Issue 4 – 2010 September 20 English Contents 2 United Buddy Bears Supplement on Senate Square 3 Diversity seen as richness

5 Child day care in

5 Day care providers meet multi-cultural children

5 Day care glossary

6 International bookshop and cultural meeting place

8 Immigration made easier

11 Newsweek: is Multi-cultural the world´s best country Multi-cultural 11 Pentti Sammallahti: Page 3 Retrospective

inin HelsinkiHelsinki Page 6

Rhinoceros Oy dayday carecare InternationalInternational bookshopbookshop English Supplement

Music Centre United Buddy Bears on Senate Square nearing completion Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra The world tour of the exhibition has begun its last concert year United Buddy Bears – The Art of (2010-2011) in its home base, ven- Tolerance has reached Helsinki. The erable Finlandia Hall designed by bears have been on the road since architect Alvar Aalto. Finlandia 2004, and the Finnish capital is their Hall has served as Helsinki’s pri- 20th stop. mary concert hall since its comple- The exhibition comprises 142 indi- tion in 1971. It will be replaced in vidually painted bear , just this function on August 31, 2011, over two metres tall. Each of them with the grand opening of Helsinki represents a nation recognized by the Music Centre. UN and was painted by an artist from Helsinki Music Centre, located that nation. The Finnish bear is by just steps from Finlandia Hall in the FRONT PAGE Mirka Raito. same Töölö Bay area of Helsinki, The United Buddy Bears project was will be a “cultural living room” in initiated by Eva and Klaus Herlitz of the heart of the city open for all, . With the first exhibition in Ber- offering a variety of concerts and lin, they wanted to raise thoughts other performances, exhibitions, a about cultural diversity in the world music library, shopping and a café. and tolerance between peoples. The Music Centre will be the A new Finnish bear will be home of two eminent orchestras, created during the Helsinki exhibition, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the old one will be auctioned off. and Finnish Radio Symphony The profits will be donated to local Orchestra, and Finland’s only music child welfare organizations. university, Sibelius Academy. The The bears will remain on Senate building was designed by LPR Square until October 26, 2010. Architects of Finland.

www.musiikkitalo.fi/web/en/ Photos Rhinoceros Oy English Supplement

Multi-cultural day care in Helsinki: Diversity seen By Johanna Lemolaas richness Child day care can provide an important bond between Helsinki’s foreign-born and

FRONT PAGE main stream populations. “Children are children to us irrespec- tive of their backgrounds,” says Satu Järvenkallas, Head of Child Day Care at the City of Helsinki Social Services Department. “We meet them as individuals. We want to learn about them and to support their families.” Ever since Järvenkallas took charge six years ago, the number of foreign- born children has grown rapidly in City-provided day care and today amounts to 13 per cent of all chil- dren, exceeding 20 per cent in some Photos Rhinoceros Oy English Supplement

day care centres. The total number of a common Finnish tradition for a long growing in importance as we become with the parents, which is followed by languages spoken at the centres is time, ever since Finland started to increasingly international,” Järvenka- an “education discussion” a few close to 80. industrialize – it is even mandated by llas affirms. months later. The parents are given an “This is Helsinki today,” Järvenkallas Finnish law. “This tradition is particu- A child’s arrival to day care is pre- understanding, using an interpreter if says. larly strong in Helsinki and keeps ceded by an “initiation discussion” necessary, of what happens in day She explains that diversity is a care. The goal is to obtain the parents’ source of richness and can be an trust by receiving and integrating the important means to build a better whole family into the day care envi- society: ronment. “The Finnish-born children learn a “Overall, we have succeeded well, and great deal about the world, and they we receive little negative feedback,” Jär- acquire an international awareness venkallas says. “I have never had to from early on. We teach the foreign- solve situations of cultural conflict.” born children Finnish culture and society – in addition to the Finnish Early education language, which children adopt very on children’s own terms FRONT PAGE quickly.” Child day care in Finland is seen as Finnish traditions are built into day early childhood education, which care routines with respect to foreign- seeks to offer families an environment born children’s cultural and religious of care that supports the child’s backgrounds, including recognition of growth and development. various religious holidays. Day care centres fulfil their educa- As a result, day care is one of the tion task with non-school like prac- key institutions that help to build a tices – with no schoolrooms or desks, harmonious society. with a great deal of space, and lots of time outdoors. Together with the parents “A child learns best through play,” “Our role is to support the upbringing Järvenkallas confirms. task of parents,” Järvenkallas contin- Later on in their school years, Finn- ues. “The term we use to describe our ish pupils achieve the best learning role is education partnership.” results in the world, as attested by Public support to families has been international assessments. English Supplement

