Leader+ Observatory Seminar: Quality of life experiences and co-operation Brussels, 25 October 2004

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1 Case Study No. 4 Project Title: Utö A Vibrant Community All Year Round LAG: I Samma båt - In the Same Boat (Finland) Description of the project The target group of this project is current and future residents and businesses in Utö, the outermost island in Southwest Finland s archipelago. The island was settled during the 1740s to serve those seafarers under the command of the king. The newcomers were employed as state officials, pilots and lighthouse keepers. After the First World War, the island was fortified. Project activities were initiated in 2001 when the armed forces announced that they would be terminating their activities on the island. Following on the eradication of State jobs, the project Utö a Vibrant Community All Year Round is attempting to ensure, on a year-round basis, the prerequisites for both residential living and commercial activities on the island as well as keeping the existing basic services. In the long run, the project is endeavouring to promote migration to Utö as well as to establish new companies. Its main goal is to bring the properties released by the military into residential use so that new inhabitants can move there. Utö hosts a comprehensive school on the lower level, a post office, a grocer, a library, a nurse, municipal water and drainage, wireless broadband connections and a ferry, which arrives from the mainland five days a week. The project markets Utö as a residential environment by providing information on homes as they become available on the island, since previously there was a lack of housing. A property company has been planned for the administration of housing. By renting out available dwellings, year-round accommodation and entrepreneurship are being promoted on the island which means there is no desire to change the residences into summer homes. Key elements The project Utö a Vibrant Community All Year Round fulfils the following objectives: - improve access to housing all year round and preserve basic services - market the island as a residential environment to newcomers 1

2 - create the operational prerequisites for small-scale entrepreneurial activity - cultivate the traditions and culture of the archipelago - strengthen the archipelago-based identity and feeling of solidarity - improve the living environment as well as general comfort Context and history of the project This example of Leader+ project implementation is from Utö in Southwest Finland s archipelago. Three consecutive Leader+ projects have been implemented during the years The last project ended on 31 July The main goal of the projects has been to preserve year-round habitation on the island and safeguard basic services. The project financing applicant has been the Utö Home District Association, whose approx. 150 members represent the island s inhabitants who are summer as well as winter residents Utö is distantly located in the outer archipelago (approx. one hundred kilometres southwest of Turku). The journey to Utö from Turku, first overland and then by ship, currently takes about six hours. Utö was already settled during the 1740s, and from then onwards has been a vibrant community of civil servants in the outer archipelago.. Utös lighthouse is Finland s oldest, built in By no means was settlement voluntary; rather, the King ordered Utö to be settled. Those who moved there were hired for the State as civil servants, pilots and lighthouse keepers. For this reason, Utö has always been an exception to the other villages of the archipelago, as its means of support has always come from the State. Except for personal needs, fishing and farming have not been practised on the island. Utö has therefore always been an exceptional community compared to other villages of the archipelago, due to its occupational structure. Fishing has not provided subsistence on the island; rather, a society of civil servants has flourished there. The latest public State employees who arrived on the island were soldiers but only after the First World War. Currently, about 30 civilians live on the island throughout the year. In addition, about 10 villagers in the service of the army as well as a variable number of conscripts totalling about 30 live on the island year-in, year-out. As well as these, a small group of about 10 people native-born Utö residents who work on the mainland for most of the year belong to Utö s community, but they live on Utö whenever the possibility for remote work allows them to, and they pay their taxes to the Municipality of Korpo. They travel between workplace and home and are potential returning migrants who return to their home area at the latest by the time they retire. The number of inhabitants nearly 2

3 multiplies five times in summer when those who have lived on Utö as children return to the island to spend the summer there. Age distribution of those living on Utö throughou t the year (40 people altogether): Percentage of population below the age of 20: 20% Percentage of working age population: 55% Percentage of population over the age of 60: 25% Percentage unemployed: 0% Percentage of working population in the third sector: 100% Utö could be called a small town. Despite its modest size, the land area of the island is only one square kilometre, there are versatile services available for use. The preservation of these basic services in particular was one of the starting points when the development project was first planned. Habitation observes an urban residential standard: the village has a water and sewer system, with the drinking water coming from treated seawater. The island already obtained electricity during the 1940s: at first, the current was produced by the island s own generators, but since 1996 electricity has been brought to the island via a cable run along the sea bed. The village therefore offers street lighting as well. Utö hosts an all-year-round grocery, a company owned by the villagers, a municipal library and a wireless broadband Internet connection. The school is 120 years old and still functions as a municipal institution. There are four pupils this term. In addition, Utö has got an incredible nature, space, vast expanses, clean air and water, a strong sense of social cohesion, lively cultural activity,... everything in Utö reflects quality of life. Implementation and results of the project The old way of life in Utö started to crumble already during the 1970s, when the pilots started working so that one shift lasted a week, after which they got one week free. It happened that the pilots generally the men of the family lived on Utö but the mothers moved with their children to the cities due to the youngsters going to school. In 1984, the lighthouse keepers trade guild was brought to an end. The cut in jobs continued when the armed forces announced in 2001 that the island s military operations would be reduced, and the very last governmental employer on the island would vanish from the island within a few years. Since the army s presence had kept the village going during the winter, it looked as if the island s first-class basic services were threatened. What would remain were only empty houses and summer inhabitants returning annually which would not, however, be enough to retain services throughout the year. In the 3

