The aim of the project is to run a youth-led planetary garden to grow food crops and learn about sustainable living in a community-based way, working within the planetary boundaries and respecting biodiversity. Working together brings meaningfulness and hope in these changing times. The well-being of the mind and a deepening relationship with nature are also important objectives of the planetary garden filedstation, which is also approached through a variety of art-based methods.
The idea of a planetary garden is that our entire planet should be cared for and protected like a garden. The concept, by French architect Gilles Clément, emphasises the human responsibility to maintain and protect the Earth’s ecosystems in a sustainable way, valuing diversity and minimising damage to species in an ecological food production. A planetary garden values multi-species coexistence. In a planetary garden, it is up to humans to learn to live in harmony (or perhaps more realistically, more harmoniously) with nature, to appreciate the ecosystem in all its diversity, and to act as gardeners and guardians. The guiding philosophy of the planetary garden is based on the principle of the “garden in motion”: do as much as possible for it and as little as possible against it. The ultimate goal of a planetary garden is to harness and support diversity and ensure the existence of the garden – and therefore the gardener.
As far as we know, there is no other planetary garden in Finland. Kirsi Haapamäki introduced the concept to Sofia Laine, and together with the young people of Otaniemi High School they set out to build a field station for science, art and young people to be and act together in northern Espoo in autumn 2024. The Planetary Garden Field Station is one of the sub-projects of the Planetary Youth Research Programme, which is primarily carried out with young people and professionals working with young people. In addition to cultivating self-sufficiency, circular economy and sense of fairness, the Planetary Garden Field Station will develop and use art-based and embodied methods to address the sustainability crisis and support living in ecocrisis. Therefore, this Planetary Garden is also a place for living with climate change and engaging with emotions related to it.
“The wave of the future is on the local level. Don’t waste your heart and mind trying to pull down what is already destroying itself. But come into where you’re almost below the radar and reorganize life. We [need] communities where we live and work and fight for the future.” – Joanna Macy
Workshop Days at Planetary Garden with Trebbe Johnson 15th – 21st May 2026!
Author Trebbe Johnson is coming to Finland in May and will participate and facilitate several workshop days at the garden. Trebbe is the author of Fierce Consciousness: Surviving the Sorrows of Earth and Self, Radical Joy for Hard Times: Finding Meaning and Making Beauty in Earth’s Broken Places, andother books,as well as many articles and essays that explore the human bond with nature. Her deepest sorrow is for the degradation of the natural world and the corresponding grief that people feel when they lose the places they love. She is the founder of the non-profit Radical Joy for Hard Times, which is now a global community of people dedicated to finding and making beauty for the Earth’s wounded places. She stepped down from directing RadJoy in 2025 to devote herself more fully to writing and to acting on behalf of the Earth.
Three workshop days in the garden and nearby forest and construction site will provide diverse opportunities for embodied experiences in multi-species surroundings. Working will happen outdoors. In each day there will be set activities, but also space for participants to present their work (note: no laptops, electricity) in alternative ways! Each seminar day will have it’s own theme. If you are physically challenged, these places are unfortunately not accessible to you. All the workshops are free of charge. You may bring your own lunch with you, and we will also provide simple vegan lunch (not to the forest, Thu 21st) with a small cost. For more information, please contact Research Professor Sofia Laine, sofia.laine@youthresearch.fi
PROGRAM
FRIDAY 15th MAY “Gazing at the Garden”
10.00-12.00 Trebbe Johnson’s workshop on meeting and gazing the garden
12-13 Lunch
13.00-15.30 Henna Hakkarainen’s workshop on clowning in the garden
15.30-16 Coffee and closing circle of the day
Fully booked! You can queue: https://www.lyyti.in/GazingTheGarden
WEDNESDAY 20th MAY “Art and rituals at the Garden”
10.00-12.00 Trebbe Johnson’s workshop on art and rituals
12.00-13.00 Lunch
13.00-15.00 Ken Mai’s butoh dance workshop at the Garden
15.00-16.00 Open space. Closing circle and coffee.
Fully booked! You can queue: https://www.lyyti.in/ArtAndRituals
THURSDAY 21th MAY “Radical Joy for Hard Times & Forest Seminar”
9.30 Starting the walk from the Garden to the nearby forest and data center
10-13.30 Trebbe Johnson’s Radical Joy for Hard Times – ritual next to the data center (including lunch break)
13.30-15.30 Forest seminar (open space to present your work or demo)
15.30-16 Closing circle and coffee at the Garden
Register: https://www.lyyti.in/RadicalJoyForHardTimes
Funding of the sub-project
The project received remarkable grant from Maj and Tor Nessling’s Foundation in November 2025:
Project: Planetary praxis: Youth-oriented action project based on planetary youth research knowledge
Young people see the sustainability transition as one of the most important issues of our time. They also face major challenges in balancing the planet’s carrying capacity in the near future. In this youth-led action project 1) a new kind of sustainable way of living in the city will be built in the ‘Planetary Garden’, taking care of sustainable well-being among all living, and learning about sustainable food systems; 2) actively encourages other neighborhoods and municipalities to build similar intergenerational, youth-oriented, sustainable community spaces for living and being through communication and interaction; 3) Encourage young people nationwide to participate in Finland’s climate and environmental policy and implement the Children and Youth Environmental Declaration in schools and educational institutions. The scientific basis for the action project comes from planetary youth research, in which the sustainability transition is examined and resolved together with young people.
The project received several operating grants between April and May 2025:
- City of Espoo: Experiments in climate participation: the Youth Research Association was granted €5,000 to establishment of a planetary garden and various theme days (1.6.-31.10.2025)
- City of Espoo: Experiments in climate participation: the Cooperative Osuuskunta Luonto&Keruu was granted €2549,80 for guided mushroom excursions that also use the garden (1. 6.-31.10.2025)
- ChangeX / Microsoft: young people from Otaniemi High School and teacher Kirsi Haapamäki applied for a Planetary Garden for high school students, which was awarded €5,000. Project site (in Finnish): Planetaarinen puutarha lukiolaisille
- ChangeX / Microsoft: Cooperative Luonto & Keruu was awarded €5,000 for a wild herb workshop, a mushroom expedition and a wickerwork workshop using the garden.
The project is partly implemented with a general grant from the Ministry of Education and Culture.
- Start year:
- 2024
- End year:
- 2030
PI
Sofia Laine
PhD, title of docent in Youth Research (University of Tampere)
Research Professor
+358 44 416 5374
sofia.laine@youthresearch.fi
