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Prof. Sirpa Kurppa
Finnish Academy of Science and Letters

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0 Resilience
0 Sustainability
0 Biodiversity and ecosystem services evaluation
0 Life Cycle Assessment LCA

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Journal article
Published: 15 January 2021 in Sustainability
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Increasing pressures surrounding efficiency and sustainability are key global drivers in dairy farm management strategies. However, for numerous resource-based, social, and economic reasons sustainable intensification strategies are herd-size dependent. In this study, we investigated the environmental impacts of Latvia’s dairy farms with different management practices. The herd size-dependent management groups varied from extensively managed small herds with 1–9 cows, extending to stepwise more intensively managed herds with 10–50, 51–100, 100–200, and over 200 milking cows. The aim is to compare the environmental impacts of different size-based production strategies on Latvia’s dairy farms. The results show that the gross greenhouse gas emissions differ by 29%: from 1.09 kg CO2 equivalents (CO2e) per kg of raw milk for the farms with 51–100 cows, down to 0.84 kg CO2e/kg milk for farms with more than 200 cows. However, the land use differs even more—the largest farms use 2.25 times less land per kg of milk than the smallest farms. Global warming potential, marine eutrophication, terrestrial acidification, and ecotoxicity were highest for the mid-sized farms. If current domestic, farm-based protein feeds were to be substituted with imported soy feed (one of the most popular high-protein feeds) the environmental impacts of Latvian dairy production would significantly increase, e.g., land use would increase by 18% and the global warming potential by 43%. Environmental policy approaches for steering the farms should consider the overall effects of operation size on environmental quality, in order to support the best practices for each farm type and steer systematic change in the country. The limitations of this study are linked to national data availability (e.g., national data on feed production, heifer breeding, differences among farms regards soil type, manure management, the proximity to marine or aquatic habitats) and methodological shortcomings (e.g., excluding emissions of carbon sequestration, the use of proxy allocation, and excluding social and biodiversity impacts in life-cycle assessment). Further research is needed to improve the data quality, the allocation method, and provide farm-size-specific information on outputs, heifer breeding, manure storage, and handling.

ACS Style

Janis Brizga; Sirpa Kurppa; Hannele Heusala. Environmental Impacts of Milking Cows in Latvia. Sustainability 2021, 13, 784 .

AMA Style

Janis Brizga, Sirpa Kurppa, Hannele Heusala. Environmental Impacts of Milking Cows in Latvia. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (2):784.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Janis Brizga; Sirpa Kurppa; Hannele Heusala. 2021. "Environmental Impacts of Milking Cows in Latvia." Sustainability 13, no. 2: 784.

Journal article
Published: 10 January 2021 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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The aim of this article was to create key indicators for measuring the implementation potential of the green economy transition at a local level in a northernmost, natural biomass-rich environment. The case area to test the set of indicators was the village of Saija in Lapland. The work presented in this article is based on a communicative cooperative research and development project. The selection process for the appropriate indicators is based on a conceptual framework for developing local sustainability indicators and the thematic framework follows the key dimensions of the green economy (ecosystem resilience, resource efficiency and social equity). When selecting the local-level indicators, a strong emphasis was placed on the special characteristics of the local area and the availability and validity of the data. Layman villagers and data policy relevance (in this case green economy) were also taken into consideration. The key indicators developed as a result included: the increment of growing forest stock in relation to the drain on growing forest stock, the village population, the bioenergy consumption share, the utilization share of side streams, the bioenergy production potential, capital outflow, demographic dependency ratio, the ratio between employed and working age residents and the number of forest owners in relation to area households. The key indicators are targeted for use in supporting local decision-making and monitoring and assessing development activities and their effectiveness in the process of the green economy transition. The indicators measure the most critical factors for green economy transition in a local area and identify the most optimal development opportunities when moving towards green growth. In the measurement of the transition potential of the green economy, it was found that the case area’s imported fossil energy consumption could be substituted with self-sufficient bioenergy production utilizing the area’s own raw materials. There is extensive potential for the utilization of manure (an agricultural side stream) and forest resources (forestry side streams) at the local level, especially since forests account for 98% of Lapland’s land area. In support of the change from fossil-based energy consumption towards bioenergy production, plans for a biogas plant were examined for self-sufficient bioenergy production and this appeared to be the initial key process in the path of the green economy transformation in the case village of Saija.

