What did you study?
I studied the formation of climate citizenship - that is, how citizens participated in climate change mitigation and how the state and municipalities engaged them in these efforts. The findings were based on 72 interviews as well as photo and policy document materials. I interviewed local government officials, government officials of ministries, community-supported agriculture practitioners, members of Extinction Rebellion and environmental organisations, as well as Scouts.
What were the results of your research, or what is its main conclusion?
The results show that climate citizenship takes shape as part of the diverse activities of active citizens, carried out together with other people and with non-human actors.
At both municipal and state levels, engaging citizens in emission reduction efforts and in decision-making on climate issues is now common and increasingly varied. However, this involvement does not significantly strengthen citizens’ agency or increase their decision-making power.
There are considerable regional differences in the extent of public participation.
The role of the climate citizen produced by public administration is often narrow and tends to maintain the status quo rather than bring about real change.
How can the results be applied? What new knowledge does the research provide?
The findings can help public administration recognise the different dimensions and methods of engaging citizens in climate action, as well as the effects these have on the forms of agency they enable.
For citizens, the results can illustrate the many forms of climate action, offering inspiration and peer support.
The research increases understanding of the concept of climate citizenship and of public participation within Finnish public administration. It offers democratic and agency-enhancing approaches that can support responses to the climate crisis.
The doctoral dissertation in Social and Public Policy by MSocSc Anni Turunen, “Co-producing Climate Citizenship: Top-down and Bottom-up Public Participation in Climate Mitigation”, will be examined on Friday 15 May 2026 at 12:00 in Hall C4 of the Main Building of the University of Jyväskylä. The opponent will be Assistant Professor Senja Laakso (University of Helsinki) and the custos Professor Tiina Silvasti (University of Jyväskylä). The defence will be conducted in Finnish.
Publication in the JYX repositor: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-86-1474-6
Contact information
Anni Turunen, turusenanni@gmail.com
