Travel Report of the Finnish Innovative Village Study Tour North-East Region, Northern Ireland 3

Travel Report of the Finnish Innovative Village Study Tour North-East Region, Northern Ireland 3.-7. October 2012

The study tour was the first transnational action of Innovative Village Leader Cooperation Project www.jamk.fi/innovative-village run by JAMK’s School of Business and Services Management. The Finnish study group consisted of partners and village representatives of Central Finland: - Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences JAMK - LAG Viisari, Leader group of Northern Central Finland - LAG JyväsRiihi, Leader group of the rural areas of the capital of Central Finland, City of Jyväskylä.

Our host and project partner in Northern Ireland was North East Region Development Partnership NER www.northeastrdp.com. In Dublin our Finnish group was joined by the Estonian partners of Tartumaa Arendusselts, TAS, www.tas.ee.

The trip had several aims. It was our first study tour and as such a start-up of a transnational project. During the trip we had start-up seminars, presentations, discussions and a transnational steering group meeting. Aims of the study trip were - getting to know the Innovative Village project partners - finding good practices in projects and rural development, and - learning about the local services in each partner country.

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The project started later than planned in September, 2012. However, all partners wanted to realise the first study trip and the start-up seminar in the autumn 2012 as planned. This meant that the study tour was executed in a hurry both in the receiving and in the sending end. In Finland nobody knew everybody in the group as there wasn’t time to organise a common meeting before the trip. In this way it was important for us to learn to know our own group as well as the partners during the trip.

Our Target - Northern Ireland and North-East Region

Northern Ireland is part of Great Britain. There are about 1.7 Million inhabitants. Belfast, the capital, has about 600.000 inhabitants in the whole and 280.000 in the city area (compared with Jyväskylä, 132 000 inhabitants).

Northern Ireland is divided into 26 districts (equivalent of kunta in Finnish) including cities (kaupunki) and boroughs (kauppala). Every district is governed by a council (valtuusto).

North East Region, our host area, consists of five districts: Ballymena, Ballymoney, Colerain, Moyle and Larne. They have about 350,000 inhabitants, of which 95,000 in the rural areas.

North East is about 2300km2 (compared with the whole Northern Ireland 13.576km2, Central Finland 19.948km², and Jyväskylä 1.171 km²). The biggest towns are Ballymena, 30.000 inhabitants, and Coleraine, 27.000 inhabitants.

The principal businesses in the rural areas are sheep farming in the uplands area, beef and dairy cattle in the lowland areas, and tourism - the Giants Causeway being a World Heritage Centre attracted over 800,000 visitors last year.

North East Rural Development Partnership, NER

Leader Action Group NER has been established in 2009 but the area has been part of Leader actions since 1993. The LAG is administered by the five local councils.

Main areas of activity are - farm diversification, - supporting small business, - tourism development, - supporting villages and - basic community services

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Overall budget is £13million (about 15 million Euros). There is a staff of 8 working in one central office. Our host was the Strategy Manager Andrew McAlister [email protected]. (in the picture with Pirjo Ikäheimonen, LAG JyväsRiihi).

STYDY TOUR

Wed 3.10.2012

Our group met at at Tikkakoski Airport in Jyväskylä at 13.30 and started the journey towards Dublin where we had comfortable accommodation in an airport hotel.

In our suitcases we had some introduction material to Central Finland and a load of dark rye breads. After each visit our host got a traditional rye bread baked in Konginkangas village to remind him of us after we left.

Thu 4.10.2012

At 9 am we started a joint trip to the north together with the Estonian group. There were 22 of us and 16 of the Estonians so the bus was nearly full. The trip was used to become acquainted with each other and to admire the scenery of the lowlands of the south changing into the highlands of the north.

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On the way we had a Belfast Tour with Tommy Collins, board member of North East Rural Development Partnership (picture). During the bus ride free translations were made both in Estonian and in Finnish.

