Browsing by Author "Niva, Venla"

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China's sustainable water-energy-food nexus by 2030 : Impacts of urbanization on sectoral water demand
(2020-04-01) Niva, Venla; Cai, Jialiang; Taka, Maija; Kummu, Matti; Varis, Olli
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
In the context of China's rapid and perennial urbanization, it is of profound importance to understand how to enable and accelerate progress towards achieving the country's sustainable water-energy-food nexus by 2030. In this study, a quantitative spatial scenario analysis was performed to identify the provinces that are expected to experience changes in water stress, under the competition for water between food and energy sectors. The results manifested an imbalance of water availability for meeting the demand between those two sectors. First, food sector played the leading role in the baseline water stress. Second, energy sector dominates the increases of the projected water stress index. Third, urbanization is projected to substantially affect the extent of water availability, especially in the eastern provinces. Tackling imbalanced sectoral water demand is the key to China's sustainable water-energy-food nexus, which shall require some corresponding changes in national policy-making. China needs, first, policy coherence and synergies, second, ensuring the adequacy of any follow-up procedures, and third, embracing greater participation and transparency in policy-making.
Competition of food and energy sectors over water in China - Future prospects in the context of urbanization
(2017-06-12) Niva, Venla
Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
Crop production archetype - Global analysis
(2024-11-18) Viriyaroj, Bhattarabhop
School of Engineering | Master's thesis
Crop production greatly influences global food security and the environment. To understand the complexity of the crop production system, knowledge about its characteristics is needed to provide integrated policy to ensure food security and sustainable agricultural intensification worldwide. However, there are no studies that analyze the characteristics of the crop production system on a global scale. In this thesis, archetype analysis has been performed using the Two-Stage Self-Organizing Maps method. Twenty-five archetypes, categorized into eight groups, have been identified, explaining the characteristics of the crop production system globally at a 5 arc-minute resolution. The archetypes are based on 17 variables from Biophysical, Management, Socio-economic, and Crop-field functional types, representing attributes of the crop production system. The inputs were normalized to balance the influence of each variable equally. The results show similarities and differences between regions across the globe and define the systems into simplified characteristics. Global maps of each group were created with the distribution percentage of each archetype to illustrate the characteristics of each location. Moreover, the number of unique archetypes in each country was calculated to represent the complexity of the crop production system in each country. With these results, policymakers can create targeted policies for food security and resilience while fostering cross-regional learning and dialogue. Ultimately, this aids in developing more sustainable policies that support agricultural intensification.
Global migration is driven by the complex interplay between environmental and social factors
(2021-11) Niva, Venla; Kallio, Marko; Muttarak, Raya; Taka, Maija; Varis, Olli; Kummu, Matti
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Migration manifests an important response and adaptation measure to changes in the environment and socioeconomic conditions. In a time when environmental stressors and risks are unprecedentedly increasing, understanding the interplay between the underlying factors driving migration is of high importance. While the relationships between environmental and socioeconomic drivers have been identified conceptually, the comprehensive global-scale spatial quantification of their interactions is in its infancy. Here, we performed a geospatial analysis of gridded global net migration from 1990 to 2000 using a novel machine learning approach which analyses the interplay between a set of societal and environmental factors simultaneously at the place of origins (areas of net-negative migration) and destinations (areas of net-positive migration). We diagnosed the importance of eight environmental and societal factors in explaining migration for each country, globally. Nearly half of global in- and out-migration took place in the areas characterized by low adaptive capacity and high environmental stress. Regardless of the income level, income was the key factor in explaining net-migration in half of the countries. Slow-onset environmental factors, drought and water risk, were found to be the dominant environmental variables globally. Our study highlights that factors representing human capacity need to be incorporated into the quantitative diagnosis of environmental migration more rigorously.
Income inequality has increased for over two-thirds of the global population
(2024-12-02) Chrisendo, Daniel; Niva, Venla; Hoffmann, Roman; Masoumzadeh Sayyar, Sina; Rocha, Juan C.; Sandström, Vilma; Solt, Frederick; Kummu, Matti
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Income inequality is one of the most important measures to indicate economic health, social justice, and quality of life. Yet, especially at the subnational level, comprehensive global data on the distribution of incomes is widely missing. Such data is essential to assess patterns in inequality within countries and their development over time. We created seamless global subnational Gini coefficient and gross national income (GNI) PPP per capita datasets for 1990-2021 and used these to assess the status and trends of income inequality and income as well as their interplay. We show that while gross national income has increased for most (96%) people globally, inequality has also increased for around 68% of the global population. We illustrate heterogeneities in inequality trends between and within countries and analyse plausible confounding factors related to inequality. Our dataset and analyses reveal new insights into the issue, opening novel research avenues at the global, regional or national level and providing comprehensive evidence for policymakers to make informed decisions.
