It’s great to see all of you, old and new friends. My main hope for today is that we will look forward, even though it is always good to learn from the past. In my speech, I will briefly explain how we got here. With my own 27 years of experience as a (long-time) hangaround of this organization, as a layout artist for the organization’s magazine Drontti, as a random graphic designer, as a VJ for Megapolis events, as a web designer, as a coordinator and a handyman for the Kääntöpöytä community farm (where we are now), as a deputy member of the organization’s board, as a full member, and later also as deputy chair, and now as chair in my middle age, I have the right and certainly some responsibility to do so.
1. Different times
We have come a long way as an organization since the mid- to late 1990s, when the world and humanity were in a state of turmoil. At Dodo, we have always sought to find the best arguments, map out and find solutions for a reasonably good life – while at the same time acting as a voluntary channel for working together to build this much-needed sustainable world.
However, the big picture is now completely different from what it was back then. Many of the issues we have been promoting in previous decades are now mainstream, and solutions to even the biggest environmental problems are well known and even exist on an industrial scale, if only there was a willingness to adopt them and invest sufficiently in them. The question is (no more and no less) a real threat to our very existence on this finite planet. And even though many individuals have adopted these solutions and/or influenced them in their own environments, it seems that the overall course has not changed much – or that we are even taking a step backwards. even though there has been a lot of progress in the right direction. In addition, we face new threats with the fascist playbook being used pretty much everywhere around the world (e.g., today in Alaska, but also in Finland) and scientific knowledge about nature loss or developing climate catastrophe often being denied and even silenced.
Next, I will raise a few important issues of this trip of this trip of the NGO.
2. Encounters
Encounters between people always have value, and encounters between people like you can always give rise to something new. At least, that is what we have learned at Dodo over the past decades, and let that also be one of the ideals of this evening. For my part, I can say that I have gained many good friends, knowledge, understanding, and inspiration, as well as experiences that bring happiness from my activities within this organization. And related to what I said earlier, it has also been noted that meeting new people, without fear of losing face, can be THE one significant way to combat the rise of the far right in these increasingly divisive times. Dodo has been, and continues to be, a grassroots meeting place, which Livia will tell us a little more about later our Urban Dinner concept.
Today, I also see how various, at least partially autonomous (urban) spaces can create physical hubs that are vital for the development of networks. I myself have experienced great joy when, for example, we have been able to offer kitchen facilities at Dodo for catering to the dynamic forefront of today’s environmental protection. After all, no protest can stop traffic in Mannerheimintie and raise awareness of the current ecological disaster on an empty stomach.
3. About the themes
In my opinion, the so-called culture of doing rose to a new level in Dodo as part of the Megapolis events, which always had their own annual theme. These festivals were brought to life together, and the theme in question was carefully highlighted throughout the year. The themes of these events included: (still and always topical) consumption, energy, happiness, or even the rhythms and activities of cities… But in 2009, it was something that touched us all every day, something dear to us all: FOOD. And so it remained in Dodo, somehow, and was also channeled into urban farming, which in turn was naturally linked to other aspects of life and even to urban nature and our living environment. Kääntöpöytä, where we are now, was founded as a result to express and enable this culture of doing (2012), so we have already become attached to this unique physical place, and it has been good to operate from here. Of course, it is always good to ask ourselves why we are doing all this, so Kääntöpöytä’s MANIFESTO was drawn up in 2018 to answer that question, crystallizing four themes that we believe will continue to help us adapt to the future. These are: 1) food production, 2) peer learning, 3) urban culture, and 4) urban planning.
A few years ago, a new structure was drawn up and updated for the organization’s annual action plan and subsequent annual report, and in connection with this/in the aftermath, the organization’s activities have broadly been filtered into three focus areas: 1) Civic engagement, 2) Food, and 3) Global sustainability.
4. About the trip, participants and the future
So, a little more about these stages. About five years ago, volunteer resources were scarce and operations were in danger of grinding to a halt. We made the decision to transform Dodo, which had been run purely by volunteers, into an organization run by employees at the practical level. Dodo’s limited financial assets made the change possible, but from the outset, the employees’ tasks have also included raising funds to cover their own salaries.
Today, Dodo’s activities include work experience placements, internships, an annual ESC volunteer, and, for example, people paid with wage subsidies. and in my view, this has also become one of the organization’s roles in a changing world, at the same time as the welfare society we know has been dismantled. And in a way, each growth period has always been accompanied by the emergence of its own evolving community here in the Pasila locomotive stables office, or “Typpilaakso,” and around Kääntöpöytä. The capital’s current internationality swam into Dodo through the exchange students at Aalto University, who were also active participants in the organization’s board at the time.
From a networking perspective, I believe that Dodo still has a good reputation (perhaps even greater than the size of the organization) and we constantly receive requests for cooperation and job offers. Of course, this means that we also have to face our own limited resources. It should also be noted that Dodo’s board is exceptionally small this term, with only four regular members.
In recent years, we have seen opportunities for the so-called Dodo as a Platform model. The idea, in short, is that Dodo can provide a protective umbrella for the social activities of association members/frameworks (e.g., funding, permits, etc.) as long as the organization’s values and principles are realized in the activities and it is fair in other respects. And actually, when I think about it afterwards, this Kääntöpöytä or the Tesito project initiated and led by Sanni and mainly funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, for example, originated quite organically in accordance with this principle.
5. Thank you
Despite the challenges, it was a pleasure to look back at last year’s annual report and see how much had actually been achieved in 2024. So, on my behalf, thank you to everyone involved in this and today’s event, as well as to all of you who came here (and a big thank you to FatLizard, who donated some Otaniemi microbrewery products, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, for this evening).
Thank you, let’s be active and take care of each other. Next, we will hear briefly about the projects and activities from our employees and from our wonderful ESC volunteer Livia…
Thank you.