13.10.2020
Kuusamo Summer Oasis awarded as Well-being Act of the Year in Northern Ostrobothnia
Kuusamo Summer Oasis has won the Northern Ostrobothnia Welfare Act of 2020 award at the Northern Ostrobothnia Welfare Forum on 13 October 2020. The Northern Ostrobothnia Participation and Inclusion Network, which acted as an expert jury, selected three finalists from the competition candidates, and the seminar audience of the Wellbeing Forum voted for the final wEnabler.
A total of 18 proposals for the well-being work of the year were received through an open call for applications, relating to:
- practices that have increased opportunities for participation in the life of different age groups and in events organised in the municipality;
- practices that have increased opportunities for participation in co-design and co-development; and
- practices that have provided opportunities to promote the common good in exceptional circumstances during the past year;
Located in front of Kuusamo Library, Kesäkeidas has created a positive atmosphere around it, where people have been able to participate in the production and sharing of the common good on an equal basis in cooperation with other local residents. In the summer oasis, you may have experienced contact in cooperation with other people and encountered people from different social groups. In addition, the operations of the summer oasis have been located in an easily accessible place, which has been located close to natural shopping and travel routes.
By promoting participation in the Summer Oasis activities, residents of different ages have been able to participate in the activities on their own initiative and all those who have arrived at the Summer Oasis have been met in cooperation with respect. In addition, the oasis has enabled so-called silent participation, which has enabled people to, for example, care for plants or recover in the pavilion from reading books. All residents have had the opportunity to participate in the activities as they wish, for example by caring for crops, participating in joint events or just stopping to enjoy the summer oasis' outputs and growth progress.
The operating method of the summer oasis has brought several different stakeholders to the common cause already from the planning stage and created good conditions for cooperation between local stakeholders. The operation of the summer oasis has also been possible during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Northern Ostrobothnia Welfare Act of the Year 2020 award was received by the Director of Library Services Ritva Niemeläinen Kuusamo City Library and rehabilitation coach Viivi Törmänen The NATURAL project. The recognition was handed over by the Chairman of the Northern Ostrobothnia Welfare Cooperation Group Leena Pimperi-Koivisto.
– We would like to thank the Resources for Nature group, the Youth Workshop, TAIDA! -project, 4H-Regional Assembly, kindergarten Otsoa and Ullakaisa. Together we made a summer oasis that delighted everyone in the city, Niemeläinen and Törmänen tell.
Further information:
Ilpo Tapaninen, Planning Manager, Regional Assembly of Oulu Region, tel. +358 50 301 7546
Ritva Niemeläinen, Director of Library Services, City of Kuusamo, +358 40 516 2276
