Conversion in an environmental and safety context: The roles of actors and the double impact problem - A finnish perspective of a transnational issue

Abstract

Even in countries that were not occupied by the Red Army, safety and contamination problems have arisen. National defence forces are responsible for a number of environmental problems, including the spilling of fuels and the deposition of lead bullets and undetonated projectiles on shooting ranges. In cases like Finland, where the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is responsible for clean-up measures, the so-called "double-impact" phenomenon can arise. The MoD may considers it too difficult to restore a former military site and solves the problem by simply holding the facilities empty. As long as this occurs, the region cannot benefit from the civilian re-use of the former military property. Here, the Finnish conversion process profits from the multinational CONVERNET network where 21 partners from the Baltic Sea Region have united to help one another find new, meaningful uses for properties vacated by the military. The lead partner of CONVERNET is the Brandenburg State Government. Products such as the Conversion Handbook for the Baltic Sea Region inspired partners and additional institutions to continue and extend the network after 2005 as CONVERNET II within the EU-INTERREGIIIB Programme. © 2007 Springer.