Published by Finland Futures Research Centre Turku - Finland November 2000/Vol. 2, No. 2

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1 Published by Finland Futures Research Centre Turku - Finland November 2000/Vol. 2, No. 2 F F R FUTURIX THE VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT PROECT. THE FINLAND FUTURES RESEARCH CENTRE WILL SOON BE STARTING WITH AN ON-LINE SERVICE ON FUTURES STUDIES METHODOLOGIES WHICH CAN BE APPLIED TO YOUR OWN WORK. READ MORE ON PAGE 5 1 NEW RESEARCHERS NEW FACILITIES 2 NEW PROECTS 4 ONGOING PROECTS 6 PERSONNEL 7 DID YOU KNOW 8 UPCOMING EVENTS IN FUTURES STUDIES NEW RESEARCHERS NEW FACILITIES T he Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) has acquired a number of new projects during the last four months. Along with these projects we were also happy to welcome several new researchers and project leaders in our Centre. This on the other hand meant that our Centre s facilities and space were becoming too limited, and it was therefore our concern to look for new premises. After considering a couple of alternatives in the neighbourhood of our Centre, we were excited to hear one day that our former neighbours, the Poutapilvi Web Design Ltd., were moving out. With minimum effort and expenses (all it needed was a new door and new furniture for six working stations) the new rooms were ready for use at the beginning of September. The extension also included area for a new conference room. The new researchers and project leaders working for the FFRC are Hanna-Kaisa Aalto, Olli Hietanen, Timo Nurmi, Nina Suvinen and uhani Tirkkonen. Hanna-Kaisa Aalto has started a part-time project on Visionary Leadership which she sees as a very good completion to her activities at the vocational high school. Researcher Olli Hietanen is involved in the Environmental Cluster Research Programme organised by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment. Timo Nurmi has been working at the Business Research and Development Centre (YTKK) of the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration for a number of years. Now he took over a 3-year project at our Centre that deals with the New Perspectives of Entrepreneurship in Nina Suvinen started her research job at the FFRC in the beginning of une. Her SII (KELA)-project deals with the Future Challenges of the Finnish Social Security System. uhani Tirkkonen on his part is researching on a FIBRE-project called CLIDEC (Climate Change and Decision-Making: Towards New Strategies for Governing Environmental Problems).

2 NEW PROECTS ECO-INFORMATION SOCIETY: THE CRITERIA AND OPERATIONAL POSSIBILITIES (E-KNOWLEDGE) Researcher: M.Sc. Olli Hietanen T he aim of this project is to study the potentials of information technology in order to reach the ecological, cultural, social and economic goals of sustainable development. During the first stage of the project, the researchers will evaluate the sustainability of today s information society. The research will further concentrate on formulating and establishing practical indicators of a sustainable information society. The first stage of the Eco-Information Society project serves to analyse the user friendliness and ecological level of the present development of information society. Emphasis will be put on the research related terms and concepts such as information society, sustainable development, dematerialisation, immaterialisation, rebound-effects etc. The focus points will also be the paradoxes of the information society development, in particular its impacts on the environment. The user friendliness of information technology is of central interest. A socially and culturally sustainable information society demands a more careful analysis of the human-machine-relationship. This includes questions like: How do the modern ICT applications support living, working and mobility in the information society?, what kind of work is telework?, who is doing telework and for whom?, what is the relationship between worker and recipient in telework?. The second topic of information society in relation to socially and culturally sustainable development is the value rationalisation of information society. What kinds of regional, social, cultural and economic conflicts exist in the opinion of various action groups of the information society? This study outlines the value conflicts and agreements of the information society and highlights their links to the environmental perspective and the principles of sustainable development. The second research stage will emphasise on creating sustainable development indicators for the information society. This will be done in co-operation with the Finnish Environment Institute. The eco-efficiency and the indicators will be analysed from two different perspectives. The impacts of information society and information technology on the already existing sustainable development indicators will first be estimated. Thereafter, the impacts on the environmental problems and indicators created by the information technology will be evaluated. These two approaches can be called the study of the external and the internal eco-efficiency of the information technology. Stage three of the project is designed to produce environmental friendly innovations. These innovations will be tested and later on applied within a pilot project. In the light of sustainable development, this research concentrates on two important and representative spearhead programmes of the Finnish National Strategy for Information Society: the Personal Navigation (NAVI) and the Telework (ework) programme. The viewpoint of ecological and sustainable development is regarded to be the central theme throughout these spearhead programmes. The idea is to increase the cooperative work also with a number of other leading research projects like UNA (coordinated by the Ministry of Transport and Communications). The fourth and last stage is meant to further increase the co-operation with the NAVI and ework programmes. On the basis of the upcoming research results additional joint development projects will be launched. 2