The tour showed us how ‘The Troubles’, the civil war between the Catholics and Protestants, can still be seen in Belfast. We also saw the modern Belfast including the brand new Titanic Belfast museum.

12.30 LEDCOM - Larne Enterprise Development Company Ltd. The manager Ken Nelson explained us how a development agency works in Northern Ireland.

15.30 Accommodation in two B&B’s in a picturesque village called Cushendall. Cushendall is a partnering village of Innovative Village project in Northern Ireland.

16.00 Seminar in Cushendall: Introduction by Andrew McAlister, strategy manager of NER. Introduction of the Finnish IV project by Outi Raatikainen, JAMK. Introduction of the Estonian project partner, Kristiina Liimand, TAS. North Antrim Community Network by Briege Conway, Community development and services in North East region. Rural Cases: Case Cushendall Community tourist hub; Case Kangashäkki in Uurainen by Mia-Riitta Allik; Case Sustainable Village Kaagvere by Madis Masing. Tourism in Northern Ireland by Brian Connolly, Northern Ireland Tourist Board, and Sustainable Rural Tourism in Finland by Petra Blinnikka, JAMK. Young Farmers in Northern Ireland by Melissa Knox and Lauren Mitchell, Broughshane village.

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Fri 5.10.2012

09.00 Study Tour by bus: - Ardclinis Activity Centre is run by the local tourism entrepreneur Anne Bowen. Ardclinis Activity Centre is an established company but it has new premises and a new area for outdoor activities which we tested (picture).

- Cloughmills Community Association. Patrick Frew & Declan Donnelly, Ballymoney Borough Council, introduced their activities. The association is involved in re-cycling initiatives, food projects and village regeneration. We were excited about their Incredible Edible project “Reconnecting People and Food” where the villagers were given a piece of land and taught sustainable vegetable gardening with the philosophy “We are creating happiness in our village”. The plans reach into preparing food from the own produce, organising courses etc..

- Loughgiel Community Association. Gerard McCloskey introduced us the Loughgiel Millennium Centre with a café, meeting room, sports hall, kindergarden, rental space for local businesses, a wind mill to lower the costs of heating – all run by the community association with the help of grants. Our group was impressed about the whole thing and especially about the way how the private money had been collected in the project: selling building tiles of the centre from door to door, one by one.

- In Portglenone we had an interesting introduction and a walking tour around the village lead by Kieran Adams and Norman Worthington. The action group of Portglenone has run and is taking part in big projects including social projects, rental space for entrepreneurs, a new village harbour, playground for children, information panels… Our walking tour led us to visit the harbour, check the new playground and visit the local credit union among others. www.jamk.fi/innovative-village 6

The whole afternoon was spent in a seminar in Wild Duck in Portglenone where P.J. McAvoy, Mayor of Ballymena Borough Council and NER JCC Chair said the welcoming words to us.

Seminar: - Role of Councils in Community Development by Rosemary McCormick, Ballymena Council. Rural Development in NI by Theresa Canavan, Rural Development Council. Presentation of Portglenone Community Group: tourism, enterprises, festivals etc. - Credit Unions & Rural Finance by Patsy Mc Shane, Local Credit Union operations by Robin Andrews, Trends in Finnish Finances by Anne Eskola, JAMK. - Tartu Future Village Project by Airi Park, Tartu County Youth Council. Rural Life in Estonia by Maret Prits, Tartu University. Leader work in Central Finland by Hanna Luoma, Viestinnästä voimaa project. The dinner was enjoyed in Portglenone. The bus took us home to Cushendall.

Sat 6.10.2012 09.00 Study Tour along the Causeway Coastal Route.

Bushmills walkabout and meeting with the local group by Arthur Ward and Roy Bolton. Bushmills village is known for the oldest licensed whisky distillery. The village was going down but has now created strong tourism products and several village renewal projects. Bushmills Fund is funding local initiatives, e.g. the look of the village has been renewed (we were impressed by the use of the empty shop windows - picture) and the youth hostel has been a success.

