asked in 2005
answered by Tapio Mattlar

1. Does the Finnish Village Action stand for a traditional way of life or is it something completely new?

The Finnish village action is something old and something new. It combines the most valuable traditions and the best inventions of modern life. The result is a new way to live in the countryside. With the help of new technology it is possible to reach a very high quality of life in the middle of beautiful nature in a very sustainable way.


2. Which effect does your work have on rural youth?

More and more young people of the countryside are interested in returning to their home villages after they have studied in the cities. The main effect of the village action has been that it has changed the thinking of people about the future and possibilities of country life. There are two major groups, who move from the cities to the villages: Young families with little children and just retired elderly people.


3. What does the urban public think about the Village Action?

I’m afraid they don’t know much about it, because the gatekeepers of the media are mostly urban and they are not very interested in presenting the activities of the villages. But luckily there are also many famous persons, who have moved from the cities to villages and this is interesting for the media, too. Maybe that’s why so many urban people are dreaming about moving to the countryside one day.


4. Where do all these people find a job, when they move to a little village?

There is not an easy solution to this, because there are not many steady jobs in the villages. But here are hundreds of possibilities to earn your living. You just have to be active, keep your eyes open, find out what is going on and bravely start something. Very often things work out in a way you never could have thought. Besides, nobody will die from hunger in the villages of Finland even if he doesn’t find a reasonable job.


5. Isn’t it better for the environment, that people live close to each other and the nature can be wild?

You can live both in the cities and in the countryside in a sustainable way – or by harming the environment. But in the countryside it is you who decides whether to buy your food in the shop or grow it yourself etc. By working at home you at least save a lot of energy (and time) when you don’t have to travel to your working place.


6. What effect has the RLA had on your work?

It has given to the activists of the villages more belief in their work. It has also given our work a unique nature: Now we understand that the spirit of working together for our future is not so common in the villages of the world. Unfortunately the award has not got much publicity in Finland, so it has not affected as much the attitudes of the authorities as we hoped. But luckily the EU seems to understand and to support our work more than the Finnish government.