Participants – Facilitators and Experts
Ulla Pötsönen has a background in humanities, cultural production and education. She splits her time between Joensuu, Eastern Finland, where she works for a public library, and Prague, Czech Republic. This gives her a dual perspective on communities: in Finland she is the facilitator, developing better services, working on integration and more collaboration. In the Czech Republic she’s a foreigner, the newcomer and an outsider searching for services, integration and opportunities for meaningful collaboration, volunteering and networking.
On her free-time she takes part in community projects as well, in areas such as sharing economy, urban culture and community gardening. She enjoys learning about new things and concepts that explode her perspective. Last but not least, she swims in ice-filled water during the Finnish winter.
About my project
Community cafés and human school skill sharing events in Joensuu, Eastern Finland.
The project focuses on improving the integration of new residents with the help of regular “Welcome to Joensuu” events.
The other focus is on providing people with a platform for recognizing and sharing skills and knowledge by organizing “Human school” events where people can teach and learn a skill they master.
The goals are to share information about your surroundings and everyday life, help recognize and share your skills, fight loneliness and exclusion and to strengthen the feeling of community.