User:Juho Kutvonen

Homework 1

1.What is the main purpose of environmental health assessment?

The main purpose of environmental health assessment is to assess and control environmental factors which can cause adverse health effects. In other words, its purpose is to ensure that people live in health-supporting environment.

6. What is benefit-risk assessment?

Benefit-risk assessment is a certain kind of assessment type in which pros (benefits) and cons (risks) of a phenomenon are weighed. For example, fish contains valuable nutrients (vitamin D, soft fats) but as well it often contains environmental pollutants such as PCB compounds. In benefit-risk assessment it is weighed if the benefits are bigger than the possible risk.

15. What is collaboration?

Collaboration means working together in order to create something. In environmental health assessments collaboration between e.g. scientists and decision-makers is vital since without it it´s difficult to get desired results improving human health.

←--#: . Very good, to the point, answers. --Mikko Pohjola 10:26, 28 January 2013 (EET) (type: truth; paradigms: science: defence)

Homework 3

Since I worked with Salla, our homework can be found from Salla's page.

Homework 4.Helsinki Metropolitan Area Climate Strategy to the Year 2030 Summary

• What are the aims/goals of the strategy/program, i.e. what are the desired impacts and outcomes striven for?

The aims of the strategy are: 1) to reduce reduce the per capita carbon dioxide emissions of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area by 39 per cent of the 1990 level by the year 2030, 2) to create a common vision and appreciation of operating policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, 3) to ensure that greenhouse gas emission cuts become a consistent element in the objectives imposed by various city agencies for their own operations.

• Who are those that benefit if the aims/goals of the strategy/program are reached? How?
  • City residents since the air quality is better due to reduction private vehicles and due to increase of public transport (less pollutants in the air)
  • Energy companies because consumers may appreciate energy companies which consider environmental values in energy production.
  • People who use public transport since when public transport is trying to be made more popular, ticket prices will decline.
  • Helsinki Region Transport because it will have more passengers due to ticket price reduction.
  • Cyclists if bike roads are enhanced by land use.

• What are the actions that are needed/intended to take in order to progress towards the aims/goals?
  • Development of public transport by increasing frequency in bus turns, dropping ticket prices and ensuring rapid connections. This is because public transport produces less CO2 emissions than private motoring.
  • Land use: bikeroad network is enhanced by planning.
  • Reduction of energy consumption by economical incentatives.
  • Enhancements in energy production: 1)energy efficiency can be improved by increasing the efficiency of energy generating, reducing transmission losses and utilising district heating losses return flows more effectively. 2) increase of renewable energy sources in energy production.
  • Influencing national and international policy making
  • Establishing collaborative practices between various administrative branches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improving co-operation between the city and the region.

• Who are those that actually realize these actions?
  • Helsinki city council (land use, zoning, influence to policy making, development of public transport).
  • Helsingin Energia (choice of fuel in energy production).
  • Helsinki Regional Transport(development of public transport).

• What are the decisions that are needed to make in order to enable/promote the actions?
  • Development of public transport: Helsinki city and Helsinki Regional Transport must create a contract concerning enhancement of public transport.
  • Consumption of energy: a joint program meant to decrease energy consumption in households, companies and energy companies.
  • Bikeroad network: decisions concerning changes in land use.
  • Increased use of renewable energy sources in energy productions: decisions about what kind of renewable energy source is used

• Who are the decision makers?
  • Helsinki city council
  • Helsingin Energia
  • Helsinki Regional Transport
  • Experts

• What direct or indirect health impacts, positive or negative, these decisions and actions (may) have?
  • Improvement of public transport decreases amount of air pollutants and since air is cleaner, morbidity is lesser.
  • Increased use of biomass in energy production may slightly increase morbidity due to PM2.5 emissions.
  • Due to enhanced bikeroad network people have a better possibility to do exercise and hence people feel better.

• Are the health impacts big or small in relation to other impacts (e.g. economical, social, climate, other environmental, ...)?