3 THE NEW PERSPECTIVES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN 2020 Project manager: M.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.) Timo Nurmi It is important to hear the citizens voice to create an economic-political vision for the regional district of Turku! Various professional and public groups of our region are considered to take part in building an economic-political vision for the district of Turku. The development of entrepreneurship has traditionally been discussed by groups of researchers, teachers and experts, and apparently also by representatives of bigger companies. Though large-scale investigations amongst the district inhabitants and other target groups concerning their expectations and values have not been carried out up till now. The New Perspectives of Entrepreneurship in project is a joint project of the Finland Futures Research Centre and the Turku Area Development Centre (TAD). The main task of this project is to find the values and value preferences of entrepreneurship according to different professional and district groups. On the basis of this so called bottom-up approach we then plan to work out a common economic-political vision for the district of Turku. This specific vision will help to distinguish Turku from other regions. The central aspects and topics of the project are values, entrepreneurship, change and co-operation. Clearly, a functioning network co-operation that promotes entrepreneurship requires conversation rounds and interaction. A common view and comprehension only emerges through that. There is no shortcut as such. The citizens ideas and expectations about the future entrepreneurship will be investigated with the help of futures research participatory methods. All the groups taking part in the project are creating a desirable future picture about the entrepreneurship in Furthermore, the participants will think about the means to improve the entrepreneurship in Turku as well as in Finland. The aim of the project is to attempt to find answers among others to the following questions: What could entrepreneurship be like in the future?, what makes entrepreneurship an attractive alternative in the choice of one s career?, what kind of business environments are to be established for the successful enterprises of the future?, what is the new role of organisations who support entrepreneurship? and how can we influence the shaping and changing of the value climate in entrepreneurship?. The New Perspectives of Entrepreneurship in project is part of a comprehensive action plan, which tries to revitalise the business activities in the district of Turku. At the same time this project will help to create a positive effect on the value climate of entrepreneurship. This process naturally needs time to develop. Therefore, this project is intended to be a long-term undertaking that started with a planning phase on September 1, 2000, and will end on August 30, For further information on this project, please contact Timo Nurmi directly via under timo.nurmi@tukkk.fi. 3

4 ONGOING PROECTS THE FUTURE CHALLENGES OF THE FINNISH SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM AND THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL INSURANCE INSTITUTION (KELA) Researcher: M. Soc. Sc. Nina Suvinen The future of social security and the need for reforming the Finnish social security system are both in focus of the public and academic debate. The same issues have been openly discussed earlier on, for example during and after the economic depression of the 1970s. The depression of the 1990s and its consequences reopened the forum for this debate on a large scale. Financial and social consequences of the last depression demonstrated how fast things might change in society. On the other hand, these dramatic events of the 1990s resulted in at least one good thing: it helped experts as well as ordinary citizens to start to raise questions about what other challenges of social security should be taken into account before they become actual. The demand for a reformation of the Finnish social security system is linked to four main issues. These are: which will be the social services? who profits from these services? which organisations will offer the social security services? how and by whom will the social security system be financed? The Social Insurance Institution SII (KELA) is the largest single implementer of social security in Finland. It is responsible for the basic social security provisions of everyone living in Finland. The SII ensures that people have a basic income and provides financial aid for new mothers, students, pensioners and people suffering from illnesses, unemployment or disability. Clearly any reforms implemented in the social security system would affect many of the schemes in the Institution s administration. The project The future challenges of the social security system and the role of the SII started in une 2000 and is carried out at the Finland Futures Research Centre of the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration. The project started with a survey on the present social security system: how and by whom is the social security produced? what services are provided? to whom are those services offered? And finally, how are the needs divided into different categories such as so called social policy based needs and needs answered by other sectors than the public sector?. In the survey particular attention was paid to the role of SII in the social security system and to the question on how well the SII addresses the demands put upon it by clients and the society at large. The next part of this study will consist of the research on the future challenges of the social security system and in particular of the SII. These will be surveyed with the Delphi method. The expert panel will consist of social security experts and the data will be collected with the help of The Professional Delphi Scan program, which was developed at the Finland Futures Research Centre. 4

