What is Villi Stadi?

‘Villi Stadi’ literally translated into English means ’Wild Helsinki’ in Helsinki slang. Villi Stadi is a registered organisation and citizen-led movement which aims to bring attention to Helsinki’s wild natural spaces, inviting city dwellers to explore their local urban forests, meadows, rocks, islands, wetlands, waterways and coastline and notice the positive impact of bringing a little wilderness into their daily urban lives.

What is urban wilderness?

We have decided to classify urban wilderness as an area that is mostly left in its natural state, untamed and barely maintained. We also want to emphasise that size matters. For us, an urban wilderness should allow you to forget, for a moment, that you are in a capital city, even if you have to pretend that any road noise you hear is wind.

What does Villi Stadi do?

Villi Stadi has started to create this website to:

• Help you find your nearest urban wilderness and give tips on what you can do there.
• Keep you up to date on activities and events taking place in your urban wilderness, as well as large changes that might affect it, such as city planning.
• Encourage you to connect with other wild ones, get creative, dream up projects and activities, collaborate, show your fellow citizens that it’s more fun where the wild things are and invite them to join the movement.

Villi Stadi is also involved in various projects, festivals, events, treks, activities, workshops and interventions either as a key organiser, co-producer, collaborator or moral supporter. All of these projects are in tune with Villi Stadi’s vision of a wild, green, vibrant and healthy city. You are welcome to participate in any of them. They are listed on our projects page and also on our events calendar.

Call of the Wild

So now we invite you to join the urban wild, go outside, get inspired and inspire!