ACS Style

Karetta Timonen; Anu Reinikainen; Sirpa Kurppa; Inkeri Riipi. Key Indicators and Social Acceptance for Bioenergy Production Potential as Part of the Green Economy Transition Process in Local Areas of Lapland. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2021, 18, 527 .

AMA Style

Karetta Timonen, Anu Reinikainen, Sirpa Kurppa, Inkeri Riipi. Key Indicators and Social Acceptance for Bioenergy Production Potential as Part of the Green Economy Transition Process in Local Areas of Lapland. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18 (2):527.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Karetta Timonen; Anu Reinikainen; Sirpa Kurppa; Inkeri Riipi. 2021. "Key Indicators and Social Acceptance for Bioenergy Production Potential as Part of the Green Economy Transition Process in Local Areas of Lapland." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 2: 527.

Water use in lca
Published: 15 August 2018 in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
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Food production without consuming scarce local freshwater resources in an unsustainable way needs to be ensured. A robust method to assess water scarcity impacts is needed, not only for areas suffering from water scarcity but also in circumstances without water scarcity. This study provides basic knowledge about the current water scarcity footprint methodologies applied to rain-fed agriculture, with Finnish milk production as a case study. A typical Finnish “cradle-to-dairy” milk production system was studied. An improved allocation method is suggested taking into account that a lactating cow consumes more drinking water due to milk production. Impact assessment methodologies, including midpoint impact indicators of water deprivation and water scarcity, and the endpoint impact indicators on human health, ecosystems and resources, were applied and evaluated. Finnish milk is associated with quite low consumptive water use, amounting to just 6.3 l per litre of packaged skimmed milk according to the suggested allocation method. The stress-weighted water footprint was 4.3 H2Oeq, and the water scarcity impact came to 12.2 leq per litre of Finnish milk. The comparisons between this study and case studies in the literature showed that the water scarcity impact results calculated with the AWARE method are well reasoned, and that mass flows from regions with high water scarcity cause higher water scarcity impact. We conclude that the water scarcity footprint of Finnish milk in all the studied impact categories is relatively low. The AWARE method for water scarcity footprint assessment seems to be particularly applicable for Finland and is able to identify the critical hotspots of production chains.

ACS Style

Kirsi Usva; Eetu Virtanen; Helena Hyvärinen; Jouni Nousiainen; Taija Sinkko; Sirpa Kurppa. Applying water scarcity footprint methodologies to milk production in Finland. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2018, 24, 351 -361.

AMA Style

Kirsi Usva, Eetu Virtanen, Helena Hyvärinen, Jouni Nousiainen, Taija Sinkko, Sirpa Kurppa. Applying water scarcity footprint methodologies to milk production in Finland. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2018; 24 (2):351-361.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kirsi Usva; Eetu Virtanen; Helena Hyvärinen; Jouni Nousiainen; Taija Sinkko; Sirpa Kurppa. 2018. "Applying water scarcity footprint methodologies to milk production in Finland." The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 24, no. 2: 351-361.

Lca for agriculture
Published: 15 August 2018 in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
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An indicator of nutrient use efficiency through the entire food chain has been lacking. This article proposes a nutrient footprint method to estimate the efficiency of using both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in animal production chains following Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Following the nutrient footprint method of Grönman et al. (2016), we applied the nutrient footprint method to the Finnish beef production and consumption chain. We defined N and P flows associated with the beef chain from a product-specific point of view. The nutrient footprint is a resource efficiency indicator which combines the amount of nutrients captured for use in the production and consumption chain and their nutrient use efficiency (NutUE) either in the primary product or in both the primary + secondary products. Each 1000 kg of Finnish beef consumed requires 1700 kg N and 189 kg P during its life cycle. The percentage of virgin nutrient is more than 50% for N, but only 25% for P. NutUE in the primary product and in both primary + secondary products for N is 1% and 47% and for P is 0.2% and 74%, respectively. The nutrient footprint offers information about NutUE in a simple and comparable form. In transition towards systems with sustainable nutrient use, it is essential to identify hot spots of nutrient leakage to be able to close them and improve food chains.