The interplay of environmental and social drivers of migration - A global synthesis
(2022) Niva, Venla
School of Engineering | Doctoral dissertation (article-based)
Over the recent years, human migration has risen to the top of the global agenda. Conflicts in the Middle East, Central America, Southeast Asia, and more recently in Europe have forced millions of people to flee. At the same time, hundreds of millions of people are moving from rural to urban areas as urbanization accelerates, especially in Africa and Southeast Asia. While conflict is perhaps the most tragic driver of human mobility, migration is also driven by multiple socio-economic and environmental factors. In fact, it is the interplay of socio-economic and environmental factors that is behind not only the decision to move but also behind outcomes of migration at the destination. While there is conceptual clarity of the different drivers and outcomes of migration and their interplay, their geospatial and global representations are few. Thus, in this dissertation I address this gap by investigating 1) how human migration has developed in recent decades in different geospatial units; 2) what the key drivers of human migration are, and how these drivers have interplayed over time; and 3) what the implications of human migration are at both sending and receiving areas. In the analysis, I combine a qualitative conceptualization with quantitative analysis, the latter being carried out at a global level by utilizing spatially explicit, novel data that describe human migration and its social-environmental drivers from the past three decades. Quantitative analyses make use of spatial, exploratory and statistical methods, which allows a more comprehensive study of migration in different administrative units, rural and urban areas, and socio-environmental zonings. The global analysis in my dissertation shows that the patterns of migration vary remarkably depending on the geospatial unit and scale used for the analysis; over the past two decades, migration between communes and provinces has been rising, while international migration has remained steady. Urban areas dominate as migration destinations at the global level, while the pattern becomes patchier at regional, national and sub-national levels, where rural areas have also experienced notable in-migration. Over the past three decades, the majority of migration has taken place in areas with medium-level human development and environmental stress, while socio- economic drivers – especially income and education – dominate environmental drivers globally. Finally, I demonstrate that factors of adaptive capacity are instrumental in shaping the outcomes of migration, especially in urban areas that have experienced accelerated population growth caused by in-migration. In the coming decades, migration will continue to function as one of the methods of adaptation. Understanding these complexities and causalities behind human migration and its environmental and social dimensions is key in managing migration, especially in a future facing unprecedented and unforeseen changes.
Kausittaiset muuttoliikkeet sosio-ekologisessa systeemissä
(2020-11-29) Aatola, Pauliina
Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu | Bachelor's thesis
Policy analysis of Ethiopia’s rural water operation and maintenance policies
(2021-08-23) Marvin, Esra
Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
Non-functioning rural water systems, prematurely breaking down, severely undermine the efforts to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all (SDG 6.1). The current challenge is that even simple water systems, like hand pumps, are struggling with sustainability, operation and maintenance (O&M). The aim of this thesis was to investigate, if a push towards more advanced rural water systems, prompted by the SDG 6.1, has potential to backfire on rural communities through an increase in non-functionality. This larger theme was studied through three research questions and a case study of Ethiopia’s water policies. The method used qualitative policy document analysis of Ethiopia’s national water policies (n = 3) within a modified Triple-S framework. The document analysis was triangulated with 11 surveys and three interviews of Ethiopian rural water professionals, at three different administrative levels. Ethiopia’s policies were found to cover well O&M issues related to the Triple-S building blocks. Nevertheless, the implementation seems to be lacking. The key bottlenecks for more sustainable O&M were found to be finance and human capacity. Currently, even simpler water systems are struggling to be adequately operated and maintained, which raises concerns towards the trend of larger and more advanced water systems. The implementation and oversight of policies related to O&M should be prioritized. As oversight and implementation of policies requires resources, it would be beneficial to them to policies that would have the greatest impact on O&M. Monitoring and regulation of rural services are suggested, as they are closely linked to many of the Triple-S building blocks. In addition, institutional support structures (especially human and financial capacity) are recommended to be improved before moving toward advanced water systems on a wider scale.
Rural-Urban Migration and the Growth of Informal Settlements : A Socio-Ecological System Conceptualization with Insights Through a "Water Lens"
(2019-06-02) Niva, Venla; Taka, Maija; Varis, Olli
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Informal settlements i.e., slums emerge from the interplay of multidimensional factors related to urbanization and sustainability. While the contribution of urban factors is well understood, the role of external drivers, such as uncontrolled migration to urban areas, is rarely addressed in research or policy-making. This study develops a novel conceptualization of slums by reviewing the pushing and pulling factors of migration and their contribution to informal settlements through 1) a socio-ecological system approach and 2) the concept of adaptive capacity. Further, it advances the discussion around synergistic and coherent policy-making in the urban context by reviewing three urban agendas and further using water as a case with the concept of cross-cutting domains. We show that the emergence of urban challenges can, and should be, linked to the root causes of flows into urban areas. Understanding these linkages through a socio-ecological system framework opens a window for knowledge-based policy development and addressing the question of how to avoid unsustainable urban development. Urbanization is one of the phenomena where the excessive complexity and dimensions of problems should not hamper action but instead, actions should be encouraged and enabled with synergistic and integrative pathways for sustainable urban development.
