Monday, May 9, 2016

(place: Adult Education Centre of South Karelia, address: Pohjolankatu 27, 53100 Lappeenranta)

Rector of the Adult Education Centre of South Karelia (EKKO), Mrs. Sanna Mäkelä welcomed all to Finland, Lappeenranta and EKKO. After that participants got an introduction to the Lappeenranta City by the Head of Marketing and Customer Service of Lappeenranta, Mrs. Mirka Rahman. She told shortly about Lappeenranta’s history and how the city is today: a border-city to Russia, which makes the place very unique. She also told about the green efforts and agenda of the city against the climate change. Then the participants got the basic information (brochures and maps) of Lappeenranta and also basic information and advertising stuff from EKKO. After that RAISE-project’s Coordinator Mrs. Rasa Marcinkevičienė monitored the RAISE-project’s progress and evaluated its outcomes and results and showed many pictures, which were taken during the whole project.
Then Regional Counsellor, M.A. & M.Sc. (B.A.) Mrs. Anu Talka from Regional Council of South Karelia gave a lecture on the theme ”How the South Karelian Culture Heritage of Finland has been taken into consideration in South Karelia’s development?” ─ sharing experiences and a little workshop on the theme “Building based on strengths”. She told about the making of the cultural strategy to the region. Mrs. Talka also asked the audience to tell about the strengths of their own countries. After that the chairman of The Association of the Artist-craftsmen of South Karelia Tarja Talonpoika told about the everyday life of their artists and about their gallery shop.
Then we had a lunch at the former vicarage of Lappeenranta, which has been renovated with EU-money. There the doughter of the restaurant’s owner told to the participants about the history of the place.
In the afternoon we first watched the digital stories of the project partners on the theme “Traditional festivals and culinary heritage”. We noticed again, that there is many similar festivals and also food in our countries. Then all the participants represented the presentations on the theme “Alike but different”. In those presentations every country had thought about the similarities and differences of the countries during the whole project e.g. from 2014 on. Then the Lithuanian people shared the project materials (leaflet and recommendations brochure plus CD). Then the project people had a coffee break during which the people freely discussed e.g. about the future possibilities of cooperation. Then project’s Coordinator Mrs. Rasa Marcinkevičienė instructed the project participants concerning the administrative work of the final report. We agreed that the materials should be sent to Lithuania by the 15.6.2016 latest by e-mail and post.
At the end of the first day project people visited the workshop Ideri of the lifestyle entrepreneurship/artist, Mrs. Heli Pukki.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

On Tuesday the project participants visited Lappeenranta’s neighbor town called Imatra by bus. At first project partners went to see the lifestyle entrepreneur’s, Mrs. Tiina Kärkäs’ shop Virkkukoukkunen (http://www.virkkukoukkunen.net ), where one worker told us about the firm, which entrepreneur had been a pupil of EKKO’s handicraft teacher and now the firm manages very well.
After that we visited Imatra Valtionhotelli, and the head teacher of handicrafts of EKKO, Mrs. Tuija Näränen told to the project partners about the history of Valtionhotelli. Then all went to see the historical and very unique building from inside. After that all went to admire the famous Imatrankoski rapids and the Kruunupuisto Park and took some photos from there.
Then the bus drove the people back to the city of Lappeenranta and its historical fortress. There the project participants had first a visit to the local event café & restaurant Kehruuhuone situating at the fortress of Lappeenranta. There one of its owners, Mr. Petri Ukkola told the visitors about the place and its history including today’s situation as a local cultural event place. Then Mrs. Laura Hesso from the local office of The National Board of Antiquities of Finland told to the people about the Fortress of Lappeenranta, which is an active part of today's Lappeenranta. After that the project people visited the South Karelia Museum and saw e.g. the permanent exhibition, ”On the Border”, is about the location of Lappeenranta between East and West. Then the people visited the orthodox church of the fortress, which is Finland’s oldest Russian Orthodox Church and is dedicated to Virgin Mary and was completed in 1785. There the church’s worker told the people about the church and about orthodoxy in Finland. The last place to visit was the Täky Gallery, which is the shop and working space of The Association of the Artist-craftsmen of South Karelia. There the visitors heard about the place from Tarja Talonpoika, who is now the chairman of the association, and the people made some handicraft souvenir shopping.
At the evening the project people had a last dinner together and got the certifications of the visit in Finland and also some presents and other certifications concerning being an important part of the project altogether. We also sang and promised to keep in contact also in the future

