Funded projects

The Forest Gallery Project is part of the larger ArtAR Museum of Naturarl Art’s Anni Rapinoja initiative, through which a museum will open in Hailuoto in 2026. The museum’s only walls will be the Bothnian Bay surrounding Hailuoto.

Funded by the Nessling Foundation, the Forest Gallery Project launches a forest conservation initiative in Hailuoto by mapping its last remaining natural forests. The project includes the interpretation of maps and aerial images related to forest use notifications, fieldwork, and inventories. The museum is envisioned as a developing and expanding process, year by year, blending into Hailuoto’s national landscape – situated in nature, on nature’s terms. In addition, the project will explore the possibility of acquiring the first forest plot in Hailuoto for conservation, to become part of the museum’s collections. The museum itself will open in Oulu’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2026 as part of its official program.

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Registered Association

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Small funding

Due to cuts in public funding, Finnwatch hasn’t recently been able to carry out the kinds of investigations that previously sparked broad public debate about the emissions of companies operating in Finland and their supply chains.

In this project, Finnwatch will advance the sustainability transformation of economics by preparing a monitoring report that examines the actions Finnish companies are taking to reduce emissions in their supply chains outside the EU, and compares these actions with those of previous years.

The aim is to encourage companies to steer actors within their supply chains towards the use of cleaner energy sources. The project focuses particularly on supply chains outside the EU, as these fall outside the scope of direct national and EU-level emissions regulation.

Organisation
Registered Association

Aim
Small funding

In the municipality of Ilomantsi, roughly one third of the land area has been allocated for the operations of a gold mining company. The planned expansion of mining activities poses serious risks to local water bodies, peatlands, and biodiversity. These risks are not adequately recognised, as currently only the mining company’s voice is being heard.

The aim of the project is to rebalance this asymmetry, democratise the flow of information, engage local residents, and encourage them to exercise their right and responsibility to protect the natural environment in which they live. The project also seeks to create space for discussion grounded in independent, research-based knowledge. As part of the project, an event on the topic of nature and mining will be organised to bring together experts, citizens, and decision-makers.

Organisation
Registered Association

Aim
Small funding

In Karhea Oy’s “Not just for humans” project, a creative and activity-based group will be established for mental health rehabilitants in cooperation with Lapinlahden Lähde, exploring interspecies solidarity.

The project is a social well-being initiative that develops new experiential methods to highlight the connection between environmental and human well-being. It seeks to challenge anthropocentric thinking and strengthen solidarity between species. The aim is to increase appreciation for biodiversity by approaching it through art and creativity.

The project will develop and pilot a six-session group activity model that uses various forms of art therapy to support mental health rehabilitants’ ability to see nature as a resource and source of strength – caring for nature means caring for oneself. An open art exhibition at Lapinlahden Lähde will present the works created during the activities.

Organisation
Limited company

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Small funding

The aim of the project is to raise the understanding of ordinary citizens and decision-makers about the harms of forest ditching to the same level as that of the scientific community, which already knows these impacts in detail. The project will produce a video series that clearly and accessibly visualises the mechanisms through which forest ditching causes damage.

The goal is to alert the wider public to the harms of ditching and to the urgent need to change current practices, for example through reforms to the legislation. Although some public pressure has already emerged — including a citizens’ initiative — general awareness of the impacts of forest ditching remains low and requires strengthening.

Organisation
Limited company

Aim
Small funding

The Kohti Kestävää Ruokajärjestelmää (Towards a Sustainable Food System) network will implement a series of events designed to strengthen sustainable food systems through events that focus on different stages of the value chain. The event series aims to make the sustainability transformation of food systems visible and accessible, using formats that are activating, participatory, and creative.

The project’s goal is to bring together change-makers, strengthen the agroecological transition in Finland, and expand the network and its ability to support that transition. It seeks to create new multidisciplinary and multi-voiced collaboration, lower the barriers between actors in the food system, and enhance participants’ sense of inclusion.

Each event will include an experiential component: hands-on activities, expert talks in dialogue with participants, a shared meal made from local ingredients, and reflections on how to apply what has been learned to one’s own work.

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Registered Association

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Small funding

The aim of Roihuvuori-Seura’s project is to create a civil society–driven biodiversity program (LUMO) in the Roihuvuori district of Helsinki, which will also serve as a model for other neighborhoods, both nationally and internationally. At the heart of the program is citizen science, where residents take part in producing and utilizing knowledge about their local nature and environmental experiences. The activities aim to fill local gaps in ecological knowledge.

Participating in citizen science brings people into concrete interaction with nature, strengthening ecological understanding, responsibility, and environmentally positive values, attitudes, and actions.

Organisation
Registered Association

Aim
Small funding