Intentional Living: Photo-Walk at Finnish Nature Centre, HALTIA (Suomen Luontokeskus Haltia), Finland
Let’s play a game!
I'm here to be your virtual tour guide, leading you to the Finnish Nature Centre in Espoo, Finland. As you read on, I'll share a creative well-being recipe that you can start to play with this spring while immersing into Finland's quintessential cultural treasure: nature.
Haltia Centre exhibits showcase the breathtaking landscapes of Finland's national parks, including the nearby trails of Nuuksio National Park, and hidden gems around Helsinki.
Leave your impressions in the comments section down below!
Haltia Finnish Nature Centre, Finland, February, 2024
My creative mind twist for this spring that I highly recommend: Remind yourself every single day of all the gifts that are laying straight under your nose.
When I talk about setting the intention to travel more and get better at photography, I refer to the simple action that you can take anytime: Go to the internet. You do it everyday, anyway. This time set an intention: I want to explore a new place that inspires me in my local area!
Haltia Finnish Nature Centre, Finland, February, 2024
Step 1 : Envision Your Destination
Start to look for those places virtually first. Google Maps, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. No matter how you arrive there, the rule of thumb is this: Look for places that catches your eye or feel interested in, in any way. Some examples: art museums, art galleries, art boutiques, flea markets, parks, iconic buildings, nature spots, hiking trails, amusement parks, theatres, libraries, coffee shops, restaurants, a specific street, a specific district…I think by now you have some places in mind already!
Pro tip: Trust your intuition throughout this discovery process, and you might be pleasantly surprised by the 'coincidences' that arise.
Step 2 : Mark your calendar
Set a date and a time and add a reminder on your calendar when to go there. Put an alarm on your phone with one or two days before to help you prepare mentally for the small trip and get a small dose of dopamine boost.
Step 3: Gather Your Essentials
Gear: The most minimalist way is shoot with your phone camera. Is it the one I recommend? Depends on where you are in your photography journey and what you want to achieve!
I have been photographing for more than ten years consistently so my minimal gear is: mirrorless camera and a 35 mm lens. I want something compact and versatile that can help me move freely, interact with my subject and get active with my body. A fixed lens with a small mirrorless camera is the way to go for me now.Water bottle: First of all, always bring with you some water. You might be surprised how good our body and mind starts to feel when we stay hydrated! Carrying your own water bottle, helps you to stay away from sugary temptations like sodas and it is also a very smart choice when it comes to sustainability!
Healthy snacks: fruits or seeds work as healthy energy booster.
Pro tip : For a social connection boost you can invite someone you care about with you! I invited my life partner and his boy to join me on this photo-adventure! It felt so rewarding to give them this gift and share some moments together.
When I embarked in this adventure, I got a feeling that this was a magic gift because exactly on that day Haltia Centre hosted also a small workshop named LattuKoulu in Finnish or PancakeSchool in English.
Our nature guide and pancake teacher
He helped us learn how to start a fire using the birch tree. In case you did not know this:
Among their many uses, birch trees possess natural fire retardant properties that can help protect against the spread of fires. Birch wood is dense and slow-burning, making it ideal for use in fire prevention. The bark of birch trees is also an excellent fire retardant due to its high resin content.
Such a small and great tip! It inspired me! Let’s go back to our nature centre while enjoying some light sledding!
“Form must have a content, and that content must be linked with nature.”
Before we experience the exhibitions, let’s have some lunch for a more joyful experience!
In Finland you can always find more afforable warm meals accompanied with salads, water and coffee/tea. Lounas offers are usually between 11.00-14.00 in most of the restaurants in Finland.
Here is the dining space and the balcony seen from the outside - a cozy, yet extremely spacious hall inside (see below). They serve a special vegetarian lounas in Finnish or lunch in English.
To be honest, I fell in love with the architecture of this building when I entered in the dining area. There you can have an almost sensorial experience with the space and the Finnish nature landscape presented in a big way on the wide glass windows. The wood makes the atmosphere feel extremely light and bright - even on a gloomy winter day.
You know those texts/videos with - this helped me believe in humanity again?
This was one of those moments. What I learnt from Haltia’s website is this:
In 2015, the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia won the award for sustainable development at the highly esteemed European Museum of the Year Awards.
Haltia’s objective with its building was to create a minimal carbon footprint. The building is highly ecological, and the services have been built around Nuuksio National Park. The eco-friendly design and construction of the building paid careful attention to the shape of the building, the placement of elements, the number of windows, the orientation, and daily fluctuations.
Time to have some fun after lunch! Ready? Let’s dive in.
Main Entrance to Haltia’s Exhibition Hall
The main exhibition space has a 360 screen with various moving images projections. The futuristic furniture makes it feel very inclusive and it is also comfy to relax and have a mindful moment. I lingered around for about 15 minutes in total in front of this projection.
My favourite 360 projection was one where they used the 360 surface to showcase the Finnish nature’s fusion from winter to summer. Very immersive experience to sit, watch and reflect! By the way, the floor has also moving projections!
In the same room there is a wooden dome that feels amazing to simply be inside! Inside it was a very interesting art installation! I will not reveal everything here! I hope you will come and see it! Let’s continue our adventure! There is more to see!
Interactive Projection to help kids identify what mushroom to pick from the forest
This was another nice creative game! It was teaching you about the importance of flying squirrels in Nukksio Park and invited you to create a path to help the squirrel families navigate their local urban area, In Espoo.
I found also this quiet and small reading corner. There you can find some local nature magazines and some video works with photographs and stories from the area.
There is a new exhibition called Bog, dig and blog – refresh your relationship with nature. Here is a short extract from the statement of the exhibition:
Haltia's current exhibition explores how Finns have interacted with nature throughout history. It delves into how the local people moved through, found shelter in, and gotten food from nature, while also examining the roles of fear and the sacred in our relationship with the environment.
Love for Humanity feeling strikes again!
To complement this theme, Haltia celebrates "Outdoor Living" all year round! Every first Saturday of the month, they host special "Outdoor Saturday" events for the whole family, that may include outdoor sauna, forest dog walking, mushroom picking, forest bathing and more!
There was also a small creative corner where you could play and create your own animal. This is the exhibition wall with all the creations of the visitors.
