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Cultivating community in connection with culture

Sowing seeds of urban sustainability: Dodo's journey in urban gardening and environmental activism in Finland

Back in 1995, a group of students who wished to find alternative ways to live more sustainably in cities initiated a non-governmental organisation called Dodo. Since then, Dodo has been implementing grassroots experiments to enhance urban sustainability and resilience while exploring what people can do to improve the environment and minimise the footprint of urban life.

Currently, urban agriculture, climate change, and urban planning are the three fields in which Dodo focuses to engage urban communities and nurture a sustainable culture. In 2009, with Dodo’s thematic focus on “Food and the City”, urban gardening became an area of interest, and they began identifying suitable places for growing food. The interest in urban agriculture follows the tradition of allotment gardens from the early 20th century that persists today in the context of many Finnish cities. For Dodo, making small-scale urban gardening accessible to all, from individual initiatives to large-scale community projects, is a great pathway to inform and engage urban communities in a healthy coexistence of humans and the environment. Today, Dodo’s urban gardening activities in Helsinki are centred at an urban gardening centre and at the garden in Jätkäsaari.

Dodo’s efficient management group includes a head of organisational development, project coordinators, an active board, and interns. Together, the team sustains a democratic structure that thrives on the commitment of university students and other volunteers. Dodo’s office is located next to Turntable, which is the urban farming and event centre where several activities are offered to the community, such as workshops and social gatherings. For example, the organisation hosts bi-monthly Urban Dinners where people prepare and eat a meal together using food waste from local stores.

Dodo’s Office and hydroponic system demo, Helsinki, Finland

To sustain the organisation, Dodo has several potential revenue streams. The renting of Turntable centre for private and public events, as well as Dodo’s large network, create beneficial conditions for seeking external funding. In addition, the smart management of resources through investments in different hedge funds helps cover administrative expenses. Though, these sources are not always reliable. As Malm Nordlund, who is head of Dodo’s organisational development, says:

It is a year-by-year basis, we need to apply for different funds for different projects or even events each year and sometimes we get funding and sometimes we don’t.

Amidst these opportunities, Dodo grapples with a multitude of challenges. Student volunteers are often managing busy schedules, and these time constraints impact the organisation. Additionally, the NGO experiences difficulties in attracting committed members, as individuals often opt for financially compensated jobs instead. This also applies to engagement in activities, as people may be interested in joining the event but do not necessarily have the capacity to be involved in the planning process. The balance between short-term and long-term planning poses a persistent issue, impacting the organisation's ability to secure new members and transfer knowledge effectively. While the year-by-year planning opens up possibilities to include input from motivated members who are committed for a short period of time, this is accompanied by an overall uncertainty that negatively impacts the organisation’s stability.

Financial instability, lack of media visibility, and the responsibility for individual actions further compound the challenges faced by Dodo. The NGO faces financial hurdles due to changes in the eligibility criteria for state funding of the Ministry of Education and Culture, rendering them ineligible for government support as a national NGO. There are possibilities to collaborate with the city to set up urban gardening initiatives, but the organisational procedure is not optimal and is relatively short-lived. Private people can rent gardening areas through Dodo, which involves a long-term rental agreement with the city. However, if these individuals are unreliable, there is a lack of accountability and resources to follow-up and react to unforeseen changes, leaving Dodo in a challenging situation. Consequently, Dodo incurs costs for space rental and fixed employee wages and other costs. Moreover, the organisation struggles to maintain a stable income, heavily relying on successful events funded by external sources, as local funding remains limited.

We used to apply to the Helsinki Days event organised by the city, and for many years we got a bit of funding for this event, but this year we didn’t get the funding. We still wanted to do it with our own money, but it was smaller and challenging if you want to pay somebody to arrange and coordinate it all.

Looking at the bigger picture, the success of the NGO must be recognised. After all, to maintain such an organisation for almost three decades and contribute to leveraging the city's openness to urban gardening initiatives, Dodo recognises the potential to capitalise on this support. Their "Growing Change” project for the under-30 demographic aims to delve into various aspects of the food system and related activism. The success of Dodo activities is not confined only to Helsinki; the organisation also supports activities in other cities such as Oulu, Tampere, and Turku. Nevertheless, Malm shares some risks associated with this.

We also have activities in Oulu, but it is a bit problematic for them to act in Oulu as an NGO registered in Helsinki. So, the activists in Oulu are thinking about registering their own NGO there, like a sister organisation so that they could apply for funds that are for NGOs based in Oulu. We are kind of too small to be national, but then there are limits on these local funds too.

Looking ahead, Dodo aims to refine its strategies. The organisation plans to leverage short-term involvement effectively, creating a core strategy that defines its unique characteristics and evaluates the scalability of its initiatives. The vision includes engaging the municipality more deeply in urban gardening, emphasising social inclusion, and reducing barriers for communities to access urban gardens. The focus will shift towards the positive social impact of urban gardening, fostering a more inclusive and sustainable community. Malm emphasises that their mission goes beyond merely urban gardening but also towards fostering social sustainability and connecting neighbourhoods. Dodo will focus on strengthening the established community by, for instance hosting Urban Dinners, emphasising both the social and gardening aspects of urban agriculture:

Stressing more these social aspects of urban gardening, especially when it comes to this kind of hobby gardening—it is something that you do more for the social interaction than for the production of food.

After all, Dodo’s long-term impact is to get inspired by active citizens and, in return, continue striving to inspire others.

Dodo’s office outdoor area, Helsinki, Finland

Box 6: Dodo: Summary of opportunities

The NGO explores opportunities for growing food in urban areas while promoting social inclusion and education through the implementation of several projects and initiatives (e.g., Urban Dinners, Growing Change Project).
The organisation runs on a creative and smart management (e.g., investments in hedge funds, cooperation with small-scale initiatives, renting out premisses for public and private events).
Longevity and national recognition with branches in different Finnish cities strengthen of the organisation.

