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How to start a positive gossip? Story of ACSI. Question posed by Hank Kune.

Think about a convincing story for a client (3 observers), 5mins, 3 most convincing aspects of your
case. 1) Why we made a difference? 2) What is the difference specifically? 3) Concrete example.


 

SEE THE CURRICULUM OF THE DAY!


   

After a general discussion more structured discussion with Markku Hannonen, Kotka City Planner,
we divide the case into subcases and work on them in smaller groups.


 

GENERAL DISCUSSION
- Wanda Orilkowski : (method) People ʹ Technology (resources, equipment,
infrastructure) ʹ Process + Practices
- How could we use the warehouses?
- Method: From Norm ʹ Storm ʹ Performing
- Concern of how to deliver?
- TOP DOWN ʹ BOTTOM UP APPROACH
- Really a small Case Group ʹ problem or asset?
- How to define a specific case? Should we divide into subgroup? Or work parallely?
- Aim for concrete results!
-

ORGANIZING THE WORK INTO 3 SUBCASES:

SUBCASE 1
- not understanding the language, good or might be bad
- feeling the city, hearing / seeing etc etc
- stories about the city, pride, also fear of the paper mill closing, proud in the sports,
discussions about Kotka-St Petersburg ʹ actually NY ʹ Moscow, some fears around,
- Civil War, the east and the west, to overcome that is a real character building!
- People speak 5 languages, thought to be a problem but actually a strength
- Parks really nice, pleasant surprise
- Innovation string: 1) river, 2) salmon + food, 3) steam engine etc etc etc ʹ within the gna
they know how to innovate. Only after can they see that.
- Picking out the most powerful things, make solid platforms, how to explain to the people
who worry about things? Genuine concern. Need of platforms!
 - Use the old and the new (paper reference from the museum). Older person tells stories to
young, people would organize themselves ʹ turn into ͞newspaper͟. Kotka News. Bring
people into the city with transports (easy access), easy access. Multiple interlinking
functions: healthcare, elderly, news͙
- Suggestion: to activate this in some already existing location eg the warehouse, Mylly?
- Suggestion: mix Kotka local news to international news, makes this shared experience
- Kotka has had the ͞House of Memories͟, elderly could go to, didn͛t attract youngters
- Kotka News: mix social media, competitions, web,
- Mutual mentorship, youngsters ʹ elderly, responsible role for all
- Link to infrastructure
- Initiate online reality
- Lighthouse idea??

SUBCASE 2

- Impression of a city, people + technology + processes +

- ACSIs (axis)
- Different parts of the city not connected, almost like a barrier (border), sea is separated
from the city, feels dull but surprising areas such as parks
- Residential + culture harbor + sea
- Ferry connecting residents to the city centre, other way round also. Free of charge. Cycle
route connecting other area, consider sports + jazz etc
- Stream (use the axis to use power) and the sea. Not just the question of traffic. Enjoy going
around in the city. Add multicultural approach and additional attractiveness (wifi all day on
the axis)
- Use local passion for design.
- Connect old and new (city, people etc)
- Multifunctional use of the treasures you already have!
- ACSI festival to promote the ACSIs!
- Permanent boulevard?
- Vienna (example, furniture making to value the people who have contributed to Vienna)
- How to connect the cultural harbor? familiar topic

CASE 3

- See more potential

- Another round of brainstorming? Life in Kotka in more general / international scale. See
festivals, events, international events to promote multicultural aspects, Barcelona:
International Forum Of Culture, how to make book?

SUBCASE 1 PRESENTATION:

David presents his and Magnus͛ work on the identites and stories of Kotka. There are fears of the
industries closing and old echoes of the civil war. There is pride of the sports teams (football and
basketball). There is a rising multiculturality and a wonderful cultural centre Mylly. There are well-
functioning and beautiful green areas.

There has been a chain of innovation in Kotka: salmon fishing, the water saws, the timber floating...
There is a gene of innovation wthin the Kotka people.

Our problem setting is to get people involved. How to get the unemployed person along in the
development? How to make the fear of something new disappear? We want to develop platforms
for participation and spreading information.

News is a key word. David describes the idea that is linked to old paper/newspaper history of Kotka.
A daily newspaper could be established for Kotka people. Every day a transport would come to the
city to collect people. It would bring ppl to a warehouse or other location where the newspaper
would be stapled on a wall where people would come and read them and meet each other in one
physical place. In that meeting other social communication would be established.

There is a discussion of where the activity should happen. In an existing warehouse or in Mylly? How

Markku tells us that the immigrants are often youngsters. Once they take part in this common
activity, they alleviate the fears of the Kotka dwellers towards foreigners. Rafaele emphasizes the
idea that young immigrants should communicate with older Kotka people and vice versa: Kotka
youngsters with the older immigrants. Markku tells that there has been a memory collection place in
the city but it has stopped working as it did not intrigue youngsters. Günther mentions that the
relationship should be mutual: the young ones should also be able to mentor the ols ones. Günther
and Hilla emphasize the importance of the physical place: it needs to be open and have also
commercial and other activities like a kiosque.

SUBCASE 2 PRESENTATION:

Günther and Tommi present the next subcase, ͣAcsies͞. Günther starts with presenting the theory of
Wanda Orlkowski, but only refers to it shortly. The idea of this subcase is to look at the physical
connections of the city. ͣAcsies͞ refers to axes that connect the different parts of the city. How to
create axex between the cultural harbor, Hovinsaari residential area, the southern parks and small
boat harbors?