After the introduction to the village we took the Bushmills Distillery Tour and learned about the making of whisky and about the factory. The factory has a strong position in Bushmills village and and Bushmills Fund and cooperation with the local community group.

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Portballintrae was introduced by Joyce Ferder. The coastal village is a participating partner in IV project. It is a village where most houses are nowadays owned as second homes; as a result the permanent villagers lost their everyday services. Solution: the community group built a village house with an own village shop and markets the community house actively for venues, art courses etc. (picture).

Giant’s Causeway is a Unesco World Heritage site managed by the National Trust. It had just opened a modern visitor’s centre. The whole place was impressive and the local stories behind the strange natural forms were interesting. The cooperation between the site and the rural community has been new to the National Trust: as a result e.g. the visitors can park their cars in the centre of the village, visit shops there, and take an easy bus to and from the Giant’s Causeway right from the parking place.

After the visit we drove back to Cushendall where there was some time to rest for everybody except the steering group. The Steering Group Meeting was held in the Old School village house in Cushendall. The day ended with a farewell party in Cushendall..

Sun 7th of October

The day started early when we jumped into the local bus and drove to catch our flight. Our landladies had made sandwiches which were consumed gratefully during the bus trip. After uneventful flights we arrived to Helsinki Airport where a bus waited to take us back to Central Finland. After some feedback discussion the group snoozed till Jyväskylä.

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Feedback after the trip

In general the trip was considered successful and useful. The trip was given a mark of 8 (in Finnish scale 4- 10 used at schools; 8 means good).

No meaning for me Superbly Excellently Well Sufficiently Poorly My work during the study trip or in this project Total 5 Dark Green 4 Green 3 Bluish Green 2 Yellow 1 Orange 0 Red added my skills as a rural developer 100 %

(avg: 2,84) gave new ideas 100 %

(avg: 3,63) supported my own goals 100 %

(avg: 3,26) gave me new contacts 100 %

(avg: 3,11) succeeded 100 %

(avg: 3,11)

Total 2 % 41 % 39 % 13 % 2 % 3 %

Common complaint was the lack of time during the programme. Otherwise the trip was a success:

- Even though the programme hadn’t taken into consideration that it takes time to eat, drink, go to the bathroom, thank the hosts and give small presents… we did all that and still kept the time table remarkably well! - People made this trip! - Plenty of new things for us to see. - Seminars were a bit difficult, and too long. - Stressful but fun! - It opened my eyes – things can be done so differently. A lot of “revelations”. A new perspective to my own village. Same types of problems here and there. - The trip confirmed my belief that the village can do something and not only wait to be served. We have to find our own strong points and our own way of action. - Good trip, I want to visit Ireland again. - I can’t wait to see our partners again!

This travel report is written with the help of all Finnish participants. The diary written during the trip, discussions, and the written feedback after the trip have all contributed to this report. The actual writing has been done by the project manager Outi Raatikainen. The pictures have been taken by Outi Raatikainen and Hanna Luoma.

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Participants The Finnish group in alphabetical order.

