The project 'Linking ecological and social urban systems' addresses the following, interlinked themes:

The research is based on the notion that in the traditionally divided scientific community, scientists usually study either ecological systems or social systems, yet the need for an interdisciplinary approach to the problems of environmental management is becoming increasingly obvious. The overall significance of this research is that it will link ecological and social systems in the urban setting in order to create a holistic view of sustainable development in cities. The close collaboration between researchers and end-users (e.g. the City of Helsinki) ensures that results can be quickly applied. The innovation is the integration of social science and ecology science approach, which is rarely applied in environmental research in cities. A potential theoretical and conceptual framework for combining social and ecological systems is the ‘human ecosystem model’, which identifies social components and processes where connections to ecological processes and structures exist. 

The research results provided applicable information for city planners and decision-makers and thus improve collaboration among ecologists and social scientists to study urban issues.

Consortium Linking ecological and social systems for sustainability of urban development (ECOLINK), funded by the Helsinki University Environmental Research Unit, includes two interlinked projects: (a) Linking ecological and social urban systems, and (b) The Sea and the City – environmental history of pollution and protection of urban sea area of Helsinki in the 20th century.

In the first theme, a suitable theoretical and conceptual scheme was adapted. The adapted framework focuses on the land-use change as a result of urban land-use planning and development, and may provide a way to address the important variables and feedback mechanisms between information flowing from ecological systems and drivers from the social system.

In the second theme, a more specific framework around Finnish urban detailed planning process was developed in order to study these systems interactions further. To obtain data, semi-structured expert interviews of key professional actors in planning processes in three focus districts in the Helsinki metropolitan area, were used. The interviewed planning officials and ecologists considered ecological information important for e.g. identifying and preserving valuable urban nature and its biodiversity, and for enabling nature-related experiences and services for urban residents. Although ecological information was considered important, challenges for the incorporation of ecological information, such as insufficient and fragmented information, finding adequate and up-to-date information, and problems with the interpretation and presentation of information, were identified. Furthermore, needs for better indicators of biodiversity, for the assessment of the usefulness of ecological principles in urban planning, and the development of monitoring and adaptive learning in the planning process, were raised. Better collaboration and communication between urban planning and ecology, research on using ecological principles in urban conditions, and training ecologists to market their research results, could improve the situation. The whole planning process is influenced by major societal drivers: the planning policy of the city, which is strongly connected to the economic growth of the city. Other social drivers, such as the importance of a planned area and the views of local residents, also affect a planner using ecological information.

In the third theme, relevant (a) key professional actors and (b) representatives of local residents and nature enthusiasts, mainly for the Helsinki metropolitan area, were interviewed. The preliminary results show that local ecological knowledge exists among local residents and nature enthusiasts, and planners can obtain the knowledge in several ways, most notably through the network of knowledgeable key informants and local nature associations. Considering local ecological knowledge in urban planning is regarded important because it may e.g. complement scientific ecological data and indicate places important to locals. However, collecting local ecological knowledge through participatory processes, distinguishing it from other information, valuing the subjective knowledge, and will of planning officials to use it, are some of the challenges found in utilizing the local ecological knowledge.

The research on the fourth theme is under preparation.

Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences
P.O. Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1)
00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
Finland
Jari Niemelä (Project leader, professor)

01/01/2001

31/12/2004

Vesa Yli-Pelkonen, main researcher

research

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment

Research & innovation