Courses and seminars

Krista Mikkonen is the Finnish minister of the environment and the climate change. In her political career, she has promoted issues concerning the environment, biodiversity, education and equality and fight against poverty. A biologist by training, she has worked in the field of environmental management. Her hobbies include reading, board games and consuming culture.

Ekoseminaari: Ministerin tervehdys – Krista Mikkonen, Ympäristö- ja ilmastoministeri

Mari Pantsar leads the Carbon-neutral circular economy theme in the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. She steers the strategy of the carbon-neutral circular economy theme and is responsible for ensuring that all activities related to it direct Finland towards a more ecologically sustainable and competitive society. Mari has about 20 years’ experience of managerial tasks in the development of cleantech and circular economy business in the private and public sector and on several companies’ boards. Mari believes that ecological sustainability is not an alternative, but a starting point.

Photo: Miikka Pirinen / Sitra

Ekoseminaari: Miksi ilmastotoimet ovat välttämättömiä? – Mari Pantsar / Sitra

Graciela is a sustainability and climate change professional with more than 20 years experience. Her diverse skill set includes developing policy and delivering projects for low carbon cities, environmental management for the Arts and Leisure sectors, as well as the promotion of renewable energy in the UK, Europe and Latin America. She leads the Creative Green Programme at Julie’s Bicycle supporting cultural and creative organisations in planning and developing environmental and climate change activities.

Eco-seminar: Towards a new cultural ecology – Graciela Melitsko Thornton / Julie’s Bicycle

Photo: Lena Winderen

Paula Toppila has been the Executive Director and Curator of the IHME Contemporary Art Festival (2009-2018) and the current IHME Helsinki (2019-) since 2007. She is also the Chairman of IHME’s International Advisory Board. IHME Helsinki is a contemporary art commissioning agency that combines art, science and climate work. IHME Helsinki produces annually an artwork in public space and a series of discussion events together with art and science organizations. Toppila is particularly interested in the ecological transition of the contemporary art organization and the curation of contemporary art towards sustainability.

Photo: Veikko Somerpuro

Ekoseminaari: Ekologisesti kestävä kuratointi ja tuotanto – Paula Toppila / IHME Helsinki

Juha Huuskonen works as the director of the HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Program. The main focus of HIAP’s operations is on residencies in Suomenlinna, Cable Factory and Villa Eläintarha. HIAP is also involved in several collaborative projects, within the framework of which long-term artistic content work is carried out. Important themes in recent years have been e.g. ecology, collegiality and learning. Juha has previously been involved in the implementation of many artworks and projects that have addressed ecological challenges through art, including eko.katastro.fi (1999) and Nuage Vert (2008).

Photo: Sergio Urbina

Ekoseminaari: Hidas ja ekologinen matkustaminen – Juha Huuskonen / HIAP

Sanna Ritvanen is an artist and works in variety of positions in the creative field. Ritvanen has been a member of the Mustarinda Society since 2018 and has worked in the society as a residency coordinator, chef, housekeeper, renovation worker, artist and producer.

Photo: Aneta Klaskova

Ekoseminaari: Huolenpito ja vieraanvaraisuus residenssitoiminnassa – Sanna Ritvanen / Mustarinda

Jonna Hurskainen works as a project manager at the HAM Helsinki Art Museum, and with her team is responsible for the production and implementation of the Helsinki Biennale. She has years of experience working in the event industry as well as in the visual art and museum fields. The new International Biennial of Contemporary Art will be held for the first time in the summer of 2021 in Vallisaari island and on the mainland, and it will present 40 top visual artists from Finland and the world. The event emphasizes responsibility in its operations and the preservation of the ecological sustainability of nature.

Ekoseminaari: Taidemuseon ympäristötoimet – Jonna Hurskainen ja Kiira Kivisaari / HAM

Kiira Kivisaari is the environmental coordinator of the Helsinki Biennale, responsible for building the environmental program for the event in cooperation with the team and experts, and for the EcoCompass work of HAM Helsinki Art Museum and the Helsinki Biennale. Kiira is a student of Sustainability science. The Helsinki Biennale follows the EcoCompass environmental management system, which guides the art event to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Ekoseminaari: Taidemuseon ympäristötoimet – Jonna Hurskainen ja Kiira Kivisaari / HAM

Ekoseminaari: Kansainvälisyys, rahoitus ja ympäristönäkökohdat – Raija Koli / Frame

Alma Heikkikä graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2009. Her artworks made are often attempts to depict things that cannot be experienced through the human body and its senses. These things include microbial life forms that are too small to be consciously encountered in everyday life; the forest ecosystems where important processes are located underground and inside plants; and many large-scale phenomena that happen at such speeds and scales that they are beyond our comprehension. Her art has been seen in solo and group exhibitions around the world. Heikkilä is a founding member of the multidisciplinary Mustarinda collective – a group of artists and researchers whose goal is to promote the ecological rebuilding of society, diversity of culture and nature, and the connection between art and science.

Ekoseminaari: Taiteilijan työn käytänteet ja valinnan mahdollisuudet – Alma Heikkilä ja Antti Majava

Antti Majava (MFA) is an artist and Ph.D. candidate (University of Helsinki / DENVI) who is familiar with the social and cultural dimensions of ecological issues in his work. He is particularly interested in the cultural ties of energy production and use; where and how much energy do our societies need? Majava also explores the role of art as a transformer of cultural habits, and as part of the energy revolution needed to combat ecological crises. He is a founding member of the BIOS Research Unit, which focuses on socio-ecological multidisciplinary research and scientific communication, and the Mustarinda society, which brings together artistic and scientific work on ecological issues.

Ekoseminaari: Taiteilijan työn käytänteet ja valinnan mahdollisuudet – Alma Heikkilä ja Antti Majava

Ekoseminaari: Taideorganisaation hiilijalanjälki – Ekokoordinaattori Saara Korpela