Sunday, , May 11, 2016

Project partners left home after the breakfast.

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Friday, November 13, 2015

In the morning, starting at 9 o’clock, at the Hotel Pesa meeting room Mrs Ülle Pärnoja, the manager of MTÜ Setomaa Turism made a presentation of a local Seto culinary heritage event “Kostipäiv” which is an event of pop-up cafes serving local food. Also other local festivals and relevant tourism information (local tourism route Külavüü) were presented. Further information can be obtained from: http://www.visitsetomaa.ee/en
Bus transfer brought participants from Põlva to Räpina. At first, there was presentation of the activities and rooms of the Räpina Competence Centre for Creative Industries, located in the stable-carriage house, with an arcade, which is a part of the historical Räpina manor house complex. The Competence Centre for Creative Industries offers opportunities for creative activities in the art, photography, clay, glass, candle, brewery, sound, textile, and sewing workshops etc. The presentation was followed by participation in a workshop “Local beverages production” held at the seminar premises of the competence centre.
It was also possible for the participants to buy locally made wines as well as local handicrafts, especially ceramics works. Further information can be obtained from: https://www.facebook.com/rapinaloomemaja
After the workshop, bus transfer brought the participants from Räpina to a neighbouring municipality Värska. A traditional Seto lunch was served in Café Tsäimaja in the Seto Farm Museum and different aspects of seto culture and culinary heritage were explained.
Presentation of a local festival Seto Folk by the museum director followed.
After the presentation, participats got to visit The Seto Farm Museum. There was a tour guided by the director of the museum, Mrs Liis Kogerman. The tour enabled the visitors to learn about the farm architecture, old tools and rich collection of handicraft items dating from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The exposition comprised a half-enclosed yard, a dwelling, storehouses for clothes, grain and food, a bam with a hay shed, a workshop, other sheds, a smoke sauna, a pottery, a smithy, a barn and kiln house and a tea house. The majority of the buildings are original and originate from Northern Setumaa. Further information can be obtained from: http://www.setomuuseum.ee/content/view/56/86/
From Värska, the bus transfer brought the participants back to Põlvam where a presentation of the activities of a small farm shop and home-cafe in Põlva, Tillu kodukohvik, were made. It was a combined package, where participants were able to drink coffee and tea, select something to eat from the wide selection of the bakery and listen to the presentation made by the owner and chef.The participants heard about the life of a small business in a very small place – the joys and hardnesses of managing a family business. Further information can be obtained from: https://www.facebook.com/Kodukohvik-Tillu-188055584652442/
Before and during enjoying the dinner at the hotel, there was time for discussion and reflections of the experiences and emotions of the day.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

The morning started at 9 o’clock at Hotel Pesa meeting room. On behalf of the co-ordinating partners there was a presentation about project progress and tasks indicated to perform until the next meeting, which include:

• Send digital stories to the coordinator “Musical instruments, songs and dances” Deadline 25 November
• Make digital stories on the topic “Traditional festivals and culinary heritage” (deadline 1 April) – for the preparation of CD „Cultural heritage in the Nordic/Baltic countries“
• Provide 2 suggestions for recommendations “How cultural heritage could be integrated in local communities from the point of education, social life end economy”
• Prepare presentations for the final conference
• Do dissemination activities (at local, regional level)
• Presentation/ seminars of the project activities in local communities

