19 agent members from different fields work at Puistokatu 4 with solution-oriented approach for an ecologically sustainable future at the heart of their work. The agent members work on the second floor of Puistokatu 4.
Read more about our new agent members below!
“We are a non-profit social enterprise. We act as a neutral party in environmental conflicts and an expert in multilateral negotiations. Building an ecologically sustainable future requires that stakeholders discuss the most complex issues together.
We have acted as mediator in around 100 processes concerning the environment and the use of natural resources. They range in scale from national policies to regional plans and local projects. A few examples: the preparation of the Iijoki river basin vision, natural resource planning for the Sámi homeland, the update of the management plan for the wolf population in Finland, facilitating a Nordic cormorant working group, and the resolution of forest disputes between the state and environmental organisations. At Puistokatu we want to learn from others and share what we have learned.”
“Metsäliike and its associated Lusto project, where I work as a coordinator, exist to protect acutely threatened natural forests and accelerate the sustainable development of Finland’s forest sector. In this project, our multidisciplinary team involves researchers, experts and artists to build a snapshot of the whole movement and build capacity for action. We act as a bridge between academia, the ecologically oriented art world and those involved in more direct action.
Puistokatu 4 brings together a representative group of ecological crisis solvers and an interesting set of skills in reconciling, mediating and generating public dialogue on environmental conflicts. The spot in the Puistokatu community provides a physical framework and a supportive atmosphere in which to work during our first year of operation.”
“Climate Move is a movement that provides low-threshold tools and community engagement to promote ambitious and socially just climate policies. We have around 20 active volunteers, with a few dozen more occasional participants. We share information on climate issues and influence climate policy by actively engaging with decision-makers. We also provide expertise and advocacy opportunities and work closely with other climate movements through marches, social media campaigns and concepts.
Our activists meet weekly to plan and carry out activities. At Puistokatu, we plan to organise activists’ meetings and low-threshold climate-related events, among other things.”
“Frantsila’s operations are strongly linked to building an ecologically sustainable future in many different ways. A key part of our business is the organic cultivation of herbs. We will be developing our regenerative cultivation methods in the coming years to further improve the soil microbiome. We will also begin to systematically measure the impact of regenerative farming on carbon sequestration. As part of our product development, we also want to study the active ingredients in plant extracts, their amounts and how the soil microbiome affects plant nutrients.
We understand that a holistic view and broad collaboration are needed to address current and future crises. For this reason, we are particularly interested in being part of the Puistokatu 4 community. We want to be involved in interdisciplinary projects that, through dialogue and encounter, combine knowledge structures from different disciplines and people’s experiences to create new approaches that enable people and communities to create sustainable and inclusive solutions to our environmental crises.”
“I have written 22 non-fiction books, primarily for children and young people. The most recent of these deal with the climate crisis and the biodiversity loss. My work draws on research from a wide range of disciplines and my words are often accompanied by another perspective created by the illustrator. My forthcoming book for adult readers aims both to illustrate life in an era of multiple crises and to seek solace and space for renewing play.
I am drawn to Puistokatu 4 as a place where knowledge and insights about the sustainability transition are intensifying. I hope to find the strength to write and equally I hope to help the people around me with their projects.”
“Jalotus brings environmental and climate research into people’s everyday lives. Our vision is to help 200,000 Finns make the transition to an ecologically sustainable lifestyle. We network and operate nationally and internationally. We belong to the Transitional Network and Ecolis and coordinate the Finnish Transitional Movement Network.
As the founder of Jalotus, I act as a link between the Puistokatu 4 community and the work of Jalotus. I learn from the Puistokatu community exactly what is needed for a fast, sustainable transition.”
“After 20 years of experience in design consultancies, I have started up my entrepreneurial journey two years ago in order to take a stronger proactive stand to accelerate sustainability transitions. As a regenerative leader, I’m currently working as consultant at Falay Transition Design, as well as nurturing a small community of mission-aligned designers and artists who want to work with systemic interventions. We see the gap between research, business and art and want to position ourselves in between.
I feel like a perfect fit for the Puistokatu 4 community. I believe in the power of networks and nurturing our collective agency to steer towards desirable futures. I have frequently collaborated with partners from academia and co-authored articles that integrate design practice-based learning with design research. I hope this community will open up new possibilities for this type of collaboration and contribution.”
“I act as a sustainability strategist, guiding companies to find their own way to promote sustainability. The services I provide always take into account the limits of both the planet and human capacity. I facilitate sustainability strategies, sustainability reports and sustainability communication. Instead of greenwashing, I help corporate clients to focus their communications on effective and concrete sustainability actions that drive positive change.
In the summer, I was invited to a researcher lunch at the restaurant Elm, followed by a tour of the premises at Puistokatu 4. I was impressed by the atmosphere of the place, the great facilities and the instant conversations. I also share Puistokatu 4’s mission for an ecologically sustainable future and strive to implement it in my work. I believe that through my professional skills I could make a valuable contribution to the community.”
“The purpose of the Relex Foundation, founded in 2022, is to improve the state of the environment, prevent climate change and support human rights. We finance actors working for a better future for all organisms and support them in other possible ways such as by offering the expertise of our networks at their disposal. I work on Puistokatu to build the foundation and manage its financing and network.
