INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL-RESEARCH AND NETWORKING OF ECONOMY AND INFORMATION IN RURAL-AREAS OF FINLAND

This article uses material from many extensive research projects start ing from the construction of the electric power supply network and its water supply systems in northern Finland in 1973-1986, to the Agropol is agricultural strategy and networking for the Loimijoki project. A l ist of the material and references of the publications is available in Agronet on the Internet. All these projects applied integrated enviro nmental research covering biology, the natural sciences, social scienc es, and planning methodology. To be able to promote sustainable agricu lture and rural development there is a pressing need to improve resear ch methodology and applications for integrated environmental research. This article reviews the philosophy and development of the theory beh ind integrated environmental research and the theory of network econom y.