This was followed by the presentation of digital stories / material on the topic “Musical instruments, songs and dances” by the partners. All partners will send their materials to the co-ordinator.
After the meeting, there was bus transfer to Piusa in Orava Municipality. The visit started with visiting Piusa sand caves visitor centre and also the caves themselves. Since October 2010 on the Nature reserve of the Piusa caves, near the Museum Cave, the Piusa Caves Visitor Centre has been open. The purpose of the visitor centre is to contribute to the protection of the Piusa caves and protected species (eg bats). The caves are human-made (excavating sand for making glass). The tour was guided by Mrs Kaire Hakk. Further information can be obtained from: www.piusa.ee
After the caves, participants were able to visit also a local ceramics workshop and see the craftsman in working process. Further information can be obtained from: http://www.savikoja.ee/Savikoja/Avaleht.html
Then the bus transfer took the participants from Piusa to Obinitsa, which is located in the neighbouring, Meremäe Municipality. The participants got to visit the Seto community house in Obinitsa. Obinitsa village was elected Finno-Ugric “capital” for year 2015. The participants were able to enooy a lunch with special seto menu in the community house, by a local seto company Taarka Tarõ. Also the participants had a chance to take part in the cooking workshop to prepare some local seto specialities, like a cheese-type product “sõir”. The hosts explained about Setos, their culture and culinary heritage and provided information about local life.
Then the bus transfer took the participants from Obinitsa to Meremäe. A special workshop was provided to the participants by Meremäe cultural society led by Mrs Viivika Kooser, teaching about different aspects of Seto culture, including singing, dancing as well as Seto Leelo – a special polyphonic song, which is inscribed into Unesco list of intangible heritage.
The evening and meeting programme was concluded by a seminar–discussion, sharing the best practices “Promotion of intercultural dialogue through tradition”, led by Mrs Kaire Hakk.
The day came to an end with enjoying dinner at hotel Pesa restaurant.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

After breakfast and farewell-saying, the delegations departed from Põlva to start their journeys home.

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Friday, 29 May 2015

Helena Ehrstrand - the Head of Viksjöforsbaletten welcomed everyone, showed them around the building and explained a little about the organisation
The modern dance workshop started with a class in basic break dancing taught by a former Viksjöforsbaletten pupil Simon Skjefstad. This was followed up with a short workshop in modern dance from two professional dancers, Jos Daamen & Jason McDonald.
Following the coffee break, a local dancer taught a few elements of traditional Swedish dances accompanied by live folk music on violin and accordion.
Participants had a traditional school lunch in the Viksjöfors school canteen. After lunch there was a brief tour of the school and visits to a few classrooms.
The group travelled by bus to Tutabo farmstead for a short tour. This is a farmstead built in the late 1800s that still has all original features, such as furniture, wallpaper and cork rugs. From there the bus took the group along the Stora Hälsingegårdarsväg along which the big manor farms typical for the area can be found. Along the route, a stop was made to visit local textile artist Barbro Ager’s workshop and weaver Elin Westlund.
In the early evening the group walked to Ol-Anders farm for a workshop in making sälgpipa, a traditional Swedish whistle. Everyone had the opportunity to make their own whistle to take home. This was followed by a traditional Swedish lumberjack dinner of kolbullar with a dessert of Hälsinge ostkaka, a local version of cheesecake served with berry sauce. During dinner everyone shared songs from their own country.