The scaling effect of the modifiable areal unit problem in assessing the social and environmental drivers of global migration
(2023-06-12) Kosonen, Maria
Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
Migration is an important strategy to increase resilience and adapt to climate change, population growth and changing societal conditions. However, empirical scientific evidence to explain the underlying mechanisms is still inconsistent and incomplete. Migration is driven by configurations of migration drivers affecting the process at various scales and logical inconsistencies will occur if results on one scale are generalized to be applicable on another scale. In spatial studies, this bias is linked to the phenomenon called the scaling effect of the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP). This inconsistency in migration studies could occur if aggregated migration data is assumed to be describing individuals’ behaviour. If policy conclusions are drawn based on such analysis, the results might be misleading and result in inadequate decisions for adaptation and resilience. Therefore, studying the hidden biases, such as the scaling effect of MAUP, in the context of migration is critical. Multiscale approaches can help in assessing the scaling biases. This thesis analysed the scaling effect of the MAUP in the relationship between migration and its social and environmental drivers. The methods used in this study were timebound bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses, and a spatial autocorrelation test at four different scales to identify the presence of MAUP. The results show that the significance of the correlation between migration and its drivers varied between scales increasing towards regional and national scales. The differences between scales were noticeable in the values, direction of correlation, and spatial distribution. From the migration drivers, income, health, and education demonstrated the highest explanatory power on migration at all scales. The autocorrelation test suggested the provincial scale to be the most suitable for assessing the relationship of migration and its drivers. Ultimately, the scale for a study needs to be decided based on the scale on which the migration drivers and their processes influence and which type of migration is under research whether it is internal, international, or inter-communal.
Socioeconomic pathways toward sustainable food systems
(2024-05-08) Chrisendo, Daniel; Heikonen, Sara; Piipponen, Johannes; Banafa, Thomas; Deryng, Delphine; El Wali, Mohammad; Heino, Matias; Irz, Xavier; Jalava, Mika; Láng-Ritter, Josias; Mazac, Rachel; Niva, Venla; Pihlajamäki, Mia; Roitto, Marja; Tuomisto, Hanna; Kummu, Matti
A2 Katsausartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Recommended solutions and innovations to shape sustainable food systems need to be socioeconomically feasible to be implemented. The numerous publications and the nuance of the topic obfuscate the comprehension of the most crucial socioeconomic measures required for successful implementation and concrete policy formulation. Therefore, a clear and comprehensive overview of available evidence on sustainable food systems is needed, especially focusing on the socioeconomic feasibility, which has not been done before. To address this research gap, we systematically screened over 1700 articles and selected 349 for detailed review, investigating socioeconomic attributes corresponding to successful implementations of sustainable food system transformations. We found that sustainable food systems have various meanings across the scholarship and lack harmonized principles. Moreover, the socioeconomic effects on sustainability are often merely assumed instead of rigorously measured. According to the reviewed articles, different actors require different socioeconomic interventions to attain sustainable food systems: i) producers with strong social capital that induces trust among farmers, as well as economic incentives, have enhanced capabilities to promote sustainability, ii) consumers benefit from improved information provisioning and lower prices of sustainable food options, and iii) processors and distributors require better infrastructure to increase the availability of nutritious food and to reduce food loss and waste. Other actors, such as researchers, should disclose their findings widely, while governments should invest in collaborative policy-making and programs that push for sustainable food systems. The results provide a diverse range of efficient socioeconomic recommendations to increase sustainability in our food systems.
Vesi- ja kehityspolitiikan ohjausvaikutukset maaseudun vesivarojen hallintaan Nepalissa
(2015-11-24) Niva, Venla
Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu | Bachelor's thesis
World’s human migration patterns in 2000–2019 unveiled by high-resolution data
(2023-11) Niva, Venla; Horton, Alexander; Virkki, Vili; Heino, Matias; Kosonen, Maria; Kallio, Marko; Kinnunen, Pekka; Abel, Guy J.; Muttarak, Raya; Taka, Maija; Varis, Olli; Kummu, Matti
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Despite being a topical issue in public debate and on the political agenda for many countries, a global-scale, high-resolution quantification of migration and its major drivers for the recent decades remained missing. We created a global dataset of annual net migration between 2000 and 2019 (~10 km grid, covering the areas of 216 countries or sovereign states), based on reported and downscaled subnational birth (2,555 administrative units) and death (2,067 administrative units) rates. We show that, globally, around 50% of the world’s urban population lived in areas where migration accelerated urban population growth, while a third of the global population lived in provinces where rural areas experienced positive net migration. Finally, we show that, globally, socioeconomic factors are more strongly associated with migration patterns than climatic factors. While our method is dependent on census data, incurring notable uncertainties in regions where census data coverage or quality is low, we were able to capture migration patterns not only between but also within countries, as well as by socioeconomic and geophysical zonings. Our results highlight the importance of subnational analysis of migration—a necessity for policy design, international cooperation and shared responsibility for managing internal and international migration.