Åland is a small island society that holds huge potential in leading the way towards a more resilient and regenerative future. Åland is an autonomous region of Finland. Åland’s autonomy gives it the right to pass laws in areas relating to its internal affairs and to exercise its own budgetary power. While small in size – the population of Åland is currently just over 30.000 – Åland is a full society in and of itself. Self-government combined with the small size makes Åland agile, and ideal for piloting new ideas.

Most of Åland is rural landscape. Åland consists of several thousands of islands, but only about 60 are inhabited. 70 % of Åland’s land area is forest, while 13 % is agricultural area. Most of Åland people live in the countryside. Åland is home to a diverse food sector, with a lot of fruit, vegetable, potato and grain production, as well as dairy, meat and fish. About half of all Åland businesses are agricultural enterprises. This all means that many Åland people have a personal connection to the rural landscape, and it’s also a key component in many Åland livelihoods.

The big problem we are facing today is that all too many of our rural landscapes and communities are fragile. This is because they are

reliant on key inputs such as energy and fertilisers from outside of their own landscape and their own control

and

trapped in a system of production that is working against nature, not with it.

Recently, we’ve all witnessed how sudden shocks, such as pandemics, wars and macroeconomic disturbances, wreak havoc on fragile landscapes and communities – all the while long-term crises, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, sap the lifeforce out of them too.

While too fragile today, many landscapes hold underutilised resources that could be activated to improve the economic and environmental performance of the landscape. In doing so, the reliance on outside input streams decreases, allowing to retain and create more value within the landscape. By focusing on the key components of becoming fossil free, nutrient neutral, biodiversity enhancing and water smart, we believe that rural landscapes are headed towards a thriving future.

A thriving rural landscape is one that doesn’t allow value to be wasted – that would be like throwing money away. Therefore, our key task is to identify, retain and refine value that is already embedded in the landscape and to prevent it from escaping.

What does circularity mean in practice? It means that everything that goes into the system is retained there as long as possible, in one form or another. Every input that is new to the system is created in a way that is as smart as possible – using raw materials, energy and other inputs efficiently and taking circularity into consideration already in the design phase. Every input that already exists within the system is retained there as long as possible – any opportunity for reusing and refining is utilised until efficient recycling is the final step.

A thriving rural landscape is one which is stewarded by you and me – it’s not something that is defined, constructed or governed from above and outside.

What does people-powered stewardship mean in practice? It means that we all claim our active Landscape Citizenship – recognising that we all can take various active roles within the system and engage in its workings in multiple ways ranging from consumption to production to ownership and more. For many of us, this requires a shift in mindset, from perceiving the landscape as being out of our influence and reach, to considering it to be something in which we personally can and should have a say in and take responsibility for.