4 event that the island had no services, the acquisition of new residents would also be made difficult. Faced with these circumstances, the Village of Utö sprang into action. Some inhabitants did not want the island s empty dwellings to end up as summer houses which would be empty for 11 months of the year. Their specific goal was to keep up a vibrant community all year round and make it possible for new inhabitants looking for a different way of life to move to the island, which formerly did not have homes to offer. The main aim was to preserve all services, school and shop, without neglecting naturebased values and sustainable development and search for new people to come and use them. The project group members were unanimous about the fact that the altered situation provided an opportunity to have an impact on the future development of Utö. They were also convinced that enough people wishing to live and work in the outer archipelago could be found in Finland. These assumptions later turned out to be accurate. A village plan was set up for Utö. The completion of this village plan was the first project implemented with Leader+ financing. During this first project, it became clear that the island would require a full-time project supervisor, whose salary was included in the second Leader+ financed project. The job description was put on the Internet and 14 applications were received. The requirement for getting the job was to move to Utö. In September 2002, the project supervisor selected had lived on Utö for almost two years. The creation of contacts with the Municipality of Korpo, local military authority for the Archipelago Maritime Defence Region, Ministry of Defence and Senaattikiinteistö (Senate Properties), which owns the real estate left unused by the Finnish Army, became her immediate working tasks. At the very beginning of the project, one of the main difficulties was finding somebody from the public administration to act as a negotiating partner. The most important objective beginning from the immediate outset of the second project was to establish a realty company which would purchase the residences which had been left empty from the State. The local actors hoped the Municipality of Korpo would come into the realty company. Yet, the decision-making process being slow, negotiations are still underway and the property sale has not been completed yet. This made it necessary t have a third Leader+ project to finance the ongoing negotiation phase. Working on behalf of their own immediate environs has been a positive experience for those involved in the project. They had the feeling they were working in regional policy on the grassroots level! Cooperation with the Municipality of Korpo was launched quickly and positively from the start, and the municipality has been involved in the project since the very beginning. The project also awakened interest in the media: several TV documentaries and many newspaper articles were made. The project also received national attention: the Minister of Environment asked for a report on the project 4

5 situation and further reports were made to the Regional and Municipal Minister, who was personally met by the project supervisor. As a result of all this publicity, almost 100 potential movers to Utö took contact with the project supervisor. Yet, as the project moved forward, it became clear that those really interested by moving to Utö were very rare and that they would have to bring their work with them, because the island is unable to offer them work. Utö has obtained 10 new inhabitants after the launch of the project. The school, despite the low number of pupils, has been allowed to continue its activity and the grocery store still functions all year round. Three new companies have been established on the island: one of the newcomers the father of four children founded a firm specialized in construction and repair work which additionally offers other services (i.e: a cleaning service). Two enterprises were established in the tourism field: one of the companies offers a guide, accommodation and dining services; the other one fish products in addition to sauna bath and charter boat provision. Of the tourist operators, both are originally from Utö and have the idea of small-scale tourism-based services acting in accordance with sustainable development. A couple moved to the island during last summer, one of whom is an author and the other a translator: both succeeded in coming to Utö after a long wait, bringing their own work with them. For all those moving to Utö, a most important matter was the wireless broadband Internet connection which makes remote work possible. A local website was also set up in three languages (Finnish, Swedish and English): The slow decision-making is now becoming a problem: Utö has willing movers waiting, but the seven family residences situated on the island have remained empty for a second year. Negotiations have gone on between the municipality and the State, a purchase price of euros has been settled and the State is ready to sell, but a decision from the municipality s political decision-makers is lacking. The next decisionmaking meeting will be held in November The price agreed in the negotiations is specific only to the municipality as buyer: later, the Utö Home District Association and Åbo Akademi University Foundation will become involved as financiers and realty company shareholders. The company by-laws are being formulated. The University is planning a marine biology research unit for Utö in the event that facilities can be arranged. On many occasions during the course of this project, the actors have had to emphasize that their goal was not to obtain empty dwellings to sell at the highest possible price but to obtain a new owner for the same, who would begin renting residences to new inhabitants moving to the municipality as new taxpayers. This is the main reason why the actors wanted the municipality to actively be involved in the project. This has involved some prior discussions on what the objective of the project was: local actors think that Utö being merely a summer paradise for town residents is not enough. The aim is to keep the island alive all year around. The Southwest Finland s Archipelago is a unique cultural environment worth preserving. 5

