Satu Mattila, a festival planning team member and a founding resident of Kurki Ecovillage, tells us about the ecovillage and its activities:
The ten-year search period finally ended in 2011 and we bought a place in Vesilahti among four families and founded Kurjen tila oy. The association, Kurjen ekokyläyhdistys ry was founded in 2013.
The Mankeli dormitory, sauna and sauna house, barn and other old buildings in the courtyard are jointly owned. The farm had one house suitable for residential use at the time of purchase. In addition, families have built their houses in the same yard. We got 4 construction permits for semi-detached houses. Construction of the last half of the semi-detached house will begin this summer. About 20 adults and 10 children live permanently in our village. In addition, European volunteers come through the European Solidarity Corps program. This year we will host 5 young adults for 5 months.
Kurjen holding oy owns 18 hectares of land, of which 16 are arable land and 2 are courtyards formed by buildings. The fields are rented to an organic farmer from Vesilahti.
Activities in the village
The association includes people living in and outside the village who are interested in revitalizing the countryside. The association organizes various events; trainings, theater, open doors in connection with the summer café. Members have the opportunity to rent a small plot of land for their own cultivation. We welcome visitors and try to bring opportunities to explore the ecovillage easily.
We asked Satu “what is your relationship with permaculture and what interests you in it?” She replied: “You would probably get a different answer from each villager, but here I put together my own opinions and assumptions about the thoughts of others: Modesty, simplicity, creativity, beauty, versatility. Overall sustainability. As a community and association, we are in the early stages of adapting permaculture, but individuals here have different levels of familiarity with the issue.
Europe close by
We have been running EU-funded volunteer projects since 2013. The first name this ran under was the European Voluntary service and now the European Solidarity Corps. Depending on the year, we have received funding for five or six volunteers, for 5-12 month periods. We aim to find men and women, aged 18-30, in the widest possible range of people and across Europe. There are no prior knowledge or skills requirements. Only an interest in a sustainable lifestyle and a willingness to commit to living in an ecovillage, in a group, in rather rudimentary conditions in the Finnish countryside.
Volunteers participate in all activities of the association. Co-operation has been established with the municipality of Vesilahti, the youth work, the school and the health center, as well as with the local association for children, the Pathfinders and the Pirkanmaa region Association for Nature Conservation. In addition there are visits to schools in nearby bigger cities of Lempäälä and Tampere. The aim is to promote internationality, solidarity and sustainable living.
Greetings to the festival people
You are welcome to join the association if you are interested in bustling together and keeping the countryside alive! There is also room for more new partners.
Contact us via https://www.kurkiecovillage.fi/contact-us!
Thanks for the interview, Satu!
Find Kurki Ecovillage at:
How to get there?
Please try to use public transport and carsharing, for the obvious reasons and also because as the parking spots are limited!
We’re trying to organize pick-ups from the Lempäälä train station and from the Vesilahti local bus end station as well as carsharing from all over the country so remember to check our website and social media often for those infos!
Per train:
Take the train to Lempäälä – see schedules at vr.fi
Note that all trains do not stop at Lempäälä but you’ll might need to go to Tampere first and then either take the train back to Lempäälä OR get into the Nr 55 bus in Tampere bus station.
In Lempäälä there’s a two minute walk to the bus stop Lemponkatu, where you can take the bus 55 to Vesilahti (see schedules at https://reittiopas.tampere.fi/linjat/tampere:55/, currently it goes every hour)
Get off at the end station Vesilahti, at Vesilahti health centre. From there it is a 2,5 km walk to the event site – just continue in the same direction and keep going!
By bus:
With long distance buses you will arrive in Lempäälä and take the local bus to Vesilahti (see bus 55 at ”By train”)
Main buses from Helsinki & Turku:
- Onnibus, https://www.onnibus.com : C3 from Helsinki, C9 from Turku
- Other buses: see https://www.matkahuolto.fi/
- From Lahti and northern Finland you’ll need to come through Tampere and either get on the 55 directly in Tampere or make your way to Lempäälä and get into the 55 there.
In Lempäälä there’s a two minute walk to the bus stop Lemponkatu, where you can take the bus 55 to Vesilahti (see schedules at https://reittiopas.tampere.fi/linjat/tampere:55/, currently it goes every hour)
Get off at the end station Vesilahti, at Vesilahti health centre. From there it is a 2,5 km walk to the event site – just continue in the same direction and keep going!
By car:
Address for your navigator / maps app: Rautiala 17, 37470 Vesilahti
Location: 61.303259, 23.572761
Note that the parking may be a bit farther away. There will be people guiding you to park.
Please try to use public transport and carsharing, as the parking spots are limited!
We’re trying to organize pick-ups from the Lempäälä train station and from the Vesilahti local bus end station as well as carsharing from all over the country so remember to check our website and social media often for those infos!