Tommi tells us about a ferry that departs from Hovinsaari, stops around cultural harbor (where
cultural events take part) and finally leads to Sapokka parks. The acsies need additional
attractiveness, not just traffic connections. For example, there should be wi-fi along the route from
Sapokka to the cultural harbor. Also the existing treasures, for example Vellamo, need multifuntional
use. People use the museum once of twice a life ʹ it would need attractivity for other reasons than
the collection as well. Rafaele and Hilla add to the multifuntionality: all sights and treasures would
need to be thought through the point of view of the citizen. Günther brings in a good practice from
Frankfurt: Muse ums Ufer, an event that attracts more ppl than there are residents inthe city.

David presents an idea in between: the boulevard between Sapokka and the cultural harbor should
have themes. Günther tells about viennese walking chairs, special street furniture. Hilla suggests
that small enterpreneurs (maybe from the immigrants enterpreneurship program) should be given
free kiosques to have commercial acitivity on the axis plus wi-fi and street furniture. We talk about
the heroes of Kotka: how to born the next generation of heroes?

Markku tells us that the city planning has already thought about the physical connections between
Sapokka and the cultural harbor. The street that connects Hovinsaari bridge, the cultural harbor, the
central square and Sapokka will slowly be turned into a pedestrian street. What he values is our
ideas fort he concepts that could make that axis alive.

SUBCASE 3 PRESENTATION:

Anne and Inka tell us about the third subcase: social enterpreneurship, ͣforeign flavour͞. She tells us
about her own experience of Kotka: luxury and good services are missing. At the same time
especially immigrants are unemployed and would need to find work. Small enterprises need
support: so this group has designed solutions for supporting small service social enterprises. The first
idea is to provide transformable houses where small spaces can be converted to cafes and shops for
the summer season. Piknik basket service, cafes, handicrafts...

We discuss the problems and potentials of social enterpreneurship. Markku likes the concept, he
also points out that it might be challenging in Kantasatama but it could starts in existing places in the
city.

Hilla and Günther continue on the concept of transformable houses: in the old industrial areas new
buildings should always be mixed: when building new residences, there should always be shops and
community functions mixed with them in order to bring life to the area from the beginning on.

Tommi suggests a simple intervention: the signs on Kotka streets should be translated to other
languages as well.

TALK AFTER THE PRESENTATIONS

Markku Qs: should we exclude something? Finds ideas very much in the target. Should confirm some
elements with experiments: entrepreneurs etc etc. What is the future of the factory? Would like to
keep it in use. Factory area 3 times bigger than the Kantasatama.

We have been solving problems for the whole city, not just Kantasatama. How to handle the fears
etc etc. Perhaps keep the focus better on Kantasatama. Given away the name Cultural Harbour,
instead use Kantasatama.

- Connect all cases, could ACSI (axis) be the starting point? Initiative for development!
Experiment with living.
- Through a small lense, authenticity.
- Global employment, see international talent mixed with respect for the local talent, support
of both. International companies to support some activities to support future for Kotka (eg
water cleaning) Professional activities.
- Reorganize the ideas, see museum / Kantasatama as the ͞knot͟ of Kotka / of our innovation
5mins story for the observers:

1) Why we made a difference?

-
2) What is the difference specifically?
-
3) Concrete example
-

David gives an eloquent story of one concept that he and Magnus have developed in the subcase: a
newspaper that creates multigenerational collaboration and opens up the harbor area.

Comments from the observers:

pirjo felt empty, no context, great story ʹ great flow, nothing new

liked the idea of being kotkalainen, four renaissances lost context, great persona how to tell a story

liked the story up to the finale, loved the idea of an image but wasn͛t convincing enough, create a
stronger community

storytelling was a great idea but no context, didn͛t answer any questions! Presentation failed, work
is there but no right focus

develop newspaper idea, only one newspaper,

paradigm shift

newspaper can be something pragmatic but also a paradigm for understanding our approach!

GROUP TALK AFTER THE COMMENTS:

We need to organize for the rest of the seminar: how to develop these ideas? We form a fourth
subcase: Kantasatama as a concentration of these idea. Tove and Hilla form a new subcase and
Rafaele joins David and Magnus for developing the participation of citizens.

Anne suggests that we need to restructure the subcases: the ͣLighthouse͞ idea of Kotka identities
has become very pregmatic and small-scale and at the moment it does not function as an umberella
case for all other subcases. Günther suggests that the new umberella case could be the ͣknot͞,
Kantasatama. Tove explains that the newspaper story presented to the observers is already a result
of a large amount of work that we could do: help people link with each other and support
enterpreneurship. We should now concentrate on the backgrounds of that story.

The new umbrella idea: THE KNOT = KANTASATAMA

Other important idea: THE PLATFORM - the participation subcase should be set into a context and
to a more accessible level: not just one story
Hilla and Rafale present different ideas for visualization ʹ we will come back to this on the next day
after getting input from the acsibition group.


  


 
 
 


   

1. COMMUNITY BUILDING AND KOTKA IDENTITY

2. INTEGRATING ETHNIC GROUPS AND PROMOTING ENTREPRENEUSHIP

3. PHYSICAL CONNECTION IN THE CITY (AXIS = ACSIS)