Ad Astra i Helsingfors r.f.

National Network
Finland
Address

Uudenmaankatu 42 C 52
00120 Helsinki
Finland

Telephone
0407274683
E-Mail
info@ad-astra.fi
E-Mail (2)
Josephine@ad-astra.fi
E-Mail (3)
milena.parland@ad-astra.fi
Organisation Type
Non-Governmental Organization
Year of Establishment
2009
Fields of Activity
  1. Arts
  2. International/Cultural relations
  3. Religion
  4. Youth and education
General Information

Our association has more than 8 years of experience working with multicultural issues and integration especially with children, youths, and teachers, mostly through storytelling. Our team started out as a working-group in 2008, and the association was founded in November 2009. Our board consists of 3 persons, and we have a referencegroup of 8 persons. Our yearly budget is around 70 000 euros. Staff: Two persons 75%, two persons 20-50%. We also have a large network of persons working for a day/short terms conducting art-workshops for children. Partners: Helsinki city (schools, day-cares, cultural department). We work closely with Fryshuset in Stockholm and we cooperate with Fokus r.y. and USKOT-RESA. We are also members of Moniheli. Funding: Mostly private funding from Finland and some state-funding. We have been part of Osallisena Suomessa/Delaktig i Finland and was awarded a prize from Svenska Kulturfonden in 2016 for our work.

Mission and Objectives

To promote dialogue, integration and knowledge about cultures, especially among young people and children in the Helsinki-region.

Main Projects / Activities

Feast-calendar for schools with Fokus r.y. The calendar is an innovative achievement in Helsinki city; www.juhlakalenteri.fi or www.festkalendern.fi Fairy-tale book, När månen skrattade/Kun kuu nauroi (SETS 2015), which was produced as part of Ad Astra's work and consists of tales from 15 different cultures. Fairytale storytelling Fira Tillsammans: A project that involves celebrating different multicultural festivals over the course of the academic year in schools. Students participate in different artistic workshops related to each festival before coming together to showcase what they have done and to celebrate as a school. Together for Finland: An interfaith youth project that aims to show that inter-religious dialogue has a part to play in integration and peace-building among youths, particularly from minority religious and cultural backgrounds. The project uses personal storytelling to empower youths, combat prejudices and to break stereotypes, as well as to show diversity within religious groups.

How can you contribute to the Network in your country?

Ad Astra can contribute to the network by offering to share our expertise in storytelling and in celebrating different multicultural festivals with children.

Why do you want to join the ALF Network?

We want to join the ALF network as we would like to benefit from the network’s collective knowledge via the different members as well as to find out about opportunities related to our organisation’s interest in intercultural dialogue and exchanges, which are in line with ALF’s.

Contact (1) Full Name
Milena Parland
Head of the organisation
Milena Parland