5 FUTURIX THE VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT PROECT Coordinator: Dr. Anita Rubin The Finland Futures Research Centre is developing a virtual learning environment called Futurix. As an independent portal, Futurix applies the infrastructure of the Internetix platform. Futurix is planned to become a social and functional information web service that introduces the visitors to the pages and guides the use of futures studies methodologies in learning and researching. Futurix also invites the visitors to discuss the different aspects of society s future development. As an essential and constantly developing part of the Finland Futures Research Centre, Futurix intends to serve students, researchers, teachers as well as representatives of learning organisations, decision-makers and civil workers. The Finland Futures Research Centre is responsible for its methodological contents, scientific and educational level, and is also supervising the web conversation (maintenance, further web improvement, expertise). Some of the services offered in the Futurix environment are going to be open and free of charge, and others will be subject to a charge. The access registration will be taken care of by the Finland Futures Research Centre. THE STRUCTURE OF FUTURIX During the rest of the year 2000, we plan to create, collect and work up suitable material in order to start with the test phase of the network learning environment in the beginning of The methodological tools on the network learning site consist of general information on futures studies, its related values, history, general theories and basic terminology. Experts will also contribute by giving statements on futures thinking and the possibilities of involving futures studies in a planning process, in decision making and also as aid tools in companies. Moreover, Futurix-visitors will find readymade toolkits and linked up practical work, examples and models. The interactive network learning environment includes open as well as closed conversation areas, where customers can deliberate on different problems related to futures studies and research on the field. Everybody is welcome to present their ideas and to ask for advice on the application of futures studies methods to their own research. The editor of the conversation area will be an expert in futures studies. One more important use of this interactive learning environment is to establish one s own selforganising research groups, to meet within these groups, or to join one of the already existing groups. On a personal Futurix-profile, the customer is able to develop his/her own research problem, to make an analysis of the available material or even to draft a report. From your own profile, you will have easy and direct access to the conversation areas or to your working group. The same area will provide you with a connection to virtual libraries and give you a list of important links. Around cumulated information and research environments you will find open and closed info-banks containing research publications, research results and empirical research material for your benefit. The so-called Futures Studies Barometer and Indicator Library still under process will also be accessible from the Futurix environment. The right of use for that library will be handled separately. Finally, the reference library will open up the possibility to create contacts to various international futures research network environments and files. 5

6 PERSONNEL The Finland Futures Research Centre s staff has been growing over the last few years from 3 people in 1992 up to 19 at the moment. We would like to profile some of our staff by mentioning their fields of interest. PÄIVI SALONEN I am a 34 year old Master of Economics and Business Administration. I have been working at the Finland Futures Research Centre since spring 1995, except for those months when I was on maternity leave in 1997 and At the Centre I am working as a planning officer. My job is to take care of the accounting, e.g. budgeting, as well as the financial planning, auditing and reporting personnel administration. My masters thesis dealt with the recruiting process and use of consultants in this process. I have also deepened my knowledge about futures studies by attending a course on the basics of futures studies at the Open University. I started my work career as head of service in the financing sector. From a professional point of view, I am generally interested in the administration of organisations, in particular personnel administration and leadership issues appeal to me. Partly for this reason I have also completed a course on internal entrepreneurship. With nowadays 19 employees at the Centre, I have to handle all kind of administrative issues everyday. I live in the beautiful little town of Kaarina not far from Turku. During my free-time I certainly don t face the problem to decide what to do, as I am active with my children and besides that I am busy with the construction of our family's own new house. If this ever leaves some time for myself, I try to relax in the gym, sew something or just play on the piano. And last but not least, in the winter it s a must to visit Lapland for some exciting cross-country or downhillskiing! UHANI TIRKKONEN at the Centre. Also the personnel and other administration issues are part of my work. My major subject at the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration was I m a 34-years-old licentiate of administrative science. Currently I am working as a researcher at the Finland Futures Research Centre in a project called CLIDEC (Climate Change and Decision-Making: Towards New Strategies for Governing Environmental Problems). The project is a part of the FIGARE research programme organised by the Academy of Finland. The last ten years before CLIDEC I worked in different research projects at the Department of Regional Studies and Environmental Policy at the University of Tampere. I also taught for one year in the field of environmental policy. My research interests include questions around climate change and countryside. 6

