The graduation theses "Sustainability of public finance and results of reforms in Finland" is dealing with devolopment of finnish reforms of public finance since 1990 until now.The first part describes the tax system of Finland and the main part of thesis analyzes the reforms of public finance and tax reform. The aim of this dissertation is strike a balance of sustainability of public finance and to find perspectives and recommendation for Czech republic.

The master thesis describes the Finnish-Russian relations after 1995, that means the year when Finland joined the EU. The current mutual relations are considered to be excellent even in spite of Finland's negative experience from the past. The aim of the thesis is to analyze Finnish-Russian relations and to outline their individual fields. The question is whether the excellent relations will be continued or if there are any factors that could impair the development of the relations. The question might also be to which extent the experience from the past could determine some of the issues, such as Finland's joining the NATO or the Karelian question.

Sustainability and sustainable development is an important topic for today’s society. To manage organizational sustainability, companies use sustainability reporting to measure their performance. A new EU directive [2014/95/EU] requires all companies who have 500 or more employees, to report on non-financial information. Hence, sustainability reporting becomes more institutional. A number of different frameworks exist to help companies to report on sustainability. The most prominent framework is provided by the Global Reporting Initiative [GRI], which helps companies to disclose information on economic, social, and environmental dimensions. As the forestry industry in Sweden and Finland has been considered important for future sustainable development, this industry has been the focus in the thesis. Previous research has focused on why companies report on sustainability. The purpose of this thesis was instead to research how companies report, by investigating the development process of sustainability reports in Swedish and Finnish forestry companies. Moreover, the purpose was to create an understanding of the sustainability report development in accordance with GRI guidelines, within Swedish and Finnish forestry companies. The research question is: How do Swedish and Finnish forestry companies develop sustainability reports in accordance with the GRI guidelines? To answer the stipulated research question, the thesis adopted a qualitative method with an abductive approach. Moreover, the thesis had an descripto-exploratory research design to find relevant knowledge and findings. The thesis theoretical framework introduced concepts related to our research question: sustainability reporting, the organization GRI and their guidelines, a reporting process that was retrieved from GRI’s handbook, and the forestry industry in Sweden and Finland. In addition to this, system-oriented theories such as legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory, and institutional theory were presented. Through seven semi-structured interviews, with various managers from Swedish and Finnish forestry companies, information about the companies’ sustainability report development was collected. The thesis identified several essential segments in the report development process. These included: reasons for using GRI, planning, stakeholder engagement, materiality, data collection, and reporting. We concluded that the phases of the process presented in the theoretical framework, instead were included in a continuous process where the phases turned to segments that were integrated with each other in the companies reporting practices.

This essay compares two series of RE-textbooks written for secondary school students in Finland and Sweden. The aim of the essay is to come to a greater understanding of the similarities and differences between confession based and non-confessional religious education. The essay answers two questions, how Protestantism, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity is represented in the books and how the different Christian churches are described in relation to the Finnish and Swedish society today. The results show that the Swedish textbook series describes the churches differently compared to each other, while the books from Finland portraits them in a more similar way. The Swedish books also focus more on secularism, and mediate a picture of the Swedish society today as non-religious. The Finnish textbooks present a picture of a society with a changing, not decreasing, religiosity.

This Master thesis' aim is to compare the export policy in the Czech Republic and Finland. The foreign trade of the Czech Republic and Finland is analyzed in the first chapter with respect to the territorial and commodity structure. The second chapter deals with the export policy of the Czech Republic, its development, conceptual solution and institutional background. The third part describes the export policy in Finland. Both policies are compared in the fourth chapter based on their defined goals, priorities and tools that are being used. The final part of this chapter analyses the export promotion from the Czech and Finnish SME's point of view.

Diploma thesis deals with the Northern Europe region, its economical situation and its position in the international tourism market. Thesis is mainly focused on two countries -- Finland and Sweden. The aim is to analyze Finnish and Swedish potential for tourism development and their share in the global tourism market. Beside that it is also focused on the economic situation in both countries. Thesis defines basic terms connected with Northern Europe region in the first chapter. Then there are two chapters with similar structure, one dealing with Finland and the other one dealing with Sweden. In both chapters there is a detailed analysis of the country's economy, study of conditions for tourism development and different forms of tourism, which have been or might be developed regarding these conditions. Both chapters contain the SWOT analysis with a few recommendations for the future progress.

The current Finnish development policy, published in 2016, follows the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 sustainable development goals. With the help of a few tools from corpus linguistics, this study conducts a critical discourse analysis of the policy, using Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional method for CDA as its methodologicalframework and post-development theory as its main theoretical background. The study focuses on the definitions of development and its implementation as put forward by the policy, and how the policy text relates to its production and consumption as well as to the social and political context in which it is situated. Rather than working toward cooperation and participation which it promises, the policy reinforces the image of top-down aid dictated by institutions of the global North. It juxtaposes Finland as a giver and saviour with countries in the global South as vulnerable receivers of aid, granting little agency for the institutions,let alone the people of its development partners.