Child day care in Helsinki Day care glossary All families in Finland are entitled to child day day care centres, which care for more than 60 English Finnish care provided by municipalities for small fees. per cent of children in Helsinki. Municipal day They can also opt for private day care and care is also provided in family day care in the Child lapsi receive an allowance from the municipality to care giver’s home or in group family day care Day care päivähoito cover some of the costs. They can choose to centres. care for the child at home and receive a home The majority of children in Helsinki attend pre- Multi-cultural monikulttuurinen care allowance until the child turns three. school at day care centres for one year before Municipal day care is most often provided in they start school at the age of seven. Foreign born ulkomaalaissyntyinen Main stream valtavirta Social Services Day care providers meet multi-cultural children Department sosiaalivirasto Four culturally diverse Helsinki day care centres A “world village festival” organized with other Upbringing kasvatus have put forth ideas on how to face cultural and community players such as the public library. FRONT PAGE religious diversity in a joint project between the A music session where every child can bring Parents vanhemmat City of Helsinki Social Services Department and their favourite piece of music to be played to the University of Helsinki. Some of their many everybody. Play leikki recommendations are: The educational activities of day care centres Day care centre päiväkoti The learning environment should be as can reflect all religions represented by the diverse as the children. Diversity could be seen group. Observation of religious festivals elevates Home care in the pictures on the walls, on the bookshelves, daily routines. allowance kotihoidontuki in the toy basket, and in the music selection. New-comers and shy children should be A diverse learning environment can be pro- helped to join play with others. Pre-school esikoulu duced in many ways, with, for example: Day care providers should put all sensors out, A large map of the world, with all the places immediately stopping discrimination and treat- Religion uskonto flagged where children and staff are from. ing all children with utmost respect. Respect kunnioitus For more information: www.hel.fi>In English>(services)>Families and social services (>Families, children and young people) English Supplement International By Päivi Arvonen International bookshop bookshop Arkadia Oy has thousands of dedicated customers, who often pop in to exchange views with the owner, Ian Bourgeot. On many nights the shop turns into a cultural

FRONT PAGE venue, where themes range from politics to poetry, from architecture to music.

Like in many success stories, good timing and luck coincided in the birth of the Arkadia bookshop in the Töölö district of Helsinki. First, Ian Bourgeot decided to give up his large home library in 2008. “I didn’t know what to do with all the books, Bourgeot recalls. “It seemed troublesome to sell them to used book shops, and I decided to start a bookshop and sell them myself.” Photos Päivi Arvonen English Supplement

Arkadia has a large window to the “I meet very interesting people main street, Pohjoinen Hesperiankatu, daily,” he says, “and I find that Finns and every so often the shopkeeper are admirably curious about the rest raises his hand to greet a passerby. of the world., even if they had never “The neighbours have received us travelled. Some time ago I met a taxi well,” he says, explaining that he has driver who had studied Urdu, just out lived in Töölö for 15 years and feels of personal interest.” very much at home. Languages and nationalities play The books are all used, and many of central roles in the bookshop’s theme them are donated to Bourgeot. Most nights. Bourgeot has held 165 such of the books are in English and events. French, but the language selection In addition to music and art, Arka- includes German, Spanish and Rus- dia hosts poets, writers, scientists and sian, even some lesser known lan- philosophers. The small shop can guages. The subjects reveal the turn into a gallery or cinema. The owner’s broad interests: architecture, programmes are published on the FRONT PAGE history, music, art, design and film. Arkadia News blog and Facebook.

Helsinki’s most How Helsinki has changed cosmopolitan spot? Despite his 15 years in Finland, Bour- Bourgeot’s father is French and geot does not speak Finnish and has mother Guatemalan-German. Before managed to cope with English. settling in Finland, he lived in many As much as Bourgeot likes it in Fin- countries of Europe, Mexico, , land today, his first time in the coun- Tunis, and the United try in 1983 was a shock. “None of the States. rules and norms I knew applied here However, he feels that he is more in then,” he recalls. “Luckily Finland has touch with the world now than when changed a great deal. Now I feel that he lived abroad. One day people of I am a Finn and belong to this city.” 48 different nationalities visited the bookshop, although the majority of www.arkadiabookshop.fi the shop’s customers are Finnish. Translated by Johanna Lemola Arkadia News: www.arkadiabookshop.fi/blog/ English Supplement Immigration made easier

By Päivi Arvonen “Language is key to Info Bank is adjustment” a Web service “You can’t feel home in this country at www.infopankki.fi without knowledge of the Finnish lan- that contains information guage,” says Nicole Saari, who came about Finland in 15 from the Netherlands with a Finnish spouse in 1997. languages. The service She started an intensive course in is under further Finnish on her arrival and today alter- FRONT PAGE development with the nates between Finnish and Dutch help of a jury comprising with her husband and son on a 15 members of foreign- weekly basis. Saari is a language teacher by training and self-employed born backgrounds. by profession. Four of them share “Finns should have the patience to their views. speak with an immigrant in Finnish, no matter what the immigrant’s lan- guage skills are,” Saari says. She believes that diversity brings great richness to the jury – as it does to society overall. “The jury has worked out well, and we’re all motivated. We all bring some www.infopankki.fi special expertise to the work.” Photos Päivi Arvonen English Supplement