Study Trip to Northern Ireland 3.-7.10.2012 22 Finnish Participants

Organisation Family name Name Title in English; Role in the Innovative Village Project JAMK Blinnikka Petra Ms Project Expert at JAMK, specilized in sustainable rural tourism, facilitator in worhshops. JAMK Eskola Anne Ms Principal Lecturer at JAMK, specialist in the IV case "rural financial services". JAMK Hakala Anne Ms Regional Development Expert at JAMK; member of the Finnish IV steering group JAMK Martelius- Tiina Ms Research- and Development Manager at JAMK Louniala University of Applied Sciences; responsible for IV project in Central Finland, member of both steering groups JAMK Raatikainen Outi Ms IV Project Manager at JAMK and the transnational coordinator; member of both IV steering groups. Tour leader of the study trip. LAG JyväsRiihi Ikäheimonen Pirjo Ms Operative Manager of LAG JyväsRiihi; member of both IV steering groups Municipality of Laasanen Päivi Ms Municipal Agricultural Secretary in Uurainen, board Uurainen/LAG JyväsRiihi member of LAG JyväsRiihi, member of the Finnish IV steering group LAG JyväsRiihi Mehto Lahja Ms Financial Manager of LAG JyväsRiihi The Development Piippa Leila Ms Business Advisor in the development company KeuLink; Company KeuLink Ltd/ board member of LAG JyväsRiihi, village activist in LAG JyväsRiihi Höytiä village LAG Viisari Peiponen Arja-Leena Ms Operative Manager of LAG Viisari; responsible for the transnational IV project; member of both IV steering groups LAG Viisari Puro Mari Ms Financial/Project Assistant of LAG Viisari, advisor and inspector of Leader projects Kangashäkkiset Village Allik Mia-Riitta Ms Head of Recruiting in the social and health services of Association the City of Jyväskylä; activist in Kangashäkki village; member of the Finnish IV steering group. Kangashäkki Village Halttunen Tepa Mr Village activist in Kangashäkki village, age 10. Konginkangas Village Hytönen Onni Mr Student, village activist, accordeon player. Konginkangas Village Hytönen Heli Ms Librarian in Konginkangas village library, a village Association activist in Konginkangas. Konginkangas Village Hytönen Antti Mr Farmer, a village activist in Konginkangas village. Association Vesanka Village Louniala Pekka Mr Logistics Engineer; village activist in Vesanka Kangashäkkiset Village Nieminen Satu Ms Customer Services in Banking; village activist in Association Kangashäkki; IV village mentor Konginkangas Village Rämä Tanja Ms Group Manager; activist in the village association and in Association the local Mannerheim League for Child Welfare in Konginkangas village; member of the Finnish IV steering group

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Saarikas Village Åkerlund Eero Mr Pensioneer. Village activist in Saarikas village in Association, Sumiainen Sumiainen. Project in Central Finland Luoma Hanna Ms Communications Officer for all Leader associations in Central Finland Project of LAG JyväsRiihi Lemmetti Seija Ms Village Development Coordinator for the whole area of LAG JyväsRiihi

Above: From left to right in Portglenone: Päivi Laasanen, Mari Puro (LAG Viisari), Lahja Mehto (LAG JyväsRiihi), Pirjo Ikäheimonen (LAG JyväsRiihi) and Arja-Leena “Apo” Peiponen (LAG Viisari). Next: Gymnastics at the seminar in Cushendall – Ass, Toe, Knee…

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Programme

Wednesday 3rd of October, 2012 13.30 Meeting of the group at Tikkakoski Airport 14.35 Flight to Helsinki 18.20-21.20 Flights to Dublin, accommodation in an airport hotel

Thursday 9.00 Bus at Dublin We joined the Estonian partners of TAS (Tartumaa Arendusselts, 16 persons) and introduced ourselves during the trip to Belfast.

11.15 Belfast – Guided tour by Tommy Collins, 1 hour Tommy Collins, board member of our partner NER (North East Rural Development Partnership) acted as our tour guide. We got a good picture of ”The Troubles”, the civil war between the catholics and the protestants, and a of a thriving modern city with a glimpse of e.g. the brand new Titanic Belfast.

