploratory factor analysis, statistical tests) are used in the online survey data analysis. Our results suggest a strong connection between informal planning system and municipalities’ sustainability objectives as well as stakeholders representing research and governance organizations whereas statutory planning system is more connected with users of existing knowledge. Regarding regional characteristics, urban municipality planners were found to perceive informal planning as more important than planners in other municipalities. Additionally, connected to the results on sustainability objectives, urban municipality planners paid attention especially on goals for sustainable building, while those working in other municipalities emphasized both goals on sustainable building and securing ecosystem services.
Tiivistelmä
Maankäytön suunnittelulla on tärkeä rooli kestävän rakentamisen ja asumisen mahdollistamisessa. Onnistuneet kaavoitusratkaisut edistävät hyvinvointia, aluetaloutta ja kestävää kehitystä rakennetussa ympäristössä. Tutkimuksessamme selvitimme lakisääteisten ja epämuodollisten maankäytön suunnitteluprosessien sekä eri sidosryhmien rooleja suomalaisten kuntien maankäytön suunnittelussa ja näiden suhteita kuntien ekologisen kestävyyden tavoitteiden kanssa. Tutkimme myös näiden osa-alueiden eroja kaupunkimaisten ja muiden kuntien välillä. Tuloksemme osoittavat merkittäviä yhteyksiä epämuodollisten maankäytön suunnitteluprosessien, uuden tiedon tuottamisen, sekä kuntien kestävyystavoitteiden välillä. Lakisääteisten maankäytön suunnittelumekanismien kohdalla ei tuloksistamme samankaltaisia yhteyksiä noussut esille. Lisäksi havaitsimme, että kaupunkimaisten ja maaseutumaisempien kuntien välillä on eroja näissä maankäytön suunnittelun kannalta tärkeissä osa-alueissa.
https://decarbonhome.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DecarbonHome_light.png00Niina Pykäläinenhttps://decarbonhome.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DecarbonHome_light.pngNiina Pykäläinen2023-05-17 11:16:442023-05-17 11:16:45Koskivaara, A. & Lähtinen, K. (2023). Land-use Planning in Municipalities as a Driver for Sustainable Residential Building in Finland: A Regional Innovation System Approach.