ACS Style

Katri Joensuu; Hannele Pulkkinen; Sirpa Kurppa; Jenni Ypyä; Yrjö Virtanen. Applying the nutrient footprint method to the beef production and consumption chain. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2018, 24, 26 -36.

AMA Style

Katri Joensuu, Hannele Pulkkinen, Sirpa Kurppa, Jenni Ypyä, Yrjö Virtanen. Applying the nutrient footprint method to the beef production and consumption chain. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2018; 24 (1):26-36.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Katri Joensuu; Hannele Pulkkinen; Sirpa Kurppa; Jenni Ypyä; Yrjö Virtanen. 2018. "Applying the nutrient footprint method to the beef production and consumption chain." The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 24, no. 1: 26-36.

Article
Published: 25 May 2017 in Sustainable Development
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Greening the economy has been widely discussed as a new strategy for simultaneously reducing environmental pressures, promoting economic growth and enhancing social well-being. Indicators are one tool that can be used to describe the development of green growth. This paper presents and evaluates the process of attempting to build a set of policy-relevant key indicators of green growth for Finland. The challenges of developing a cross-scale indicator set integrating different sectors and levels of society are identified and discussed. It is argued that both the experts preparing the indicators and the potential users will benefit from a collaborative process that aims not only to build a shared awareness of the key issues of green growth but also to foster a realistic understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the indicator approach. Key challenges include data availability, right balance between different indicator selection criteria, systemic understanding of the relationships between indicators, and the variable usage contexts of the indicators. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

ACS Style

Jari Lyytimäki; Riina Antikainen; Joonas Hokkanen; Sirkka Koskela; Sirpa Kurppa; Riina Känkänen; Jyri Seppälä. Developing Key Indicators of Green Growth. Sustainable Development 2017, 26, 51 -64.

AMA Style

Jari Lyytimäki, Riina Antikainen, Joonas Hokkanen, Sirkka Koskela, Sirpa Kurppa, Riina Känkänen, Jyri Seppälä. Developing Key Indicators of Green Growth. Sustainable Development. 2017; 26 (1):51-64.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jari Lyytimäki; Riina Antikainen; Joonas Hokkanen; Sirkka Koskela; Sirpa Kurppa; Riina Känkänen; Jyri Seppälä. 2017. "Developing Key Indicators of Green Growth." Sustainable Development 26, no. 1: 51-64.

Journal article
Published: 01 April 2017 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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ACS Style

Merja Saarinen; Mikael Fogelholm; Raija Tahvonen; Sirpa Kurppa. Taking nutrition into account within the life cycle assessment of food products. Journal of Cleaner Production 2017, 149, 828 -844.

AMA Style

Merja Saarinen, Mikael Fogelholm, Raija Tahvonen, Sirpa Kurppa. Taking nutrition into account within the life cycle assessment of food products. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2017; 149 ():828-844.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Merja Saarinen; Mikael Fogelholm; Raija Tahvonen; Sirpa Kurppa. 2017. "Taking nutrition into account within the life cycle assessment of food products." Journal of Cleaner Production 149, no. : 828-844.