In our opinion the health impacts are quite small in relation to other impacts since for example slightly increased PM2.5 concentration due to biomass fuel does not cause significant impacts, in other words we consider for instance the economical effects greater than the health effects.

• Do the intended policies result in win-win, win-lose, lose-win, or lose-lose situations with regard to health and other impacts?
  • Development of public transport results in win-win situation because air quality is better due to lower emissions and bus company (Helsinki Regional Transport) benefits as well since more people travel by bus due to lower ticket prices.
  • Use of biomass in energy production may on the other hand result in lose-win situation because morbidity may slightly increase due to PM 2.5 emissions but in the same time fewer CO2 emissions are produced in energy production.

• Formulate a plausible and meaningful specific assessment question that takes account of (some of) the aspects considered in above questions.

What kind of positive health effects will occur due to development of public transport?

• Extra question: In what ways your answers do or do not represent "shared understanding"? (The climate program/strategy can be considered a compilation of contributions by many experts and attempting to reflect the views and needs of different decision makers and stakeholders).it conforms to the decision,aims and strategies.

Our answers represent shared understanding in a way that different stakeholders and decision makers in collaboration are trying to meet the goals described in the climate strategy report.

Homework 5.

part A:

• Who are the relevant participants of the assessment?
  • Helsinki city council
  • Helsingin energia
  • Helsinki Regional Transport
  • Experts
• What roles the different participants (may) take in the assessment?
  • Helsinki city council (Decision makers and executors; sources of information)
  • Helsingin energia (executors; sources of information)
  • Helsinki Regional Transport (executors; sources of information)
  • Experts (Experts in human health effects; facilitators)
• What kind of relevant knowledge they (may) have regarding the assessment?
  • Experts: knowledge on health effects, sources of renewable energy, effective land using
  • Helsinki Regional Transport: knowledge on the most run bus turns, how to run a bus company
  • Helsingin Energia: knowledge on how much Helsinki Metropolitan area needs energy, how to produce energy, emission calculations
  • Helsinki city council: knowledge on decision making
• What needs and aims do they represent in the assessment?
  • Helsinki city council ( Aims: reduction of GHG emissions by different actions. Needs: scientific knowledge and assessments )
  • Helsingin energia (Aims: efficiency of energy production and increased use of renewable energy sources. Needs: assessments )
  • Helsinki Regional Transport ( Aims: increased use of public transport by development of public transport. Needs: assessments; plans )
  • Experts ( Aims: positive health effects /lack of negative health effects. Needs: Data; Financial support for studies )

part B:

• How could the relevant participants be involved in the assessment in an effective way?
  • Certain area of responsibility should be given to a certain relevant participant (no overlap)
  • Regardless of different areas of responsibility there should be discussion where every participant takes part.
• How can the quality of an assessment be assured if anyone can participate?
  • Everybody is heard but only reasonable comments will be taken into account.
• How can you prevent malevolent contributions where the purpose is to vandalise the process?
  • to give every person participating the assessment an authorized access (username and password)
• How can you make the outcome converge to a conclusion, because all issues are uncertain and controversial?
  • All point of views will be taken care of and realistic alternatives will be considered.
• How can you ensure that the outcomes are useful for the users?
  • Before excecuting the decicions resulting certain outcome, citizens´ feedback about planned decisions will be evaluated.

part C: Prepare following tables from the climate programme of your selection. Instructions for table structures can be found at Training assessment.

• Decisions table

Decision maker	Decision	Option	Variable
Helsinki city council	Reduction of GHG emissions	Climate strategy programm	Exposure
Helsingin energia	Efficiency in energy production and increased use of renewable energy sources	Reduction of GHG emissions	Technical costs
Helsinki Public Transport	More passangers in public transport	Reduction of bus ticket prices and enhanced frequency in turns	Number of passangers
Experts	Prevention of health impacts	Increased health education	Education costs

• Endpoints table