12.30 LEDCOM (Larne Enterprise Development Company Ltd) Introduction of LEDCOM by Chief Executive Ken Nelson.

15.30 Accommodation in two B&B’s in Cushendall Cushendall is a target village of Innovative Village project in Northern Ireland. - Glendale B & B, 46 Coast Road, Cushendall, County Antrim BT44 0RX - Riverside B & B, 14 Mill Street, Cushendall, County Antrim BT44 0RR

16.00 Seminar: Introduction & Welcome NER LAG/JCC Chair/Moyle District Council Chairperson Andrew McAlister, strategy manager of NER

16.15 Introduction of the partners Outi Raatikainen, JAMK, and Kristiina Liimand, TAS

16.35 North Antrim Community Network Briege Conway - Community development and services in North East region

16.55 Case Cushendall Community tourist hub Case Uurainen, a Finnish Rural Municipality Mia-Riitta Allik, Kangashäkki village Case Sustainable Village Kaagvere Madis Masing

18.00 Tourism in Northern Ireland Brian Connolly (Northern Ireland Tourist Board)

18.20 Sustainable Rural Tourism in Finland Petra Blinnikka, JAMK

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18.40 Young Farmers in Northern Ireland Melissa Knox and Lauren Mitchell, Broughshane - youth organisation for rural people of 12-25 years Friday

09.00 Study Tour

Ardclinis Activity Centre, Local tourism entrepreneur Anne Bowen - an established company but new premises and a new area for outdoor activities

Cloughmills Community Association Patrick Frew & Declan Donnelly – Ballymoney Borough Council - Involved in re-cycling initiatives, food projects, village regeneration - Incredible Edible project “Reconnecting People and Food” – teaching rural people sustainable vegetable gardening; project idea adopted to at least three other villages

Loughgiel Community Association Gerard McCloskey - provides range of services: childcare, environmental, housing, renewables - Loughgiel Millennium Centre – café, meeting room, sports hall, kindergarden, rental space for local businesses, a wind mill to lower the costs of heating – all run by the community association with the help of grants for e.g. hiring unemployed villagers

14.45-15.30 Portglenone, a walking tour lead by Kieran Adams and Norman Worthington - harbour, playground for children, information panels, sculpture, credit union…

15.55 – 19.00 Seminar (Wild Duck, Portglenone)

15.55 Welcome, P.J. McAvoy, Mayor of Ballymena Borough Council and NER JCC Chair 16.00 Role of Councils/Municipalities in Community Development –Rosemary Mc Cormick, Ballymena Council 16.20 Rural Development in NI – Theresa Canavan, Rural Development Council 16.40 Presentation of Portglenone Community Group – Strong group re tourism, enterprise, festival etc. 17.20 Credit Unions & Rural Finance - Patsy Mc Shane 17.40 Local Credit Union operations – Robin Andrews 17.55 Trends in Finnish Finances – Anne Eskola, JAMK Tartu Future Village Project – Airi Park, Tartu County Youth Council Rural Life in Estonia – Maret Prits, Tartu University Leader in Central Finland – Hanna Luoma, Viestinnästä voimaa Dinner in Portglenone, bus to Cushendall.

Saturday

09.00 Study Tour along the Causeway Coastal Route

10.00 – 11.00 Bushmills walkabout, meeting with the local group, Arthur Ward and Roy Bolton Strong tourism product, several village renewal projects. - Bushmills Fund – funding local initiatives, e.g. youth hostel

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11.30 – 12.45 Bushmills Distillery Tour - The oldest licenced distillery in the world. - Strong position in Bushmills village, cooperation with the local community group. Participates in the Bushmills Fund.

13.00 - 14.15 Portballintrae - Coastal village, Joyce Ferder - participating partner in IV project - A village where most houses are nowadays owned as second homes; as a result the permanent villagers lost their village shops, common rooms etc. - Solution: the community group built a village house with an own village shop and markets the house actively for venues, art courses etc.

14.30- 16.00 Giant’s Causeway – World Heritage site

18.00 Steering Group Meeting in the Old School village house in Cushendall

19.30 Farewell dinner and entertainment in Cushendall Sunday 7th of October, 2012

5.30 Bus to the airport in Dublin 17.40 In Helsinki-Vantaa Airport 21.40 In Jyväskylä by bus