Baltic States – CIS, Culture, Direct Speech, EU – Baltic States, Legislation

Photo: LinkedIn

The Society has 12 500 members in Finland and 1200 members in Southwestern Finland. In Turku we have an active branch that is above all supporting the cultural exchange projects between twin cities Turku and Saint Petersburg. I have worked in my current position for almost 6 years now, specializing mostly in developing new and innovative ways for project cooperation between the two cities. During these strained political times it has been especially refreshing to see how actively some Finnish cities have continued their cooperation with their Russian counterparts in business, sports, culture and tourism among others. Turku is among them. And this is definitely not a given.

It is safe to say that I hear numerous comments daily on how we should turn our backs to our Eastern neighbor altogether in all levels of cooperation. Nobody seems to understand what is happening inside the Russian borders and people are baffled. This is why my work this year seems to have reached a new dimension: the role of an explainer. Someone who is asked daily about Russia, about President Putin, about the effects of the sanctions, about the Russian military, you name it.

I have always tried to answer these questions to the best of my abilities, but since I am not an expert on all matters, it has been a very trying and sometimes even a grueling task. You should never generalize, but at times it has seemed to me, that if someone has a preconceived notion of the matter in question, they very rarely change their minds. This in itself is a paradox, since most Finns have never visited Russia, don’t speak the language or understand the culture. I have always wondered what facts they base their opinions on… I have to say that I cannot personally accept all the turmoil and decisions our Eastern neighbor has been making this past year but I can understand where the current situation stems from. Understanding is not accepting and without dialogue you achieve nothing.

As a friendship society our goal first and foremost has and will be supporting this dialogue in all possible levels of cooperation. As a voluntary sector organization our task is to continue to support the grass root cooperation between two civil societies and enhancing the possibilities for cooperation on the non-governmental level. A more general task naturally is to spread knowledge about Russia, Russian culture and language in Southwestern Finland. We must also not forget cooperation in the business sector. Every successful business venture in Russia requires a thorough understanding of the country and culture.  Our definite challenge for the future is to get more young members involved in our activities. This is a tough challenge for all nongovernmental organizations these days, how to activate young peopleple and how to get them interested? The simple answer where to begin is to produce cultural events that young people find interesting. The second and equally important prerequisite is to find suitable project funding for these kinds of activities. A challenge that is easier said than done for all people working in the voluntary sector.

I have personally always wanted to showcase much more than the traditional matreshka dolls, blinis and Russian traditional dances. This is why in January this year we invited a breakdance collective from Moscow to perform and teach in local schools in the Turku region. Needless to say, the Finnish kids were ecstatic. In September we had a young graffiti artist visiting from Saint Petersburg who painted a piece of graffiti art with 15 Finnish kids. We also coordinated a three year environmental education project between 2009-2011 that was directed to 12-17 year old teenagers living in Saint Petersburg and Turku. The goal of the project was to teach environmental education in an innovative way through various creative art classes such as photography, painting, sculpture, dance etc. To this day all the teenagers who participated in the project keep in touch and visit each other between the two twin cities. To me this is the biggest accomplishment of any cultural exchange project.

The best result of any kind of dialogue is learning from one another. To me living in Russia from 2004 to 2008 was truly a life-changing experience. After diving in the Russian way of living I came back as a more assertive, vocal and confident person and learned that Finnish modesty is definitely not the best policy. So my advice to you all: Find out for yourself. Dialogue is the key.

Expert article published 17.12.2015. in issue №5 Baltic Rim Economies (BRE), which deals with the development of the Baltic Sea region.  

http://www.utu.fi/en/units/tse/units/PEI/BRE/Documents/BRE_5_2015%20.pdf