ENJUSTESS – Access, equity and participation in the use and management of aquatic environments in the Helsinki region

Project description

ENJUSTESS focuses on non-extractive, cultural aquatic ecosystem services directly related to aquatic environments in the Helsinki region. Water bodies include the Baltic Sea (the Gulf of Finland), lakes, fluvial environments (esp. River Vantaa), small urban surface waters (e.g. streams and ponds) and wetlands (including protected areas). At the outset of the project, cultural ecosystem services of interest include recreation activities (e.g. swimming, recreational fishing, canoeing) as well as aesthetic and landscape amenities (e.g. relaxation, stress recovery) – but the uses and needs for aquatic environments are also addressed as an empirical problem in the research project.

Research themes

Justice and sustainability

Ecosystem management

Participatory planning

Integrated landscape management

Project details

Start date:

September 3, 2012
End date:

December 31, 2016
Location:

Helsinki Region
Funded by:

Academy of Finland
Objectives:

The objective of ENJUSTESS is to explore the interconnections of environmental justice and ecosystem services with a novel focus on urban aquatic environments – or “blue infrastructure” – and cultural ecosystem services.

Project contact

Professor Marketta Kyttä

Aalto University

Team members

Tiina Rinne, Aalto University
Sarah Gottwald, Leibniz Universität Hannover
Christopher Raymond, University of Helsinki

Participating partners

Riikka Paloniemi (PI of the whole ENJUSTESS consortium)

Finnish Environment Institute

Lasse Peltonen

University of Eastern Finland

Jari Niemelä

University of Helsinki

Niko Soininen

University of Eastern Finland

Leena Kopperoinen

Finnish Environment Institute

Tuomas Kuokkanen

University of Eastern Finlanf

Vesa Yli-Pelkonen

University of Helsinki

Related publications

Laatikainen, T. E., Piiroinen, R., Lehtinen, E. & Kyttä, M. (2017). PPGIS approach for defining multimodal travel thresholds: Accessibility of popular recreation environments by the water. Applied Geography 79, 93-102. doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2016.12.006

Laatikainen, T., Tenkanen, H., Kyttä, M. & Toivonen, T. (2015). Comparing conventional and PPGIS approaches in measuring equality of access to urban aquatic environments. Landscape and Urban Planning 144, 22-33. doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.08.004

Paloniemi, R., Niemelä, J., Soininen, N., Laatikainen, T., Vierikko, K., Rekola, A., Viinikka, A., Yli-Pelkonen, V., Assmuth, T., Kopperoinen, L., Peltonen, L., Kuokkanen, T. & Kyttä, M. (2018). Environmental justice for the governance of aquatic environments. Local Environment 23(3), 366-377. doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2017.1422118