Partners

Kilens Hembygdsgård in Sideby, Kristinestad is a comprehensive museum and leisure area where you can experience beautiful nature. The area is situated close to a place that was used for fishing in old times, next to the coast of the sea Bottenhavet. Kilen Museum displays the agricultural, fishing and peasant culture of the Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia. Sideby and Skaftung are situated near Kristinestad, which used to be one of the biggest shipbuilding cities in Finland in the 19th century. Many of the large sailing ships, that sailed on the seas of the world during the 19th century, were built by the inhabitants of Sideby. More History 

Kristinestad, or Kristiinankaupunki in Finnish, is located by the Gulf of Bothnia, and is a part of the Ostrobothnia region. It is a bilingual municipality where the majority of the population speak Swedish. Kristinestad is Finland’s first Cittaslow community. The philosophy of Cittaslow focuses on improving the quality of life by slowing down the pace in the community, and building sustainable development. The concept began in a small town in Tuscany, and has become an international network of towns. Our partnership is with the Learning Center (Kristiinankaupungin kansalaisopisto) representing the muncipality’s cultural department.

The formation and registration of Ymmarrys ry and the design and development of the visual identity and the website design and illustration was financially made possible by the Art Promotions Center of Finland #taiketukee

Creativity

is the heart and soul

of our philosophy

Ymmärrys ry believes that creativity is an innate quality of every human being, which can be expressed through experimentation and practice. Given the right tools and the right encouragement and guidance, one can develop and cultivate the ability to use this innate quality. We collaborate with groups and communities to nurture and harness their own capacity and agency for creative expression, by engaging with storytelling practices, oral histories, narratives of change, intangible heritage, and local knowledge. All of the different ways of knowing, making, doing, and creating can be manifested tangibly through participatory and inclusive activities informed by art and design. All we need is a little helping hand to uncover and make visible our own stories and share them in various creative ways.

We recognize and honor our shared creative spark.

 

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Agency

Agency is the motive driver of our collective creative practices: we believe that experiencing a sense of our own capacity for creativity and innovation fosters agency for self-determined changes. Through our projects and activities we are motivated by the experience of sharing the creative spark and energy of collaboration; collaborative sensemaking guides and directs the roadmap of our transformation journey, while exploration and discovery of our creative selves in a safe space brings to light our own stories.

We are the agents of our own transformation journeys.

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Innovation

We conceptualize sustainability as collective social change (Aguilera et al., 2007; Hargrave and Van de Ven, 2006), and have developed social processes that are place-based and community-centric. In our projects and activities we aim to introduce creative practices for collaboration and cooperation to foster capacity for learning and experimentation. Our aim is to accelerate our capacity for transformation in a resilient and sustainable manner on an individual and communal level, through custom-designed methods and tools, to bridge the knowing-doing gap.

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Design practice leads the way

The conceptual framework is excellent, the 7 prototypes selected heavily skew towards cutting edge technology integration. Eco-social renewal does not equal technological intervention by unquestioned

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December 28, 2023 No Comments
We would like to collaborate with you

We’re actively seeking out collaborators and cooperators to codesign novel and impactful social interventions that are inclusive, democratic, and participatory in the best Scandinavian traditions of collective work related innovation.

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January 15, 2023 No Comments
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Futures

In building a positive future, art and design plays an integral role in social harmony and innovation thinking. Our collaborative and cooperative creative practices and innovation methods provide the social infrastructure for self determined roadmaps for transformation.

Cognitive Justice: the right of different knowledges to coexist so long as they sustain the life, livelihoods, and life chances of a people. (Visvanathan, 2021)

Creative practices allow us to manifest the unseen and the unknown, the embodied and experiential knowledge, the senses and the emotions: they make visible and tangible a narrative of change that meets our deepest needs and reflects our own, self-determined vision of a better future.

Explore Further
Design practice leads the way

The conceptual framework is excellent, the 7 prototypes selected heavily skew towards cutting edge technology integration. Eco-social renewal does not equal technological intervention by unquestioned

Read More »
December 28, 2023 No Comments
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