CORECO
Corporate environmental responsibility and the ecosystem approach
Funded by: Research Council for Biosciences and Environment, Academy of FinlandResearcher in charge: Matti Kamppinen, Docent, Comparative Religion, University of TurkuTime period: 2006-2010
Sites of research: Department of Comparative Religion (UT), Department ofBiology (UT), Finland Futures Research Centre (UT), MTT Agrifood Finland
Researchers: MSc Nina Aarras, MA Jenni Heinonen, Dr. Petteri Vihervaara
The aim of this project is twofold: (1) to study the models of corporate environmental responsibility and (2) to study corporate responsibility in terms of the ecosystem approach, aiming at a systems-based understanding and management of social and ecological systems. The key task is to identify and systematise the models of environmental responsibility, how they are related to economic and social responsibility, and how these models cohere with the ecosystem approach in environmental impact assessment. The principal outcome will be an understanding of how environmental issues are integrated into social and business decision-making, and what their implications in both environmental and economic terms are.
The data will be collected from key informants in business organizations and from the selected areas of environmental impacts. The methods are those of qualitative ethnography (thematic interview, participant observation, systematic data elicitation methods, textual studies), and systems thinking. The theoretical tools stem from ecosystem thinking, cultural studies and business studies.
Publications:
Kamppinen M & Nurmi P (ed.) Vastuullinen liiketoiminta ja systeemiajattelu(Corporate responsibility and systems thinking) (Coreco research papers,University of Turku 2007, 166 pp.)
Kamppinen, M., Vihervaara, P. & Aarras N. 2008: Corporate responsibilityand systems thinking – tools for balanced risk management. Int. J. Sustainable Society. Vol 1, No. 2, pp. 158-171
Vihervaara, P. & Kamppinen, M. 2009: The ecosystem approach in corporateenvironmental management – expert mental models and environmentaldrivers in the Finnish forest industry. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, vol. 16, 79-93.
Vihervaara, P., Kumpula, T., Tanskanen, A. & Burkhard, B. 2009: Ecosystemservices – A tool for sustainable management of human-environmentsystems. Case study Finnish Forest Lapland. Ecological Complexity,doi:10.1016/j.ecocom.2009.12.002
Aarras, N. & Nurmi, P. & Stenholm, P. & Heinonen, J. 2008: Energia- jaympäristötoimialojen pk-yritysten liiketoimintaosaamisen kehittämistarpeet(Future development needs for small and medium enterprises in energy andenvironment business). Finnish Funding Agency for Technology andInnovation (TEKES) 237/2008. Helsinki.