Syftet med examensarbetet är att bidra med kunskap om svensk och finsk strandskyddslagstiftning och dess tillämpning. Målet är att kartlägga ländernas praktiska tillämpning av strandskydd, planering och möjlighet till exploatering inom strandområden. Metoden som använts i studien är huvudsakligen en komparativ metod baserad på rättsdogmatik (litteraturstudie) och rättssociologi (intervjustudie).  Det svenska strandskyddet regleras i miljöbalken (1998:808) (MB) och är ett generellt skydd som sträcker sig 100 meter från strandlinjen åt vardera håll med möjlighet att utvidgas till 300 meter. Strandskyddet gäller vid alla vattensamlingar och vattendrag och syftar till att skydda djur- och växtliv samt trygga allmänhetens tillgång till strandområden. Kommunen kan bevilja dispens från strandskyddet med förutsättning att särskilda skäl föreligger samt att åtgärden är förenlig med strandskyddets syfte.  I Finland regleras möjligheten till bebyggelse genom planläggningskravet för strandområden i markanvändnings- och bygglagen (132/1999) (MBL). Planläggningskravet innebär att vid uppförande av byggnader inom strandzon- och strandområden krävs en gällande generalplan med rättsverkningar, alternativt en stranddetaljplan. Bredden av strandzonen- och strandområden bedöms oftast till 100–200 meter från strandlinjen. Undantagslov kan beviljas från planläggningskravet med förutsättning att den planerade åtgärden följer angivna bestämmelser i byggnadsordningen gällande byggnadens avstånd, placering och dimensionering. Resultatet visar att Sverige och Finlands lagstiftning har liknande syften. I lagstiftningen finns liknande förbud mot uppförande av byggnader inom strandområden med undantag för byggnationer uppförda i syfte för skogs- och jordbruksverksamhet samt för yrkesfisket. De båda länderna ger även möjlighet att frångå lagstiftningen för nybyggnation samt tillbyggnad inom strandområden. Av intervjustudien har det framkommit att den praktiska tillämpningen beror på olika faktorer, men trots kommunala skillnader har Sverige ett mer restriktivt förhållningssätt gällande dispensgivning och beviljande av bygglov inom strandområden.  Just nu pågår utredningar för både svensk och finsk lagändring. Det finns svårigheter i att bedöma hur de slutliga lagförslagen kommer se ut och därför kan ingen konkret slutsats dras till om ländernas lagstiftning rör sig mot varandra. / The purpose of the degree project is to contribute knowledge of Swedish and Finnish shoreland protection legislation and its application. The aim is to map the countries practical application of shoreland protection, planning and opportunities for land development. The method used in the study is mainly a comparative method based on legal dogmatics (literature study) and sociology of law (interview study). The Swedish shoreland protection is regulated in the Swedish Environmental Code (1998:808) and is a general protection that extends 100 meters from the shoreline in each direction with the possibility of extending to 300 meters. The protection applies to all watercourses and waterbodies and aims to protect animal- and plant life and ensure the publics’ access to the riparian area. The municipality may grant an exemption from the shoreland protection if there are special reasons and that the measure is compatible with the purpose of shoreland protection. In Finland, the possibility of development is regulated by the planning requirement for the riparian zone and the riparian area in the Land Use- and Building Act (132/1999). The planning requirement means that when constructing buildings within the riparian zone, a valid master development plan with legal effects is required, or alternatively a shoreland detailed development plan. The width of the riparian zone and the riparian area usually estimated at 100–200 meters from the shoreline. Exemption permits may be granted from the planning requirement, provided that the planned measure complies with the specified provisions in the building regulations regarding the building's distance, location, and dimensioning. The results show that Swedish and Finnish legislations have similar purposes. The legislations contain a similar ban on the construction of buildings in the riparian zone, except for buildings erected for the purpose of forestry- and agricultural activities and for commercial fishing. The two countries also provide an opportunity to deviate from the legislation for new construction and extension of a building within the waterfront area. The interview study has shown that the practical application depends on various factors, but despite municipal differences, Sweden has a more restrictive approach regarding granting exemptions and granting building permits in riparian areas.

1. Abstract The European Union has transformed enormously during the last three of decades from a purely economic institution to a political project which has generated a strong nationalist backlash from several countries, especially in post-Soviet nations, such as Hungary that gained independence not long ago in 1991. However, such signs of Euroscepticism were apparent also elsewhere in Europe, including in Finland where a resurgence of nationalism happened in the form of populist parties and increased Euroscepticism among traditional conservative segments of society. This thesis will examine these phenomena through a historical analysis of Hungary and Finland with the aim of examining and highlighting important features in their national identities that are seen to be triggered through various developments in the context of the European Union, such as the 2008 Financial Crisis, the 2015 refugee crisis and other types of change that has occurred in the enlargement process of the political union that the EU is striving to further. Such developments will be discussed using a theoretical framework of nationalism and through examining different features of a nation, specifically through the ideas of Johann Gottfried Herder, Anthony Smith, and Hans Kohn among others. Hungary and Finland were chosen due to...

Tourism has been utilising global biodiversity for a relatively long time. In many countries, such as Finland and South Africa, biodiversity forms an increasingly important resource for tourism. The mutual and sometimes conflicting relation between biodiversity and tourism is clearly evident in conservation areas. The importance of National Parks, for example, is highlighted by the protection and conservation of biodiversity through ecotourism to retain visitors while increasing experiences: it is apparent that a more diverse and unique destination would have greater appeal to all visitors. However, the increasing interest also creates impacts to environment, visitor‟s experiences and management needs. This research examines and determines the tangible level of importance of biodiversity in Oulanka National Park in Finland compared to Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa with the added effects on visitor experiences. Apart from the tangible level, this research also examines the affects of biodiversity richness on visitor experiences and perceptions regarding nature management regulations at Oulanka and Golden Gate. This is determined through various biodiversity attributes with visitors specifying the importance regarding the richness of plants, habitats, wildlife, birdlife and unspoilt nature and biodiversity hotspots. More than three quarters of respondents specified that their relationships regarding biodiversity and experiences are strongly connected thereby indicating the role and importance of biodiversity in Oulanka National Park and Golden Gate Highlands National Park. Findings also illustrate respondents‟ views on nature management regulations of the national parks and together with the known role of biodiversity, suggest the way forward for Oulanka and Golden Gate through ecotourism and a Biodiversity Tourism Management Guidelines (BTMG) framework. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Tourism Management / unrestricted