As another year of successful heritage initiatives in Finland comes to a close, the country is setting the stage for a new set of cultural experiences. Within European Heritage Days 2017, Finish historic institutions, schools, organisations, and cultural communities will celebrate nature as a resource and source of wellbeing with the theme “Discover Nature Together.” The events will highlight people's relationship with their immediate environment and will take visitors to a journey through the country’s urban nature, home yards, national parks, heritage biotopes, living cultural heritage relating to the environment, and environmental art.

Each person has a cultural relation to nature

Nature can be a source of creativity, recreation and identity building. Many of the nature sites are also cultural environments where human influence is shown in one way or the other. This cultural foundation of people’s relationship with nature will be in focus of European Heritage Days 2017, which will see an important expansion compared to previous years. The main events will start on the Finnish Nature Day on 26th August, 2017 and will run through the second weekend in September, with the closing events on 10th September, 2017.

The reason for this extension is not only the inspiring theme, but also the fact that 2017 will be a centennial year for Finland. Celebrating a century of independence, the country be uncovering the abundant national heritage throughout the year in order to highlight its values for citizens today. European Heritage Days will also honour this important anniversary by exploring the ways nature and culture meet and interact in Finland.

European Heritage Days in Finland

Every year, more than 200 events are organised within European Heritage Days in Finland to offer an opportunity for citizens to explore their heritage and learn more about their traditions. The purpose of the festival is to acknowledge historical, archaeological and cultural resources that bond European nations and constitute their shared heritage. In 2017, this purpose will be achieved by calling attention to the natural environment and by providing new opportunities for Europeans to discover it, interact with it and help enhance it.

In Finland, the coordinating bodies for the European Heritage Days are the Ministry of the Environment, Finnish Local Heritage Federation, National Board of Antiquities, National Board of Education, and Association of Cultural Heritage Education. In 2017, the European Heritage Days events will be organised together with the Finnish Nature Day and everyone is invited to contribute to it.

In previous years, various associations, museums, schools and many other stakeholders have organised open house events, exhibitions, voluntary work events and guided tours. For those interested in becoming the part of the event this year, more information could be find at the Finnish events calendar www.kulttuuriymparistopaivat.fi.

For more information visit: www.kulttuuriymparistopaivat.fi