Article
Published: 05 August 2016 in Organic Agriculture
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This study presents two hypothetical challenges: (1) the actors in the Finnish food chain do not have a common community that would cover the entire food chain from primary producers to the consumers of organic food and that would, by communal effort, enhance the development of the organic food chain, and (2) a fairer share of power among the food chain actors would enable the development of the organic food chain. The literature supports these arguments; the collaboration occurs mainly on a horizontal level and leaves actual consumers outside the direct collaboration. The division of power, according to the results of other studies, is uneven, biased, and twisted among the food chain actors. In this study, the two arguments were presented to two focus groups: one in the local food chain and other at national food chain level. The focus group discussions confirm the arguments that the activity of the food chain happens mainly on a horizontal level, and that the power is unevenly distributed among the food chain actors. The understanding of the influences of the lack of a common food chain-based community on the development of the organic food chain, and the proposed means for tackling the challenges, were heterogeneous. The understanding of the profitability and potential of such a food chain-based community was to a large extent missing in the agricultural and industrial part of the food chain, especially. The oversized strength of retail companies, the underdeveloped capability of other food chain stakeholders to take control of food marketing and the oversized bureaucracy were seen as the main reasons for the unfair share of power, which situation was even partially accepted. According to the vision of the focus group members, the Finnish organic food chain will be a multifaceted combination of small- and medium-sized local enterprises and large national level enterprises acting at the food chain level, but also accepting alternative marketing channels such as food processing and sales at a farm level. The food chain is dynamic and diverse. The enterprises are in a process of constant development as regards the volume and level of their activity. This development trend and the challenges discussed are typical in many western countries, and therefore, this article with its results provides a useful opening for food chain level discussions in many other countries.

ACS Style

Jaakko Nuutila; Sirpa Kurppa. Two main challenges that prevent the development of an organic food chain at local and national level—an exploratory study in Finland. Organic Agriculture 2016, 7, 379 -394.

AMA Style

Jaakko Nuutila, Sirpa Kurppa. Two main challenges that prevent the development of an organic food chain at local and national level—an exploratory study in Finland. Organic Agriculture. 2016; 7 (4):379-394.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jaakko Nuutila; Sirpa Kurppa. 2016. "Two main challenges that prevent the development of an organic food chain at local and national level—an exploratory study in Finland." Organic Agriculture 7, no. 4: 379-394.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2016 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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The unsustainable use of nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) has resulted in the straining of the environment to excess. To improve this situation, a better knowledge of the nutrient flows is necessary. Even though nutrient balances and emissions have been calculated, an illustrative calculation method for the efficient use of nutrients use is still lacking. This article presents a novel methodology for a nutrient footprint, which takes into account 1) the amount of nutrients taken into use as virgin or recycled nutrients and 2) the efficiency of these nutrients utilized in that particular production chain. At the same time, nutrient losses at each life cycle phase are identified. Hence, the nutrient footprint is an indicator which combines the amount of captured nutrients [kg of N and P] for use in the production chain and the share of nutrients utilized [%] either in the product itself or in the entire production chain, accounting also for side-products. The nutrient footprint method is tested using oat flakes and porridge as a case product. The case calculation results reveal a relatively efficient use of the nutrients, as the nutrient use efficiency (NUE) of the production chain for N is 71% and for P 99%. When examining only the NUE of the oat flakes and porridge and excluding the side-products, the nutrient use efficiency is 55% for both N and P. The case calculation also reveals the hotspots for nutrient losses, which were located in the wastewater and food waste treatment. The nutrient footprint methodology seems to have potential in assessing the nutrient balances of food chains as well as other bio-based production chains. It offers information about the nutrient usage and utilization efficiency in a simple and comparable form. This information can not only be used in improving the production chains but also in communicating the importance of the sustainable use of nutrients to decision makers.

ACS Style

Kaisa Grönman; Jenni Ypyä; Yrjö Virtanen; Sirpa Kurppa; Risto Soukka; Pentti Seuri; Aki Finér; Lassi Linnanen. Nutrient footprint as a tool to evaluate the nutrient balance of a food chain. Journal of Cleaner Production 2016, 112, 2429 -2440.

AMA Style

Kaisa Grönman, Jenni Ypyä, Yrjö Virtanen, Sirpa Kurppa, Risto Soukka, Pentti Seuri, Aki Finér, Lassi Linnanen. Nutrient footprint as a tool to evaluate the nutrient balance of a food chain. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2016; 112 ():2429-2440.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kaisa Grönman; Jenni Ypyä; Yrjö Virtanen; Sirpa Kurppa; Risto Soukka; Pentti Seuri; Aki Finér; Lassi Linnanen. 2016. "Nutrient footprint as a tool to evaluate the nutrient balance of a food chain." Journal of Cleaner Production 112, no. : 2429-2440.