Box 7: Dodo: Summary of challenges

The organisation faces difficulties to engage volunteers in the long term.
Reliability on savings and external funding poses financial uncertainties to the organisation.
The organisation misses a strong media platform which jeopardises the reach and establishment of stronger connections with local and higher authorities.

Brewing sustainability on Svalbard: How a local brewery took the initiative to promote local resource production and circulation through indoor urban farming

Regardless of the extreme Arctic conditions, a pioneering project is brewing in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Robert Johansen the owner of a local brewery, alongside Hege Giske, who moved to Svalbard in 2018, created an innovative concept of creating circularity between brewing beer and urban farming. After overcoming several obstacles, Robert established a local brewery, which has been a symbol of pride for the local community since 2014. Robert and Hege aim to use the existing infrastructure and turn biological waste generated throughout the brewing process into energy. This process will transform the waste into a natural fuel for heating a greenhouse that will grow local and fresh food. The overarching goal is to boost self-sufficiency, reduce the dependency on distant supply chains, and provide quality food to the community, thereby creating a more sustainable future for the Longyearbyen community.

Robert Johansen, owner of Svalbard Brewery and Hege Giske, Longyearbyen, Svalbard

Svalbard is a remote archipelago situated between the northern tip of Norway and the North Pole. Its location corresponds with exceptional climate conditions putting the landscape into darkness for 110 days a year and, in contrast, under constant light exposure for at least four months a year.

The harsh Arctic climate and tangible effects of the climate crisis pose significant obstacles to Svalbard’s inhabitants and local agriculture. For instance, the poor water quality, laden with minerals and heavy metals, must be thoroughly treated before it can nourish crops. Consequently, citizens of Svalbard depend heavily on importing fresh goods via boat or plane transportation. Shipped food often decreases in quality and is low on vitamins and other nutrients. In the long run, this is not a sustainable practice, socially, economically, or environmentally. In addition to these challenges, the local community urgently needs to transition away from a coal-based economy and align with urgent decarbonisation methods to minimise climate change risks.

At the core of this project are local demand and available resources that hold potential now and require swift action. Despite its remote location, Svalbard is experiencing a rise in incoming visitors, approximately 170,000 yearly, which is a positive driver for the local economy, namely through restaurants and hotels. There is therefore an opportunity for the urban agriculture project to connect customers to locally grown products. If this succeeds, there is potential to further involve and educate the community on agricultural practices, particularly polar permaculture, which would enable the long-term vision of expanding to several greenhouses and providing a more diverse range of crops. Beyond this, the farmers can make use of the extreme climate conditions by for instance using the sun and wind exposure to store renewable energy. Another form of sustainable energy usage is transforming the brewery’s byproducts into valuable bioenergy for the greenhouse, which requires a lot of energy to maintain a stable temperature and light source for the crops. As Hege says:

That will be a really important part of the project to see how we can use waste to create energy. There is also the possibility to cover the whole roof of the brewery building with solar panels so that we can capture the energy during the light months and store and use it during the dark period.

However, in order for the business to develop, the project needs land to build on and financial resources to cover immediate costs. Acquiring suitable land for the enterprise is complex as the land is owned by the Norwegian government, resulting in high barriers of entry linked to costs and regulations. According to Hege Giske, there is an available area by the airport, but the location is not ideal. The legal application process as well as the transformation of the land would be too time-consuming. The area currently lacks connection to running water and electricity and is polluted from previous coal mining activities which makes it unsuitable for an agricultural base. From a legislative perspective, many areas are either predestined for housing projects or environmentally protected. Hege and Robert have been trying to raise funds to build up the greenhouse by applying for government support, both nationally and on an EU level, but so far, it has been unsuccessful, and they continuously face institutional barriers. Even though the farming project promises long-term sustainable benefits, there are limited opportunities for it to evolve now and grow into a self-sustaining business. Nevertheless, Hege remains optimistic with a clear future vision:

Of course, we can use the brewery as it is today, and establish one or two freight farm containers, but to get to the next level to take it further, to build a new building, it will cost a lot of investments. But we need to think that taking this high cost is better for everyone. It's better for the local community, it's better for the food systems and it's better for the environment. To become sustainable, it has and will never be cheap.

In the upcoming months, Hege and Robert plan to identify local restaurants’ needs for fresh food, starting with leafy greens that can be grown sustainably while maintaining a high quality compared to imported goods. They aim to commence a round of test products in the spring. In the long term, the project aspires to settle on a new production site for both the brewery and the farming operations. They hope to be successful in acquiring funding and support, either from the government or external investors. Overall, Hege is willing to invest in the sustainable future of their environment, to eventually enhance self-sufficiency and circularity in this remote region while also setting an example for potential urban farmers. With enthusiasm and optimism, Hege sees a bright future for the Longyearbyen community that can flourish powered by nature.

Box 8: Longyearbyen: Summary of opportunities

There is a great demand and need for fresh food in Longyearbyen.
The vision of turning waste into resources and to use renewable energy to grow food locally aligns with goals of transitioning to a green and circular economy.
The local community is willing and committed to the sustainable development of the region.

Box 9: Longyearbyen: Summary of challenges

The strict legislation and regulatory frameworks for the implementation of new activities (e.g., access to land) trouble the implementation of the project.
The Arctic climate poses many constraints to local food production (e.g., lack of sunlight, limited warm months) and requires greater investments.
Limited access to infrastructure (e.g., access to running water, electricity) and pollution from coal mining activities harms the implementation of the project.
The project implementation lacks financial backing and governmental support.

Longyearbyen landscape, Svalbard