The relationship with water is becoming problematic in Finland, and this is evident across society, Professor Taru Peltola says.
Water makes environmental change visible in the everyday life of Finns
The ice cover of lakes and other bodies of water no longer supports the weight of those wishing to do ice fishing, and urban sewage systems fail to cope with floodwaters caused by heavy rainfall. Water is making climate change increasingly visible in people’s everyday lives.
“The climate crisis and biodiversity loss often remain rather abstract and distant concepts for people. Water, as a natural element, makes these phenomena tangible and brings them close to home and everyday life,” says Professor of Naturecultures Studies Taru Peltola.
Peltola is involved in the Unfolding Sense of Water project implemented in collaboration with the Natural Resources Institute Finland and the Finnish Environment Institute, seeking to highlight the importance of social sciences in exploring phenomena that are traditionally studied within natural sciences.
“Our research stems from exploring the societal significance water. We’ve examined changes in water conditions in, e.g., agriculture and urban environments. Climate change, for example, challenges the reliability of our current stormwater systems, and this needs to be considered in urban planning. New nature-based solutions have been developed to absorb stormwater in built areas.”
Climate change poses a challenge to wastewater systems
Peltola’s research projects also explore new ways of generating data for, e.g., environmental monitoring systems.
“We’ve explored what kind of environmental data about water are generated or omitted, and what remains hidden when bodies of water are monitored at specific points only. Locally-occurring adverse impacts may go unnoticed in current monitoring systems, and this has major ramifications for local communities.”
Citizen science is one way to broaden the knowledge base in environmental research. Led by Peltola, the Public Science for Living Environments project develops methods for collaborative knowledge production between researchers and volunteers.
Researchers have, among other things, observed sample collection in the ice-covered shores of Lake Pyhäselkä, and they’ve visited wastewater treatment plants. Peltola points out that Finland’s wastewater systems are in good shape. From the critical perspective of social sciences, these systems maintain cleanliness while also allowing citizens to avoid responsibility for the waste generated by their consumption.
“Waste becomes invisible through infrastructure, but it may reappear in new ways – for example, when sewers begin to flood.”
Finland has long relied on the assumption of clean water remaining abundant.
Taru Peltola
Professor of Naturecultures Studies
Finns have a carefree attitude towards water – proactive planning is needed
According to Peltola, Finland has long relied on the assumption of clean water remaining abundant, and that water-wise, Finland is better off than many other countries. Water-related conflicts have not surfaced here as they have in countries like Spain and Portugal, where water used for irrigation is causing tensions.
“While individuals can conserve water, it’s essential to address potential problems at the level of systems and planning.”
As an excellent example of this, Peltola picks a new wastewater treatment plant in the city of Mikkeli, where purified water can be reused for washing in industrial processes. This helps conserve valuable groundwater resources.
“The Mikkeli wastewater plant is a rare example in Finland, and such a forward-thinking approach hasn’t been possible everywhere. We Finns tend to be rather carefree about water, assuming it’s neither scarce nor too polluted to use.”
Our everyday practices are telling of our environmental relationship
For Finns, water is such a self-evident part of daily life that its significance often goes unnoticed. Peltola’s own research often begins with the everyday – making the invisible visible and highlighting good practices and alternative ways of living.
“The everyday offers a window to broader and more complex issues.”
As part of the PlastLIFE SIP project, Peltola is currently collecting data on people’s relationship with products made of plastic. Participants were invited to a meeting and asked to bring with them an item that they had used longer than usual.
“We are living in a throwaway culture. It’s difficult for people to imagine alternative behaviours because they’re so embedded in our everyday life. Using group discussion methods, we’ve explored what kind of emotional attachments people have to different items, and which factors motivate them to care for them.”
Researchers refer to this as “product care”, meaning, for example, that an item’s value can be re-created by repairing or customising it. This also reduces material flows, which is a significant contribution to environmental sustainability.
“We’re encouraging alternative ways of thinking about sustainability. Circular economy solutions, for example, rely on sorting waste and creating new products.”
According to Peltola, visions for the circular economy and environmental policy often lack the creative aspect associated with repairing and customising things.
“Our lives have been made easy, and when something gets broken, we don’t bother to think about how to fix it, even though doing so could bring joy and wellbeing. This could offer a critical, yet under-addressed, perspective to environmental policy.”
Peltola believes that social scientists play a vital role in alerting people to environmental issues.
“Our task is to ask questions about how sustainability is seen – and whether it should be seen differently. In this regard, we are challenged and stimulated by various crises, as they expose harmful practices. This allows us to see where familiar ways of doing things could be improved.”
Social scientists play a vital role in alerting people to environmental issues.
Taru Peltola
Professor of Naturecultures Studies
A spark for environmental issues was ignited in Ilomantsi
Raised in North Karelia, Taru Peltola’s interest in environmental issues was sparked during her years in general upper secondary school in Ilomantsi. At the time, Finland’s easternmost municipality was embroiled in forest-related disputes and conflicts. Her path led to studying geography in Joensuu and later to Tampere, where she discovered the emerging field of environmental policy.
“This new, emerging discipline drew me in. It was fascinating how students came from diverse academic backgrounds and approached environmental policy issues from very different perspectives. That resonated with my own thinking.”
Peltola returned to Joensuu in 2007. Before her professorship, she has worked as a researcher in the Forest Foresight Forum and at the Finnish Environment Institute.
“For a scholar of environmental social science, the University of Eastern Finland is a good home base and a fruitful setting for research. One can always find a partner for dialogue in this broad interdisciplinary community.”
Taru Peltola
- Professor of Naturecultures Studies, University of Eastern Finland, 1 March 2024–
- Doctor of Administrative Sciences, 2007, University of Tampere
- Title of Docent (Environmental Policy), 2011, University of Eastern Finland
Key roles
- Associate Professor, 2020–2023, University of Eastern Finland
- Mercator Fellow, 2021-2025, Conservation of Forest Biodiversity Research and Training Group, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg (Germany)
- Senior Research Scientist, 2007–, Finnish Environment Institute
- Senior Environmental Sociologist, 2013–2016, National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture (France)
- Management board member of ALTER-Net - a long-term biodiversity, ecosystem and awareness research network (2011–2014)
