I examensarbetet Kvar på Koverhar- En berättelse om återväxt används en nedlagd stålfabrik i södra Finland som utgångspunkt för en undersökning av framväxten av ett samhälle i en imaginär framtid där råvaror omhändertas, konsumismen och synen på exploatering och hållbarhet med alla de begränsningar och möjligheter det innebär är mer än fina ord i politiska manifest. I mitt projekt går hållbarhetsprocesserna hand i hand - ju bättre miljön återhämtar sig och bevaras, desto mer kan samhället utvecklas och växa. Platsens icke-urbana läge gör bioremediering tacksamt att använda, en långsam, men ekonomiskt och ekologiskt effektiv process som får ta tid på en plats där exploateringstrycket är litet. Miljöarbetet skapar sysselsättning och mervärde utanför ramarna för ekonomisk vinning. Stadsstrukturen tar form genom ett visualiserat scenario med utgångspunkt i den omgivande miljön, infrastrukturen, den befintliga strukturen och lokal tradition. De befintliga konstruktionerna och husgrunderna, baserade på stålfabrikens produktionslogik, används för att skapa oväntade arkitektoniska rumssammanhang tillsammans med den renande växtlighetens upplevelsevärden. En idé om cirkulär resursanvändning gör exploaterade industritomter till guldkorn för återanvändning och återuppbyggnad, där varje råvara och infrastruktursatsning är en tillgång. Jag vill berätta en historia om en plats som ingår i det kretsloppet, där gårdagens fantomfabrik skapar en grund för en idé om en framtida urban/rural sammansättning. / In the thesis project Residual resource - A story of regeneration the remains of an abandoned steel factory become the breeding ground for sustainable future settlement. Situated on the shore of southern Finland the area of Koverhar is in the midst of the forrest, but exceptionally well-equipped with infrastructural connections to the country's main cities. I have explored an imaginary scenario where future needs are catered to through environmental care, sustainable political decisions, resource-saving productions and decreased consumerism. In my thesis the bioremediation process initiates the expansion of the built environment. The non-urban location of the site makes the slow and ecologically effective bioremediation process ideal - the immediate need for exploitation is low, instead a community is allowed to form over a long period of time, based on soil-treatment and visualized changes in societal ideals concerning habitual urban and rural lifestyles. The existing foundations left at the site after the extensive demolition, will be used to generate unexpected spatial qualities in the built environment. The core of the development will remain public throughout the remediation process, with dwellings influenced by local tradition forming around. Through Residual resource - A story of regeneration I have explored the notion of circularity in terms of both environmental regeneration and architectural  reuse. The future need for reclaiming post-industrial sites and remediation of contaminated environments are but a contemporary challenge a source of potential for reuse of resources and regeneration of ecosystems and rural settlements.

The project aims to examine how an architectural experience can help to increase awareness and encourage solutions for the Baltic Sea issues. The essence of the project lies in the experience which will be embodied by an exhibition as well as a gathering space for the Baltic science community on a remote island called Lilla Båtskär, situated in the archipelago of Åland, Finland. The exhibition aims to explain the issue from different perspectives, categorized into three themes. The incisions, linked to the themes,  will serve as generators for creating awareness and understanding of the issue, while the The Science community function as a foundation to provide enhanced prerequisites for extended collaborations and exchange of expertise between the Baltic countries. The combination of these two faculties subsequently merges into a unique experience with a strong identity and attachment to the Baltic Sea.

European Strategic Autonomy (ESA) has become one of the key concepts in the European security debate. Its essential meaning is that European states need to collectively ensure their autonomy to act independently of external parties in the wake of unfolding geopolitical shifts, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, given the complex nature of cooperation in Europe, Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU) have different understandings of how ESA should be pursued. This divergence has led to an elusiveness of the concept, both in the World of policy and academia, which is problematic as it has hindered cooperative developments. This thesis systematically investigates how two Member States in the EU, Finland and Sweden, understand ESA. Given ESA’s lack of theorisation, an ‘ESA model’ has been developed that has helped measure the two cases’ respective understandings. ESA has traditionally been limited to the policy area of defence, however, in line with the current broader understanding of ESA, this thesis also considers energy and economy. In doing so, this thesis gives a more nuanced picture of the two countries respective ESA understandings. The findings show that both Finland and Sweden are strongly in favour of ESA measures for energy, Russia’s energy leverage over the EU being the main explanation. Both countries are also in favour of ESA measures for economy, to avoid being vulnerable to China’s growing assertiveness; however, unlike energy and Russia, both Finland and Sweden also emphasise the importance of maintaining trade with China that is beneficial for companies in the respective countries. Both countries are more circumspect towards ESA measures for defence. This is especially the case for Sweden which strongly emphasises the importance of a robust defence relationship with the United States.

