The Earth Our Home exhibition introducing the Earth Charter visited Helsinki, the last city of its tour around Finland, from January 8th to February 16th. The exhibition venue was Laituri, The City Planning Department’s meeting place on Narinkka Square in the city center and about 1,600 people visited in January.
The opening ceremony featured four distinguished speakers who discussed different aspects of sustainable development: Member of Parliament Pekka Haavistol; Jaana Hirsikangas from the project team; development studies researcher Anja Nygren from the University of Helsinki; and Alpo Tani from the City Planning Department. The opening ceremony had a warm atmosphere and there was much discussion. Coffee, tea and baked goods were served by the ecomarket Ruohonjuuri and Kannisto Bakery.
During the exhibition time, nine workshops were organized, mostly for school classes. Teachers were pleased to learn about the Earth Charter and to have the opportunity to use the workshop materials in teaching their pupils about sustainable development. More workshops were organized in Helsinki than any other city during the project, thanks to the guides who were willing to go and organize workshops outside the exhibition at schools.
The people taking part in workshops and visiting the exhibition learned about the Earth Charter and were able to discuss sustainable development issues with the four guides. The exhibition and its opening ceremony also was well-covered in the media, including newspapers, Facebook, and different event calendars. A Swedish daily newspaper, Hufvudstadsbladet, also published one longer article and interviewed two of the guides, Liisa and Paula.
All in all, the exhibition tour had good end in Helsinki.
Guides: Anna, Inka, Liisa and Paula.