Rautio, Finland

Rautio is the first Finnish village to take part in the European Village Renewal Award competition. It was nominated by the Finnish Village Community, which named it the most committed village of 2021. Rautio, with its 600 inhabitants, was an independent municipality before being incorporated into Kalajoki Municipality in 1973. The village is situated in a flat valley in the forest of central Finland, about 23 kilometers from the nearest railway station in Ylivska, about 30 kilometers from Kalajoki on the Baltic Sea and 150 kilometers from the nearest major city, Oulu, which is also the capital of the region.

Rautio is a traditional Finnish village where most of the residents work in agriculture. There are few companies, but a highly specialized international company called Kati, which conducts prospecting and probing to explore mineral resources using diamond drill rigs. The development structure differs significantly from the compact town centers of central and southern European villages. Located at a country road junction with only a few surrounding buildings, Rautio is highly car oriented due to this sprawling structure.

In recent decades, Rautio, like many other rural communities in Finland, has been struggling with out-migration, which has resulted in the loss of many shops, the gas station and community facilities. Other challenges include a lack of adequate community facilities, and the school was too small and not in the village center.

In 2012 the “Rautio Village Association” was created to better represent the interests of the village, organize events for the population and to develop the services and infrastructure of the village. Before this development process began, the strengths of the village were its strong community and its active clubs. The vision for Rautio is to create a warm community and livable village that provides its residents with the necessary services and resources for a good life in the modern world.

The first project of the “Rautio Village Association” was also of great symbolic importance. The former municipal office, a low-quality wooden building, has been renovated and a clock tower has been added. It now has the character of a town hall, forms the center of the town together with the historic church and strengthens the feeling of togetherness in the community. When the last small shop closed, a cooperative was founded, which has been running a small shopping center with a wide range of everyday goods, postal services and a small canteen since 2019. A hairdresser’s shop and a gas station will soon be added.

The new school in Rautio is excellently equipped, offers all-day care and has spacious open areas. In the future, lunch for the students, which was previously delivered from a large central kitchen, will be prepared in the community center in an environmentally friendly manner. In addition to the elementary school, the community center offers rooms for all age groups. The new gymnasium is a multi-purpose hall for community events, theater performances, festivals and club meetings. The building also includes a fitness center, a sauna and a civil defense bunker.

It would be desirable if the excellent inner qualities of the school and multifunctional building were transferred to the design of the outer facades and the building materials used. A small, traditional wooden facade and the use of the environmentally friendly building material wood would have given the building charm and aesthetics, fitted perfectly into the idyllic local structure and enriched the townscape in a positive way.

The picturesque forests, the Vääräjoki river and beautiful, untouched nature make Rautio a place with excellent conditions for green tourism. Some farms offer “holidays on the farm”. Salmon fishing, hiking and team building seminars are popular leisure activities. A special feature is that only locally produced food and drinks are offered and of course the Finnish sauna is not missing.

The “Rautio Village Association” has perfected the use of social media. By regularly presenting events, projects, ideas and successes on these channels, Rautio has gained national recognition, which probably contributed to the nomination for the European Village Renewal Award.

Rautio is not yetsatisfied with what has been achieved, but has a number of plans on its agenda. For example, the establishment of a nature trail that will point out the special features of the forest and invite people to experience nature in a sustainable way. Or the construction of a residential area near the center, which is designed as a building land security model. In this development area, a direct footbridge will lead over the Vääräjoki River to the village center in the future, to strengthen the connection between the two areas. Another important project is the construction of the Rautio retirement home, which will increase the village’s basic services and enable the elderly to remain in their familiar surroundings. The plans have already been drawn up, construction will start in the very near future.

The design of the outdoor facilities and the structuring of the public spaces will also prove to be a major challenge, where, last but not least, more cycle paths and footpaths will be needed to reduce car journeys.

Rautio is an excellent example of how the activating cooperation of the population bundled in the “Rautio Village Association” and the intelligent use of existing potential can help achieve something that noticeably and sustainably improves the quality of life.

Evaluated: 2022