Saturday, 30 May 2015

Helena Ehrstrand welcomed the group to the meeting. The coordinator Rasa Marcinkevičienė provided an overview of activities completed in the first year of the project and future activities coming up. Daiva Klimantavičienė took the group through the feedback given for the meeting in Latvia.
Every country then shared their digital story about national costumes, symbols and traditions. The group agreed that each country would collate the similarities and differences they observed and email them to coordinator once they are back home. Laimutė Ruzgienė stressed the importance of local dissemination after the meeting.
The group travelled to Viksjöfors for the dance festival parade and then had free time at the dance festival to watch the performances from local, national and international dancers and eat international food. Sinikka and Sanna from Finland both performed on stage. Ingrid demonstrated Swedish lacemaking and Hannie demonstrated spinning wool, both wearing local traditional costumes. In a short presentation, Ingrid and Hannie showed the various components of traditional Swedish dress for women.
Later the group had a guided tour of Hälsingegård Mårtesgården, a cultural heritage site in central Edsbyn. They were shown around the brewing house, the summer house and the main manor house. Due to persistent rain it was unfortunately not possible to show the other parts of the ethnographic village, such as the old village shop, blacksmiths and summer pasture area. Partners set up dates for the next meeting in Sweden 28 May (arrival) – 31 May (departure).
The farewell dinner was served in the festival room of the manor house at Mårtesgården. A provisional date for the next meeting in Estonia was agreed and certificates of participation handed out to the meeting participants.

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Monday, 23 February 2015

At 9.30 all project participants arrived for the meeting. Representative Ieva Upesleja from hosting organization had welcome speech and shortly introduced participants with information about town of Tukums and planned meeting programme. After welcome project coordinator Rasa Marcinkevičienė informed about project progress and answered on questions which partners have asked by emails before like reporting and financial issues. Partners voted about project logo. There were 5 logos presented.
Following partners demonstrated their digital stories about old ethnographic villages, houses and traditional handicrafts. After each story everyone could give feedback about story. When all digital stories were seen, participants started discussion about similarities and differences. All participants agreed that there are more similarities than differences.
Then the seminar – discussion “Development of adult entrepreneurial skills” started by Raimonda Ertnere , Creative people Association “Ligzda”. She presented different examples how Latvian crafts and traditions are adapted nowadays. After each partner country presented own examples using presentations, real examples, pictures and other visual materials. Partners agreed this as very interesting and successful session. Partners visited Creative people Association “Ligzda” as good practice of traditional crafts adapting in modern life and needs where Raimonda Ertnere introduced with different creative techniques how to create new crafts from “old” materials (recycling idea) and introduced participants of her business idea, how does she started. There is also art gallery “Durvis” which partners visited to see what crafts and art works are exhibited.
After exchanging wit experiences there practical workshop came - “Adopting handicrafts in modern life” it was informative and practical workshop in wicker weaving. Everybody practiced in bracelets weaving and as well had chance to try basket weaving.

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

The day started at Tukums Museum Wiever’s Workshop with educational program “National costumes, symbols, traditions” where participants listened presentation about topic and practiced viewing as well visited woodcrafts exhibition and explored how wood works can be adapted in our modern life as innovative games, design elements and modern household goods.
In the afternoon participants went to town Kandava for the workshop “National traditions” at Kandava’s Crafts Centre. They were introduced specially with wedding traditions and symbols used at weddings in past and nowadays. At Crafts centre participants introduced with different activities and crafts implemented in the centre, tried knit huge scarf and explore how to make and how does taste acorn coffee, homemade pancakes with traditional cranberries jam.
In the centre participants had time to do verbal and writing evaluation.
Partners set up dates for the next meeting in Sweden 28 May (arrival) – 31 May (departure).
In the evening group arrived in Jaunpils Medieval castle were castle staff introduced with Medieval lifestyle, traditions and food.