6 Budget of the projects Three consecutive Leader+ projects have been implemented on Utö. All these projects have received 80% public funding. The Utö Home District Association and the local shop, a limited liability company owned by local islanders (Utö Handel), have together paid the 20% self-financing share. For both, the financing of the projects became particularly burdensome, as the sums were large and repayment was slow. At most, the money tied up in the projects was over euros. However, the local actors managed without a bank loan. Total budget for the 3 Leader+ projects: Public contribution: including EU 50% State 30% Municipalities20% Private contribution Other elements, cooperation perspectives On the local level, the most important collaboration partner has been the shop (Utö Handel), which contributed a large part of the private financing, approx euros. The project has provided an extra boost for this shop s business: it has been able to keep up its turnover regardless of the quick shrinkage of its customer base. The people of Utö have woken up the need to support their own store and, on the other hand, the publicity received by our project has also increased the tourist interest in Utö and thereby increased its summer turnover. Utö s shop has spread its prosperity at the local level. The store has employed the local enterprise specialized in construction and repair work which was established during the project. It has also offered a sales channel for local products (postcards, souvenirs, fish...) and in this way networked with Utö entrepreneurs. Village activity on Utö offers an example to those European coastal area villages in a similar situation of how it is possible to act quickly at the grassroots level against the threat of dramatic structural change in a manner that supports local culture and takes sustainable development into account. As a cooperative format for the future, contacts have been established during the third project with other Unesco biosphere area villages. This activity is only in the beginning, but there is a strong interest to develop cooperation and exchanging experiences in the future with other European coastal and 6

7 archipelago-based villages; for instance, via the European Small Islands Network (ESIN) in Interreg IIIc program. The Finnish National Board of Forestry has applied for a project Coastal Sustainability as a Challenge in the Interreg III b Baltic Sea Region program. This project would be carried out in and would offer a new cooperative format for the future. Contact details for the project Karl-Erik Sjöberg, Steering Group Chairman Address: Grangränd 5, FIN TURKU Telephone: Fax: karl-erik.sjoberg@uto.fi Languages spoken: SE, FI, EN, DE Johanna Pakola, Employed project supervisor Address: Haritunkatu 2, FIN TURKU Telephone: johannapakola@jippii.fi Languages spoken: FI, EN, SE Martin Öhman, member of Utö Home District Association, Sub-region Coordinator Address: Västra Långgatan 29 A 4, FIN TURKU Telephone: martin.ohman@parnet.fi Languages spoken: SE, FI, EN Aaro Kantonen, entrepreneur from Utö Address: FIN UTÖ Telephone: a.kantonen@pp.inet.fi Languages spoken: FI Hilkka Bergman, Payments and Reportage Address: Islanninkatu 1 D 13, FIN TURKU Telephone: hilkka.bergman@turkuamk.fi Languages spoken: FI, SE, EN, DE, FR Mats Bergman, Chairman, Utö Home District Association Address: Köpmansgatan 20 B, FIN TURKU Telephone: mats.bergman@engship.fi Languages spoken: SE, FI, EN Brita Willström, Teacher, Utö Comprehensive School Address: FIN UTÖ Telephone: briwillfi@yahoo.com Languages spoken: FI, SE, EN Representative of the Local Action Group: Marcus Lepola Address: Fredrikaplan 1, FIN Pargas Tel.: Fax: sameboat@parnet.fi Website: Languages spoken: SE, FI, EN 7

8 Southwest Finland Employment and Economic Development Centre Pirkko Pietarinen, Planner; Susanne Björkman during the third project Address: Southwest Finland Employment and Economic Development Centre (TEkeskus), P.O. Box 592, FIN TURKU Telephone: Website: Languages spoken: Finnish, Swedish, English Contact details for the LAG Local Action Group In the Same Boat Gabriella Nymark-Jansson, Executive Director Address: Fredrikaplan 1, FIN PARGAS Telephone: Fax: Website: Languages spoken: Swedish, Finnish, English 8