My main reason for coming to Puistokatu is the community: people, the electricity and peace around me. I look forward to stimulating conversations that go beyond the thinking and action patterns of current societies, shared laughter, useful advice and momentary idleness. As an incorrigible esthetician, Puistokatu’s visually and intellectually beautiful environment is a magnet that attracts me.”
“Sudden is a multidisciplinary (pharmacy, medicine, law, ecology, engineering) research and stakeholder community focused on the sustainable development of pharmaceuticals and the prevention and elimination of environmental harm from pharmaceutical residues.
I spent the last year as a researcher member at the Science Attic at Puistokatu 4 and my experience was very positive. The noble principles of Puistokatu are essential to building a more ecologically sustainable future, and they are beautifully implemented in the building.”
“I have been exploring interaction, radical empathy and questions of consumerism in my artistic work for almost 20 years. I am currently creating a new work dealing with interspecies communication. In addition, I am writing and preparing a participatory audio essay that continues the theme of my work at the Helsinki Biennial, ‘It Occurred to Me, But a Bit Too Late’. In this work, the human species is released into the wild to test and imagine the bodies of bird species.
In addition, I restore biodiversity on my farm in the middle reaches of the River Ii, which is also home to five lively and therapeutic sheep. At Puistokatu, I expect to find not only an important set of values and an incredibly beautiful and inspiring milieu, but also many interesting people with diverse and stimulating ideas.”
“Ecofoundation, which turned 30 last year, was established in memory of Pekka Kuusi, a social and humanitarian politician. The purpose of the Foundation is to support scientific research and other activities that improve the conditions for ecologically sustainable development. This work draws on and develops the ideological and scientific legacy of Kuusi’s books This World of Man and Ihmisen eloonjäämisoppi, pieni alkeiskirja.
We are preparing an update of Pekka Kuusi’s books on the politics of humanity, a new textbook and a primer for the next decades of the Anthropocene. We promote an intergenerational dialogue on sustainability and planetary policy. We need to abandon the old and invent entirely new, sustainable ways of working and caring for those who are affected by change. Our lecture and discussion series at Puistokatu, The Human Survival Doctrine, encourages big changes.”
“Planeetan rajat is a journalistic “pop-up office” that acts as a collaboration platform for dialogic projects promoting ecological and social justice. In our journalistic projects, we have dealt with nature loss and the Finnish mire relationship. Our premises at Puistokatu 4 are used by science journalist and nonfiction author Mikko Pelttari (pictured) and forest researcher Samuli Junttila, both working on our own environmental communication projects.
Our main reason for coming to Puistokatu is its community. We share with the people of Puistokatu a concern for the future of nature and humanity, and we want to learn more together.”
“I am the science coordinator of the Finnish Nature Panel. The Finnish Nature Panel is an independent scientific panel that aims to bring research data to the decision-making process and thereby contribute to the reservation of the biodiversity.
I am eager to get to know to the diverse community of Puistokatu 4, and I’ll be happy to introduce the Finnish Nature Panel’s work to everyone interested!”
“I have a day job as a lecturer of English and Philosophy at Otaniemi High School, but I came to Puistokatu 4 to help forward my projects: the Pedagogy of Concrete Utopias project and the 45+ group of Extinction Rebellion. Both of these have elements of the values of Puistokatu 4.
The framework of Puistokatu 4 and the community and values that work here are aligned with my own. Puistokatu is the perfect place to explore a more sustainable future in different roles.”
LinkedIn: @aki-saariaho
“Established in 2019, Timeout is an independent, non-profit foundation that aims to strengthen democracy, trust and social resilience. We organise dialogues that aim to discuss social issues in a constructive and equal way. It is important for us to involve especially those who do not normally participate. The importance of discussing a socially, ecologically and economically sustainable future is reflected in our themes for debate and in our partnerships. Currently, our partners include organisations such as the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation Yle, the Guides and Scouts of Finland, the Finnish Lifelong Learning Foundation, the Nordic Council of Ministers and several municipalities.
Our aim is for Puistokatu 4 to become the home base of the Timeout Foundation. In the future, Puistokatu 4 could be the place where our staff works and where trainings, meetings and dialogues aimed at supporting the social debate could take place. We are happy to work with other agent members at Puistokatu 4 and support the development of Puistokatu’s culture of interaction.”
“In the roles of coach, facilitator and yoga teacher, I help sustainability pioneers connect with themselves and each other to promote social change. Change towards a more ecologically sustainable future starts with individuals building thriving partnerships.
I am interested in making new contacts and learning about different perspectives and practical ways to promote a more sustainable future. I believe that through encounters and discussions, I will find new ideas and inspiration for both my business activities and my planned PhD research, which are linked to the ecological sustainability agenda, especially the strengthening of its inner dimension (Inner Development Goals).
“Our aim is to promote grassroot environmental protection, sustainable development and support projects and actors that promote them. We are currently implementing a grant project funded by the Kone Foundation called Metsän vuoro, which supports environmental activists in Finland. By supporting activism, we want to raise the level of the Finnish environmental and climate debate and highlight key environmental policy grievances.
At Puistokatu, I am happy to present the thinking of the environmental movement and the international climate justice movement, as well as my own work around the change strategy and global climate policy.”