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Tuesday, 16 September 2014

Welcome and project work:
The Head of Department of culture, education and sports of the Kaunas region Irena Marcinkevičienė officially welcomed the participants and briefly presented the Kaunas region. After the director of Kaunas Region Education Centre Laimutė Ruzgienė also welcomed the guests and wished a successful and productive work.
The Project coordinator of the project Rasa Marcinkevičienė welcomed all and invited participants to get to know each other and to present their organizations. Later on the coordinator revealed the meeting agenda, introduced the project’s detailed work plan and allocated the responsibilities between partners. Each stage of the project with intended outcomes was thoroughly discussed. The project coordinator insisted that the project partners disseminate the project related information on their organizations’ webpages and write project promotional articles on local/regional level and international level.
Laimutė Ruzgienė explained project financial management. Partners were actively involved in the debate and clarified facing uncertainties.
Edita Žaromskienė introduced project dissemination plan and evaluation form, focusing on the project outcomes and products. She pointed out that the project dissemination plan will be implemented permanently during the whole project duration, raising awareness, informing and promoting project experiences and results. All partners agreed on acronym of the project ‘RAISE’.
After the brake attendees were invited to participate in the seminar – round table discussion “Cultural heritage - an integral part of social, cultural and economical life”. The speaker explained the concept of cultural heritage and its importance nowadays. She visually demonstrated how cultural heritage could be used in education, business and modern life.
Following the seminar the project partners participated in the workshop “Creating digital stories and the use of ICT in digitizing cultural heritage” during witch they learned to create digital stories on-line. Later on the requirement for the digital material were discussed and agreed upon..
The first meeting day ended up with reflections of the participants.

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

The full-day program was held in the Open Air Museum of Lithuania (Rumšiškės). At the beginning participants visited a weaver, a potter and a carver in authentic environment. Partners observed the activities, asked questions and discussed the importance of folk crafts, their transmission to future generations and how it is possible to earn money.
After the visit all attendees were invited to an educational program “Old ethnographic villages, houses, traditional handicrafts”. During this program they visited the homesteads of ethnographic regions of Lithuania. Old ethnographical houses were visited, similarities and differences among old ethnographic villages in the Baltic sea region were observed and discussed.
The programmed continued with the workshop “Traditional Easter palm making”. The workshop leader told about the traditional Lithuanian palm making, revealed the meaning of the symbolism used in the creation. The project partners made palms themselves using dry grass, hay and different plants. It was a great experience for all.
The first meeting day ended up with traditional Lithuanian dishes degustation, Lithuanian folk music and reflections of the participants.

Thursday, 18 September 2014

Program for the day began with a visit to Raudondvaris Castle, Here the project partners participated in an excursion. Later on they visited a smiths in authentic environment residing in Vilkija. Following that was a visit to Antanas and Jonas Juska Ethnic Cultural Museum with a a brief presentation of the museum and a wworkshop “Folk straw decorations(Lithuanian- ‘sodai’)”. The day program ended with evaluation of the project progress and planning the project’s future activities. The partners filled in the project evaluation forms and returned to coordinator. Project partners asked to distribute project presentations (Rasa, Laimutė, Edita) and the Dissemination report templates as well as The requirements for digital stories. It was decided that the meeting minutes write that partner in whose country the meeting is held in. Laimutė Ruzgienė stressed that the funds for travel to meetings should not be mixed with funds for local transportation.

Planning of the next meeting and homework

• Partners from Latvia Kaire Hakk and Viivika Kooser suggested to organize the next meeting in Latvia, 22 – 25 February, 2015.
• Partners from Sweden Helena Ehrstrand and Cia Wikman suggested to organize the meeting in Sweden in the first week of June 2015.
• The project coordinator Rasa Marcinkevičienė acquainted the project partners with the activities planned for the Stage 2 (November 2014 - February 2015): Preparation of digital stories “Old architecture, ethnographic villages, traditional handicrafts” (all partners); Creating the project internet webpage and communication platform on “Google groups” (Latvia/Finland); Creating of the project leaflet (Estonia/Sweden); Writing project promotional articles on local/regional level/ international level (all partners); Creating a project logo (all partners); Planning of the international meeting in Latvia.
• Created digital stories on the topic “Old architecture, ethnographic villages, traditional handicrafts” will be presented in Latvia during the meeting by each project partner.
• Latvia is responsible for hotel reservation, preparation of meeting program, organization of educational program/workshop „NATIONAL costumes, symbols and traditions. Adopting handicrafts in modern life“ and seminar - discussion „Development of adult entrepreneurial skills“.
• It was set a deadline for reporting dissemination articles – 17 October, 2014.

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