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What is VANHANKAUPUNGIN KULTTUURI-EKOLOGINEN KLUBI RY ?The Cultural-ecological Club of Helsinki Old Town Close to the centre of the capital of Finland is a small ”forgotten” island: Kuusiluoto. It bears a manifold flora and is a breeding place for many birds, including rare species. The surroundings consist of a natural reserve with bays of reeds as well as a harbour and industry. Since 1990 the island, owned by the city of Helsinki, has been rented by the Cultural-ecological Club of Helsinki Old Town. The club was founded by a few students in order to spend time in this peculiar place on the border of urban life and natural wilderness. The club made a contract to pay a nominal sum yearly and take care of the half broken buildings on the island. Little by little, with a lot of work and very little money, Kuusiluoto has become a meeting place for environmental activists, various societies, clubmembers and recreation seekers plus guests from abroad. Different people get together on the common basis of solidarity and the idea of living in a modern city without loosing a healthy relationship towards the nature. Nobody lives on the island permanently, however in the summer there is rather constant residence. The red wooden house with a small vegetable garden, the rowing boat on the shore and the smell of smoked fish makes one doubt if one really is in the geological centre of Helsinki. There is no running water nor central heating on the island. In the main house there is solar energy system installed using recycled materials. In 2006 a wind turbine was erected in the front of the house to produce energy for lamps and other minor electric devices. Inventions like heating water in black wind shelted metal containers in the sun are made. In the winter some club members fish with nets under the ice and some speed up with sailing sledges on the ice. Happenings open to the public, like acoustic concerts, sledge competitions or discussions on ecological issues are arranged a few times a year. Some club members have special interests like ornithology, esperanto, and viking time culture. Kuusiluoto is forest, rocks and meadow. Meadows are a kind of habitat rapidly vanishing from the Finnish landscape because the traditional way of keeping cattle and getting firewood from the same place has ended. Many species of birds (starling etc.), insects and plants depend on this kind of biotop. Every summer the clubmembers cut some bushes and two sheep are brought to the island from the countryside, to keep the meadow open. The forest and the shores the clubmembers work to keep in a natural, wild state. Kuusiluoto is a piece of nature close at hand for all those who like to take walks on the wild side and who tend to look for little hidden paths off the main roads. To visit the project you should always contact beforehand. The common working day is the second saturday of each month and the whole week before the midsummer. There are rooms and a small cottage to be rented mainly for group meetings. The acces to the island is either by boat or by walking on duckboards (sometimes gumboots are needed). As the association acts in rather small scale the capacity of receiving guests is sometimes limited. Some people and their Contact information |