”Immigrants “As stressful as divorce” need jobs” “Immigration is as stressful as divorce. In both cases your life is completely trans- “The opportunity to study for formed. Immigration to Finland is challenging even to a Finnish speaker,” says free is one of the best Marina Kinner, an immigrant of Finnish background who came from St Peters- aspects of Finland. But immi- burg 12 years ago. grants don’t have enough As a teacher of Finnish and Russian literature, Kinner has always been in touch jobs or on-the-job training with Finns. Nevertheless, many things in Finland came to her as a surprise, and positions,” says social everyday life presented many challenges. It was not easy to find information. instructor Jay Nanje, who “I want to develop Info Bank, so that others won’t have to go through what I did.” came from Cameroon 6,5 Kinner also works with immigration-related matters, employed in the migration years ago. department of the Ministry of the Interior. On his arrival, the only “There are usually powerful reasons to leave one’s home country. A person source of information about who leaves is of a strong survivor type.” many things was friends, FRONT PAGE such as how to open a bank account. “I first heard about Info Bank on a Finnish language course. I now want to help develop the service so that other immigrants can get better information.” “People of different cultural backgrounds can co-exist. Immigrants should have bet- ter opportunities to partici- pate. For example, laws concerning immigrants could be prepared with the help of their expertise.” English Supplement

“We have a lot of potential” “The advantages of Finland include the free and high-level education. If education should cost money to immigrants, they might not come here. In that case, Finland could lose more than gain,” says Mohsen Saadat- mand, who came from Iran 3,5

years ago with his family. He is PANKKI working on a Ph.D. degree in technological applications in edu- cation. FRONT PAGE

Saadatmand wants to make Info O Bank more user friendly and believes that the service needs more information about studies including language training. “Immigrants are part of Finnish society, and the country can bene- fit from talented and educated new-comers. Immigrants are a resource, and they can offer a great deal of potential for Fin- INF land,” Saadatmand says. Info Bank brochures are available free of charge and can be ordered at [email protected] www.infopankki.fi www.facebook.com/infopankki English English Supplement Supplement

Helsinki Info is a printed newspaper Newsweek: Finland is the world’s best country published by the City of Helsinki and In Newsweek’s first-ever Best Coun- A weighted formula yielded a ranking The reasons for Finland’s top rank in distributed to all Helsinki households six tries special survey in August 2010, of the nations, and Finland topped the education are many. Newsweek cites times a year. the news magazine set out to answer list, being the “Best of the Best”. a laid-back and inclusive learning Helsinki Info’s English Supplement resembles the main publication in the question, if you were born today, Finland ranked the highest overall and environment enjoyed in the nation’s format but is published online on the which country would provide you the came in as best in the three subcatego- schools, “where shoes are optional, all City Website, also six times a year. best opportunity to live a healthy, ries of small countries (less than 20 mil- teachers have master’s degrees, and Next issue 25.10.2010 safe, reasonably prosperous, and lion people), high-income countries, extra help is the norm: every year upwardly mobile life? and the best countries for education. about one in three students gets indi- Publisher: City of Helsinki Newsweek chose five categories that While many organizations produce vidual time with a tutor.” www.hel.fi measure national well-being – educa- various comparative assessments of The Newsweek survey ranked Fin- Editor-in-Chief: Rita Ekelund tion, health, quality of life, economic nations, Newsweek’s survey is excep- land 4th in Quality of Life, 5th in Political Phone (+358 9) 310 36074 competitiveness, and political environ- tional in that it has put them together Environment, 8th in Economic Dyna- City of Helsinki, Communications ment – and compiled metrics from to explore the world’s top 100 coun- mism, and 17th in Health measured by P.O. Box 1 FI-00099 City of Helsinki, Finland multiple sources covering 100 nations. tries from a broad perspective. healthy life expectancy at birth. Graphic design: Guassi Oy Send us feedback: FRONT PAGE Pentti Sammallahti: Retrospective 15.9.2010–27.2.2011 Exhibitions [email protected] Do you want to subscribe to Helsinki Info Eng- In the Finnish Museum of Photography this Frenchman Henri Cartier-Bresson, ranked Sammallahti among lish Supplement? Send your e-mail address to autumn is dedicated to a major exhibition of the his 100 favourite photographers for his Foundation’s inaugural [email protected] life’s work of Pentti Sammallahti. exhibition in . Sammallahti (born 1950) is a master of classi- The Finnish Museum of Photography is located in the Cable Info kit cal black-and-white photography and a pioneer Factory, address Tallberginkatu 1 C 85. Opening hours: Tue-Sun of Finnish photographic art. His breakthrough 11–18. www.valokuvataiteenmuseo.fi Information for all residents work, Cathleen Ni Houlihan, An Irish Portfolio Virka Info telephone service (09) 310 11111 (1979), marked a new opening for photographic (Mon-Fri 9–15) and information point in the City Hall lobby, address Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13 art that accentuated the tonality of the pictures and (Mon–Fri 9–19, Sat–Sun 11–17). www.virka.fi the photographer’s own inner experience. Sammallahti is one of the internationally most Info Bank is an online service aimed at immi- prominent Finnish photographers and a multi- grants, offering information on Finnish society and life in Finland in 15 languages. The website ple prize-winner in his home country. In 2004, one also contains local information on Helsinki. of the world’s most famous photographers, the www.infopankki.fi