The Organization Unit
The main purpose of this unit is to strengthen FANC's role as a democratically led non-governmental organization.
In order to carry out this objective, the organization unit:
- plans and organizes annual meetings of the Council and General Meeting held every third year in cooperation with the Board and executive team;
- supports, promotes and coordinates voluntary work in the local associations, districts, working groups and networks;
- supports and promotes FANC’s co-operation with local and regional social movements;
- encourages member associations and individual members to influence the decision-making procedure of FANC;
- offers individual members and non-members guidance and environmental material such as books, brochures, leaflets and research reports produced by FANC every year on different subjects;
- promotes environmental education in cooperation with the Nature League, and organizes camps and excursions for families;
- organizes courses and seminars on a variety of themes.
In addition, the organization unit
- campaigns for having new individual members. Since 2006 it organized a campaign in 5-6 biggest towns in Finland under summertime. This campaign has been very successful – every year we have received 1500-2000 new members. We are gathering new members also by phone, fairs, advertisements in newspapers and by FANC’s website;
- shares responsibility for internal communication and communication between the head office and our local member associations and districts with the communication section: e.g. publishes 4-5 times a year a bulletin, takes care of updating the e-mail-lists and coordinates the visits from the head office to local associations and regional offices;
- works to increase environmental awareness: we encourage members and other citizens to actively participate in early stages of community and land use planning, as well as environmental license processes in order to defuse conflicts in decision-making processes;
- inspires members and non-members to take part in nature excursions: we organize annually 6-8 Nature weeks conducted by biologists and two one week camps for volunteers to restore the national landscape of Koli Hill into its natural state.
- encourages members and non-members to actively participate in voluntary work in camps and other events, in which e.g. valuable traditional landscapes, mires and small waters like springs are restored to their natural state.
Finally, the unit organizes together with the communication unit specific campaign days and week, such as:
The Nature and Environment week at the libraries in February (since 1999): Every year the campaign week chooses the main themes. In 2010 the main focus is on the biodiversity, conservation of species and their genotypes and protection of ecosystems. During the Nature and Environment week FANC and it’s member associations will present their main activities and deliver brochures and other material.
The Wild Flowers’ Day on Sunday a week before Midsummer (since 2003): The aim of the day is to introduce the local flora, promote botanical activities and offer nature experiences to all interested in plants. In 2009, FANC and 10 other partners organized 94 excursions all over the country.
The Day of Everyman’s Rights on the second Sunday of September (since 1970): Finland and other Nordic countries have extensive Everyman’s Rights, which play a central role in peoples’ everyday lives and recreational activities. FANC has, together with the Central Association for Recreational Sports and Outdoor Activities (Suomen Latu), from the early 1970’s celebrated our fine possibilities to freely enjoy the nature by arranging nature excursions open to everybody. But our unique Everyman’s Rights aren’t self-evident. Every now and then they seem to be threatened, e.g. some landowners would like to narrow those rights. Therefore the FANC has arranged together with its partners seminars and discussions on those threats.
The Silence Day on the 8th of October: Quiet areas, where people can enjoy nature's sounds such as the sound of the wind and the song of birds, are becoming rare even in Finland. Therefore we introduced the Silence Day for the first time in 2000. The main purpose of the day is to raise awareness of harmful effects of environmental noise and promote the mapping and preserving of quiet areas. Since 2000, we have taken numerous initiatives, arranged seminars and nature excursions to areas where people can still enjoy the nature sounds. Our main partners have been the Central Association for Recreational Sports and Outdoor Activities and the Finnish Federation of Hard of Hearing.
Find the Nature Near You -project
Find the Nature Near You is a nationwide project financed by the Tapiola Group during 2008-2010. The aim of this project is to offer Finnish people pleasant experiences in nature near their everyday life. The project consists of excursions, which are organized by local associations. In 2009, there were 53 excursions in 18 towns. Excursions promote public awareness of the nature and affect positively attitudes towards nature and environment.
The Wild Flowers Day
The aim of The Wild Flowers Day is to introduce the local flora, promote botanical activities and offer nature experiences to all interested in plants. The tradition was started by the Danish Botanical Society in 1988 from where it spread to all Nordic countries. The Wild Flowers Day was introduced to Finland in 2003. It is arranged in cooperation between The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and 10 other organizations, including botanical and nature conservation societies, nature conservation authorities, botanical museums, educational organizations, local governments and local people.
The excursions of The Wild Flowers Day are held every year on the same day in June, a week before Midsummer Day. Since 2007, there has also been a competition, where everyone looks for wild plants in their own backyard. The observations are reported to The Finnish Museum of Natural History. In 2009, there were 94 plant excursions all over Finland.
On the Way to Landscape – Naturally
On the Way to Landscape – Naturally is a nationwide project of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation. The partner in this project is VR Group, which is a broad-based Finnish transport company. VR serves freight service customers and public transport customers with rail and road transport services. VR Group has also specialized in track design, construction and maintenance services.
On the Way to Landscape – Naturally started in 2008 and ends in 2010. The aim of the project is to cherish valuable and beautiful traditional rural habitats, which are at the same time the most threatened and the most diverse habitat types in Finland.
Traditional rural habitats are areas, which have been created by traditional livestock farming. These biotopes used to be mowed and grazed, but occasionally also cleared, burned or flooded. Due to intensification of agricultural systems, these biotopes are in danger of disappearing. Traditional rural biotopes do not remain open without active management, mowing and collecting of hay, clearance of trees and bushes, grazing by livestock.
On the Way to Landscape – Naturally takes annually care of 50 traditional habitats all over the country. Habitats are managed in a traditional way and mainly through voluntary work.
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