I went to Vaihtolava in Kallio on Wednesday evening to see some talks given by the Hukkatila Group which, inspired by wastedspace.se is looking for their own wasted space in Helsinki to turn into projects, whether it’s urban farming or setting up a cafe. The talkers last night were

• Antti Möller-  Introduction.
• Otso Lapila from Oranssi – How the squatters deal with property owners and officials.
• Joseph Mulcahy – Argentina cooperative factories.
• Jaakko Lehtonen and Joseph Mulcahy – Urban farming (dodo) and DIY camp at the Pasila railway yard.
• Bastian Zeiger – Earthships – building with wasted resources.

I had a great time listening to a small but enthusiastic group of people talk about altering the city for the better themselves, and crucially there seems to be an avenue to do this legally and creatively as groups like Oranssi have shown over the last few years. Hopefully I can participate a little as these potential projects get off the ground.