The good, the bad and the ugly—competitive land uses and resilience in rural social-ecological systems (LEONE)

LEONE analyzes rural social-ecological systems resilience against multiple competing land uses. The project guides how to implement sustainability transformations in the Global North and South. LEONE is a strategic spearhead research project of the University of Oulu Eudaimonia Institute.

Project information

Project duration

01.01.2026 - 31.12.2028

Funded by

Other Finnish

Project funder

University of Oulu Eudaimonia Institute

Project coordinator

University of Oulu

Unit and faculty

Geography

Faculty of Science

History, Culture and Communication Studies

Faculty of Humanities

Contact information

Project leader

Associate Professor

Aleksi Räsänen

Other persons

Researcher

Simo Sarkki
Professor of cultural anthropology

Hannu I. Heikkinen
Associate Professor

Anna Krzywoszynska

Researchers

Professors

Project description

LEONE analyzes rural social-ecological systems resilience against multiple competing land uses in coastal Ostrobothnia, Finland, and Swat Valley, Pakistan. It (1) conducts an inventory of social-ecological systems and land use pressures affecting them, (2) sketches changes in land use governance and related justice outcomes, (3) analyzes how anticipatory governance can initiate desired development pathways, and (4) synthesizes the role of resilience in the studied systems. The project conceptualizes resilience developments as good (system can transform towards sustainability), bad (system rigidity hampers the needed changes), or ugly (forced change trajectory). The transdisciplinary project utilizes ethnographic fieldwork, participatory stakeholder workshops, GIS, policy document analysis, and systematic literature reviews. LEONE increases understanding of the role of social-ecological resilience and guides how to implement sustainability transformations in the Global North and South.