Introduction - team helsinki

This blog has been established as a communication tool for team helsinki, an international, interdisciplinary group taking part in the ideas competition, Greater Helsinki Vision 2050.

This competition has been organised to investigate the future of the Greater Helsinki region in light of a changing national and international context. Some of the questions that we are looking to address include:

• What kind of places respond actively and wisely to global and seasonal climatic change?
• What kind of places put a minimal strain on our eco-system?
• How do we create sufficient wealth to realise our future needs and dreams?
• What kind of enterprises will sustain us in the future?
• What kind of places do we wish to be in which nourish us both physically and mentally?
• What kind of places offer both creative tension, spontaneity and contact as well as a feeling of safety and well-being?
• What kind of places offer a concrete vision of humanism and tolerance, of justice and equality, of untapped potential and future possibilities?
• What kind of places offer every child a hint of what they might be or do?

The deadline for competition submissions is in May 2007. A certain amount of background research has already been carried out, which will be posted to the blog in the near future. Information has been collected and organised under a number of broad themes including urban structure, housing, education, the economy, culture, society etc. It is intended to act as a starting point for a body of ideas and creative work that will help establish a set of issues and objectives, forming a clear basis for a vision for Helsinki in the year 2050. A team visit to Helsinki is being planned for March 2007.

The team, currently being put together, is made up of creative people from a range of backgrounds/disciplines/nationalities and is expected to expand through the course of the project to encompass a wider range of expertise and local knowledge. If you are interested in contributing please contact me with a brief personal background.