Festival of Cultures 2025: Finnish Relationship with Nature – Discussion Evening

As part of the Festival of Cultures week organised by the University of Oulu and Oulu University of Applied Sciences, a discussion evening on Finland's relationship with nature will be organised, where you are warmly welcome to reflect on the topic and bring up your own thoughts.

The discussion evening will be held on Thursday 20 November at 16:00–17:00 at the hut of the Botanical Garden of the University of Oulu (Kaitoväylä 5, signs to the hut from the parking lot onwards). The event is open to everyone and does not include an entrance fee. The language of the event is English.

The discussion will be introduced by researcher Jani Pulkki and doctoral researcher Joffy Conolly from the Faculty of Education and Psychology at the University of Oulu. We will hear briefly from Pulkki about the development and significance of the Finnish relationship with nature, and from Conolly, who moved to Finland from London, a point of comparison with the English relationship with nature and his personal views on the Finnish relationship with nature.

After the introductions, there will be a general discussion, in which the participants are very welcome to participate. You can comment on the topic from your own perspective, tell about your own relationship with nature in the Finnish context or elsewhere in the world, and bring up your own views.

The purpose of the event is to be a low-threshold discussion place where you can reflect and reflect on the relationship between nature and Finnishness together from many different perspectives.

The atmosphere is also created by a campfire that can be lit at the hut, where you can roast marshmallows and exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere.

Do you need to get in touch with nature before a conversation? UniMove organizes a Nature Walk before the discussion evening, which is open to all participants. The walk starts at 3.30 p.m. in front of the Botanical Garden and ends at the hut at 4 p.m.

The University of Oulu, in collaboration with Oulu University of Applied Sciences, the Student Union of the University of Oulu, and the Student Union of Oulu University of Applied Sciences, is organizing the Festival of Cultures week to celebrate our multicultural community in Oulu and promote cultural awareness. The events of the week are open to everyone interested. We expect all participants to demonstrate respectful behavior and consideration for others. Any kind of discriminatory behavior is not tolerated at our events.

Festival of Cultures is part of the Oulu2026 programme and cultural climate change.