7 My dearest hobby is to play with my two children Meri (3 years) and Otso (2 years). My other hobbies are outdoor-recreation, spectator sports (especially ice-hockey and soccer), reading, and things connected to my other native country Norway. ANNE-MARI VILOLA I am 27-years old from a small town called Mynämäki approximately 30 kilometres north of Turku. At present I am residing in Turku. I finished my high-school studies in Mynämäki in Thereafter I continued studying at the Eurajoki folk high school for one year where I graduated as a World Citizen (course s name). I continued my studies at the School of Commercial Training in Raisio in the line of a secretary, where I spent 2 years. The Professional Adult Education Centre in Raisio and further education as an international secretary terminated my official study career so far. My first job was as a hotel cleaner (summer job) in Parainen and Ylläs. Besides that I got a lot of experience as natural onion grower (4 H-activity) during several summer-holidays. My previous place of work was the Turku Airport, where I was employed as a terminal officer. And now I am an office secretary in the Finland Futures Research Centre. My hobbies are language studies, especially French and Russian, visiting the pubs, and every now and then I might also enjoy some sporty activities. DID YOU KNOW? Some staff members of the Finland Futures Research Centre have decided to analyse our behaviour pattern concerning the environmental friendliness of our Centre. This will be done with the help of the brochure called Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Environmental Instructions for Offices that was launched by one of our researchers, Olli Hietanen, a few years back. The environmental programme includes 11 topics like Information and Study, Paper, Energy, Water, Hazardous wastes, Recycling, Waste reduction etc. The idea is that every month the staff is treating one specific topic in order to improve the situation. We would see it as a contradiction to take part in several research projects on sustainable development and at the same time we would remain inactive in our own daily contribution towards a better environment. 7

8 UPCOMING EVENTS IN FUTURES STUDIES ½ People, Cities and the New Information Economy. The conference is organised by the City of Helsinki and by the Helsinki Institute, with the support of Sonera, a large Finnish ICT company and SITRA, the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development. Helsinki, Finland. ½ Beyond the new economy. Futuract Palais des congres, Paris, France. ½ anuary 2001 Futures Research Methods. 5-credit course (TUTU2) starting at all Finnish Universities belonging to the Finland Futures Academy Network. ½ The Seventh Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference Hulme Hall, University of Manchester, UK. SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE CENTRE S LOCATION AND HOW TO GET THERE Finland Futures Research Centre Tykistökatu 4 D, ElectroCity, 3 rd floor P.O. Box 110 FIN Turku Tel Fax Tampere Internet tutu@tukkk.fi Turku Helsinki Aurajoki river 4 5 University of Turku 3 2 A 1 6 A= Turku School of Economics and Business Administration 1= Tykistökatu 2= Kiinanmyllynkatu 3= Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4= Uudenmaankatu 5= Hämeenkatu 6= Helsinginkatu!= FFRC(ElectroCity) Kupittaa How to get there: From the international airport in Vantaa you can either take a shuttle to Helsinki centre and from there the train to Turku- Kupittaa (which is next to the Electro- City), or then the direct Airbus from Vantaa Airport to Turku Busstation, where there are always taxies available to get to our centre in ElectroCity. In case you intend to fly straight to Turku Airport, you can choose between the local bus, which needs one change in the centre of Turku, and an airport-taxi that brings you to our door in about 30 minutes. Martin Lehmann Helsinki 500 m N Helsinki Editor: Martin Lehmann-Chadha, FFRC 8