At the Baltic Sea Day event, Rotarians’ projects received a lot of visibility and interested visitors.
This year, the last Thursday of August 29.8. was a unique day to celebrate Baltic Sea Day at Pakkahuoneenlaituri in Eteläranta. At an event organised by the John Nurminen Foundation, organisations interested in protecting the Baltic Sea, monitoring its state and research presented their activities.
The John Nurminen Foundation sums up the goal of the event clearly: “The Baltic Sea Day, launched and coordinated by the John Nurminen Foundation, is celebrated every year on the last Thursday in August with various rallies and events. The goal of the theme day is to highlight important marine themes, and encourage people to take concrete action for the Baltic Sea. The Day celebrates the versatility and immeasurable value of the Sea. Moreover, the celebration seeks to disseminate information on marine nature, culture, and history.”
This year, several organisations celebrated the Baltic Sea Day at the Pakkahuoneenlaituri event: the guests got to know the marine research vessel Aranda and the activities of 11 organisations in their own tent. The Rotary tent featured a wide range of Rotarian Baltic Sea projects.
The activities of Rotarians were presented by Lotta Ruokanen, chairperson of the Baltic Sea Forum of the Rotary district from Finlandia Hall Rotary Club. He worked in two roles, half the time at the Rotary stand and the other half behind the wall at the HELCOM stand.
“This is the third time Rotarians have participated in the event. For Rotarians, cooperation plays a key role, through which Rotarian projects and investments gain more impact and visibility. The Rotarians themselves could have been even more visible and numerous at the event, as clubs were invited to celebrate their weekly meeting by visiting the venue,” Lotta Ruokanen said at the stand.
The Rotary tent featured five themes in which we Rotarians are involved.
The guessing question: “How long does it take for your garbage to decompose in marine conditions?” became very popular. The task was to sort a bunch of garbage according to the time needed to decompose. There was even a queue of guessers.
Also on display was a Rotarian water backpack. Anne Karikoski from Helsinki Munkkiniemi Rotary Club, who was responsible for the presentation, had taken samples of the sea water on the South Shore, and the guests could marvel at the cleanliness or dirtiness of the beach water, depending on their point of view. The waterpack also interested schoolchildren, and the presentation created a nice interaction with visitors.
Herring rowing and Herring hiking, which will be held at the beginning of October 6.10., also received a lot of attention. Many visitors wanted to know how to attend the event even if they were not Rotarians.
A big thank you for taking care of the Rotarians’ tent and organising the event for the Rotarians goes to Hannele Kauranne from Helsinki Finlandia Hall Rotary Club. Hannele gave good tips to the clubs in the district in advance on how to participate as an individual Rotarian or as an entire club.
“Our Rotary district has an active Baltic Sea Committee and a number of clubs interested in Baltic Sea issues. Rotarian projects provide clubs with a great opportunity to participate in environmentally important projects and network with other clubs. Impact comes from cooperation,” Hannele Kauranne said.