During the rule of the house of Vasa 1523-1654, Sweden saw a vastly increased output of new government heraldry and official symbols. This thesis investigates the political motives behind the creation of these symbols and their use as propaganda tools as part of the formation of the Swedish state.  Heraldry is a well-covered topic in academia in many European countries, but in Sweden it has yet to be properly integrated into historical research. This thesis covers the bigger picture by investigating the Vasa dynasty’s heraldry in its entirety in order to follow its use over time.  The thesis analyses all grants of arms to cities and nobles, as well as new royal and provincial arms. It carries out an analysis of the arms’ composition and motif, as well as charting the political context in which they were created and their role in the formation of the modern state.  The question the thesis seeks to answer is if the Vasa dynasty used heraldry as a political propaganda tool, and if so — for what purpose. The thesis uses Jaques Ellul’s categories of propaganda as a theoretical framework.  Among the key findings is the discovery that the Vasa monarchs did treat official heraldry as an integrated part of their propaganda efforts, both in conflicts with the outside world and with each other. However, the heraldic motifs of most cities and nobles, making up the vast majority of new coats of arms, were not part of those efforts.  There was also a clear shift from the agitation propaganda during the early Vasa era, to propaganda of integration as the institutions of state took form and Sweden became a regional power.

The main research question of this thesis is how history is used for political gain by the far-right in Finland. The aim is to study not only the use of history but, rather, specifically, the patterns of that use. Two theories have been utilized. The first is the far-right as a milieu, as presented by Colin Campbell in the cultic milieu theory, which would shed light on the fragmentation of the milieu. And the second is the waves theory by David C. Rapoport, which would shed light on the persistence of far-right violence and militancy through time. I have utilized Pieter Geyl’s analysis of the use of history in identifying patterns of use even though it is not considered a theory per my knowledge. Methods applied are content analysis, netnography, comparative and discourse analysis. Through the utilization of these theories and methods applied to the source material, I have found that the Finnish far-right uses history in six different ways, which are centralized around both the use of national history and the predecessor’s history.

This study investigates the Finnish government members’ argumentation prior to Finland’s strikingly unanimous parliamentary vote in favour of NATO membership on May 17, 2022. By focusing on the government representatives’ accounts, the study aims to shed light on how the NATO membership decision is crafted to represent Finland’s security interest after a decades-long tradition of military non-alignment as a cornerstone of the country’s securityand foreign policy. With help of Merlijn van Hulst and Dvora Yanow’s dynamic approach to framing based on the theoretical concept of frames as actors’ “definitions of the situation”, the study shows comprehensively the processes at play when the government members constructa NATO membership as Finland’s security interest. Furthermore, the approach reveals patterns among the representatives of how the different framings are embraced. For example, the study shows that the representatives’ framings are the most united when it comes to the view of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the rule-based order and the view of a NATO membership as a deterrent preventing future military attacks rather than as a solution to any immediate threat. While the dynamic approach to framing shows comprehensively the work framing does in constructing a NATO membership as Finland’s security interest, the approach has some shortcomings that future research should deal with to increase the potential of the approach in War Studies research.

The present thesis explores the changing notions of home and family among women of the Greek speaking community in Finland. Through five semi- structured interviews I asked women to reflect on their current and previous thoughts on what constitutes home and family, seeking to identify the changes that have transpired over time and the factors that have contributed to these changes. This thesis employs strategies of intersectional feminist research and possesses an autoethnographic character, as I add to it elements from my own experience of migration. The thesis focuses on women who have moved from Greece to Finland during their adult lives and have lived in Finland for five years or longer. Drawing from the concepts of diaspora, mobility, and home, I investigate the participants’ lived experiences of migration, their ideas of family and the elements that constitute home for them. “Home” is characterized by ontological multiplicity, taking on as many different meanings as the definitions and forms of materiality people ascribe to it. The research shows that mobility has transformed the participants’ notions of home, which in most cases have been enriched, as nowadays the word home has taken new, additional meanings for them. The participants who have created their own families with children in Finland also appear to have changed notions of family. Furthermore, the experience of mobility generally proves to have improved the quality of family relationships with the participants’ families in Greece, sometimes in conjunction with other factors.

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The current study was conducted with the purpose of investigating what influence a pandemic may have on the everyday lives and border perceptions of people living on a border, and also how such a change might influence the social construction of that border. To fulfill this purpose, focus was set on the border between northern Sweden and Finland during the border-defining Covid-19 pandemic. Six border landers and cross-border commuters from both sides of the Sweden-Finland border were therefore interviewed during the tail-end of the Covid-19 pandemic in Sweden. This collected material was subject to thematic analysis and organized temporally to depict how behavior and border perceptions changed depending on what stage of the pandemic was active: pre-covid, mid-covid, or post-covid. While the pre-covid border was discussed positively, characterized as imperceivable, and as enabling of cross-border practices, things changed when the border manifested, and mid-covid times started. During this time, the border instead became a source for distinction, resulting in prejudices, and behavior became more restricted. During post-covid, the informants reacted positively to the disappearance of the border, and the return to the normal, although it was not quite the same normal as before. The main finding of the study was that the impercievability and manifestation of the border were two counteracting states which influenced its assigned meaning. The importance of this study for the field of sociology comes from having investigated how pandemics and shutting down a border can disrupt regular social life and cross-border practices, thereby influencing the socially constructed meaning of that same border.