State of the environment as a determinant of life quality: a local scale approach

State of the environment as a determinant of life quality:

a local scale approach

Ruslan Gunko (Novia University of Applied Sciences) Patrik Karell (Novia UAS, Lund University)

Lauri Rapeli (Åbo Akademi University)

Matias Scheinin (Tvärminne Zoological Station)

Project questions

 Are objective water quality and land use practice strongly correlated at the local level?

 Is life quality positively associated with objective water quality on a local scale?

 Are subjective opinions of environmental quality associated with socio- economic aspects of the stakeholders

 Do objective and subjective views on environmental quality differ within defined basins in upstream/downstream direction?

 Is economical value of land positively correlated with objective environmental data?

EXO 2 Multiparameter Sonde

 temperature

 conductivity

 turbidity

 fluorescence dissolved organic matters

 dissolved oxygen

 pH

 total algae (chlorophyll a molecule and

phycocyanin pigment) City Raseborg

• 28 000 inhabitants

• 6 400 summer houses

• population increasing up to 50% in summer

• 326 farms (average size of farms 18%

bigger than in the rest of Finland)

Good ecological status potentially will give recreational benefits of 7.2 millions euro every year

Intensification in land use practice is expected to have negative impact on water basins and the ecological state of the environment. However, little is known how the state of environment affects measures of life quality and satisfaction among inhabitants.

state of the environment

proportion of land use, %

life quality

environmental quality

• level of education

• household’s income

• health situation

• property status

(permanent home, summer cottage, etc.)

• subjective

assessment of the environment (state, impacts, emotional link, etc.)

• level of happiness

• address Survey questions:

Objective environmental

data

Subjective environmental

data

Socio-economic data

Land use data

Land economic values data

• assessment of the land price*

* involving real estate agents

Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) model

(land non-point pollution risk) P = K×S×W×U

K – soil factor map S – slope factor map

W – watercourse factor map U – land use factor map

Expected link between land use and state of environment Expected strong connection (orange

line) and possible variations

e-mail: ruslan.gunko@novia.fi

agriculture

forestry