ESPOO MAGAZINE 2/2020

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Projects: HATSINANPUISTO (under construction) about 100,000 sq.m of floor space (offices, hotel, housing and commercial space) VERMONNIITTY (under construction) 250,000 sq.m of floor area for housing Illustration of an aerial view of Leppävaara according to current plans. Construction of the Jokeri Light Rail has begun in Leppävaara. Raide-Jokeri SCHOOL CENTRE 2023–2024 PUUSTELLINKALLIO (under construction) 60,000 sq.m of floor area mainly for housing Leppävaara statistics LEPPÄVAARA CENTRE new railway station bridge 35,000 sq.m of floor area for housing 25,000 sq.m of floor area for offices 20,000 sq.m of floor area for a hotel, services and businesses SÄTERINKALLIONKULMA 40,000 sq.m of floor area for housing Population: 71,500 Population increase: 9,000 by 2025 PALOKÄRKI 30,000 sq.m of floor area for housing MÄKKYLÄNKUJA 25,000 sq.m of floor area for housing Jobs: 30,000 Jokeri Light Rail: 9 km in Leppävaara Services for new residents in Espoo <strong>ESPOO</strong> enjoys one of Finland’s highest rates of population growth. The City is catering to new residents by producing various info packages. Under the heading Information for residents on the city of Espoo website, there are sections for instance on housing counselling, allotment gardens and carpet washing sites. The city has also launched an English-language website, Hello Espoo, for foreign residents. The site is a step-by-step guide to the journey before, during and after moving to Espoo. The InfoFinland.fi website also provides a wealth of information about Espoo for both Finnish and international people relocating to the area and is available in Finnish, Swedish and English and also in nine other languages, including Somali and Chinese. Read more: • espoo.fi (Information for residents) • helloespoo.fi • infofinland.fi 22 A magazine for Espoo residents
Human dignity is for everyone It is only natural to have prejudices about people who are different. However, there is a difference between thinking and saying things out loud. Sometimes prejudices can lead to another person’s fundamental rights being violated. › We are meeting Hanna Bäckström and Paula Åkerlund by virtual means because of the current exceptional circumstances. Because of this, it was easy for all of us to come to the meeting. That is not always the case. Bäckström is in a wheelchair, and sometimes she quite literally faces a high threshold for attending events. “In many cases, when I arrive at an event, it’s taken so much time and trouble to get there that I can’t be bothered with how confused people get when I arrive in a wheelchair,” says Bäckström. Paula Åkerlund, a Roma woman, can identify with the experience. She also often encounters open resentment and discriminatory behaviour. “It’s humiliating to walk around in a shop with a security guard trailing behind you. I can’t accept anyone making automatic judgments like that about another person.” Åkerlund is active in advocating for minorities. She used to be a member of the Espoo Multicultural Advisory Board and is now in her first term as minority representative on the Espoo Equality Committee. Bäckström, following in her father’s footsteps, represents Uudenmaan lihastautiyhdistys [Muscle Disease Association of Uusimaa] on the Espoo Disability Council. Through their respective municipal bodies, Paula Åkerlund and Hanna Bäckström are involved in the ‘Espoo for Everyone – Stop Hate Speech!’ campaign, the purpose of which is to raise awareness, to foster an atmosphere of tolerance and to encourage everyone to intervene in harassment and hate speech. With the honour of representation comes great responsibility. Sometimes it is not so easy to be humble, friendly and kind. “Sometimes I’d like to be able to be bad-tempered and rude without having the entire disabled community judged by my conduct,” says Bäckström. Åkerlund admits that she has a very short fuse in situations where she feels she is being mistreated. If she has had a rough day, she may lash out at someone more fiercely than she intended. “And then they say ‘you people are always like that’,” says Åkerlund. Everyone has prejudices. When Hanna Bäckström catches herself thinking in a prejudiced way, she laughs at herself. “Stereotypes about population groups are incredibly powerful. I’m a slave to them just as much as the next person. When you catch yourself having thoughts like that, you just have to grab yourself by the neck,” she says. Paula Åkerlund stresses that no one is saying you cannot have thoughts and opinions of your own. The point is in how you express them. “You don’t always have to take up the pitchforks and torches even if you don’t approve of a particular operating culture or way of thinking. Every human being is entitled to human dignity, no matter what they are like. We all have to respect that,” Åkerlund insists. encounters Espoo is a multicultural city with a policy of promoting acceptance and cooperation between population groups. Text Tiina Parikka Photo Timo Porthan 23
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ESPOO MAGAZINE 2/2020

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