Addressing Local Sustainability: Strategic Thinking in the Making

Authors

  • Pekka Kettunnen Åbo Akademi University & Migration Institute of Finland
  • Hanna Heino Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku, Finland
  • Jarkko Rasinkangas Department of Social Sciences, University of Turku, Finland
  • Jussi S. Jauhiainen Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku & Institute of Ecology and the Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Finland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v24i2.8614

Keywords:

local government, strategic thinking, sustainability, Finland

Abstract

Local governments are key actors in sustainable development. However, comprehensive achievements in relation to sustainability remain limited, even though sustainable development has been on the agenda for decades. Achieving sustainability requires future-oriented thinking, proper long-term development strategies, and concrete action. Developing strategy is not enough to ensure achievement, and local governments should therefore engage in strategic thinking as a method of promoting sustainability at the local level. Based on data collected through a survey of 113 Finnish municipalities, this research used statistical methods to empirically analyse the extent to which the municipalities employed strategic thinking. The results showed that the municipalities which performed well in various aspects of strategic thinking were also more engaged in sustainability issues than those municipalities that were not strategically oriented.

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Author Biographies

Pekka Kettunnen, Åbo Akademi University & Migration Institute of Finland

Pekka Kettunen, PhD, works as a senior researcher at the Migration Institute of Finland and as adjunct professor at the department of Political Science at the Abo Akademi University. His fields of interests are policy analysis and evaluation as well as comparative research. Dr. Kettunen's recent research has focused on local government reforms, particularly in the Nordic context, and sustainable development in Finland. His current research deals with the integration of immigrants in the Finnish local governments.

Hanna Heino, Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku, Finland

Hanna Heino is a M.Sc., Project Researcher and Doctoral candidate at the Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku. She worked in the research consortium URMI (Urbanization, Mobilities and Immigration) funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland. Her research focuses on strategies, future oriented knowledge, urbanization, sustainability and immigration.

Jarkko Rasinkangas, Department of Social Sciences, University of Turku, Finland

Jarkko Rasinkangas, PhD, is a University lecturer of social work at the Department of Social Research, University of Turku. His doctoral thesis dealt with urban residential differentiation, regional changes and housing preferences. The fields of interest are targeted to the topics of segregation, housing policies, migration and social inequality. At present, he is a leader of the research project “The problems and solutions in promotion of affordable housing in Finland”. He has published his research work mainly as monographs and in Finnish.

 

Jussi S. Jauhiainen, Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku & Institute of Ecology and the Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Finland

Jussi S. Jauhiainen is Professor of Geography at the University of Turku (Finland) and Visiting Professor at the University of Tartu (Estonia). His research interests are about urban and regional development and policies; innovation development and knowledge creation, and migration, especially asylum seekers and irregular migrants. He has published widely on these topics in international and Finnish journals and books.

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Published

2020-06-15

How to Cite

Kettunnen, P., Heino, H., Rasinkangas, J., & Jauhiainen, J. S. (2020). Addressing Local Sustainability: Strategic Thinking in the Making. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 24(2), 21–41. https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v24i2.8614

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 2 (2020)

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Pekka Kettunen, Hanna Heino, Jarkko Rasinkangas, Jussi S. Jauhiainen

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Authors contributing to Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration agree to publish their articles under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 license. This means means articles are free for anybody to read and download, and to copy and disseminate for non-commercial purposes as long as appropriate credit is given, a link is provided to the license, and any changes made are clearly indicated. Authors retain copyright of their work.

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