Festival speakers include Elisa Aaltola, Ulla-Maija Alanen, Taneli Eskola, Ingá-Máret Gaup-Juuso, Jyrki Kallio-Koski, Tauno Kohonen, Riku Paavola, Jenni Räinä, Teemu Saloriutta ja Esko Valtaoja.
All the presentations will be held in Finnish.
Elisa Aaltola Nuisance species: human or predator?
The presentation focuses on a philosophical question: are humans a nuisance species? Biodiversity loss, the climate crisis, and industrial animal production cause immeasurable harm to other species and individual animals. All of these are consequences of the actions of Homo sapiens. Philosopher Elisa Aaltola serves as the Executive Director of the Animal Rights Academy. She is also Adjunct Professor of Animal and Environmental Ethics at the University of Turku. Aaltola’s passion lies in advancing the status of animals through research.
Ulla-Maija Alanen Teachings of Water
My work explores the underwater world of forest lakes as a special place, the identification with aquatic plants, and the desire to merge with the landscape of the lakebed. My path to the water began through an accident I experienced. I sought relief from pain in the water, but it gave me more. I discovered the most beautiful world I have ever encountered and began to sense the teachings of water. They opened up a lens through which to view human life as well.
Taneli Eskola
Taneli Eskola, born in 1958 in Helsinki, is a photographic artist. His works are diverse—images of snowy landscapes, streets, sunlit gardens, and urban paradises. He is especially known for his nature photography, in which he captures forests and nature in unexpected ways. Eskola enjoys photographing details in nature that are not immediately visible at first glance, such as intriguing colors.
Ingá-Máret Gaup-Juuso Blending into the landscape – joiks about nature and the people of Kaijukka village, along with images of the villagers and the nature of the Käsivarsi region
Ingá-Máret Gaup-Juuso is a Sámi singer and joiker who began practicing traditional joik already in early childhood. Her art is deeply rooted in tradition and has, over the years, expanded into diverse projects and concert entities. Gaup-Juuso’s performances are intense and present, offering the audience a deep connection to tradition, nature, and the stories between people.
Jyrki Kallio-Koski Blending into the landscape – joiks about nature and the people of Kaijukka village, along with images of the villagers and the nature of the Käsivarsi region
Jyrki Kallio-Koski is a professional nature photographer from Oulu who has documented Sámi life in the fells of the “Arm” region and in the Sámi village of Raittijärvi for over 50 years. The images in the presentation have mainly been taken in the Käsivarsi Wilderness Area in Enontekiö. They depict the reindeer-herding Sámi of the remote village of Raittijärvi as well as the surrounding northern landscapes.
Tauno Kohonen Light in the Wilderness: documentary film about Kitkajoki
Tauno Kohonen has been travelling in the Kitkajoki valley since 1980, photographing, fishing, canoeing, and skiing. For him, the most important thing has been simply being in nature. He describes himself as a photographer in nature. Kohonen’s award-winning documentary film Kitkajoki / Light in the Wilderness explores the relationship between humans and nature through the aphorisms of the late writer Reino Rinne from Kuusamo.
Riku Paavola Research on freshwater ecology, long-term time series data, climate change and reindeer grazing
Riku Paavola works as station manager and senior researcher at the Oulanka research station of University of Oulu, Finland. He studied Animal Ecology at the University of Oulu (MSc, 1995) and Limnology and Hydrobiology at the University of Jyväskylä (PhD, 2003). In 2024, Paavola was awarded a docentship (associated professor) at the University of Oulu. In addition to freshwater ecology, the last few years he has also worked on terrestrial topics related to climate change and effects of reindeer grazing.
Jenni Räinä Rapidly flowing change – do we learn to recognize it?
Jenni Räinä is a writer from Oulu who has explored environmental change in her works. In her 2025 book Veden ajat she writes about changes in aquatic environments and our tendency to forget the transformations that have taken place in nature. Veden ajat was nominated for the Finlandia Prize for Non-Fiction, the WWF Finland Nature Book of the Year Award, and the Botnia Literary Prize. The collaboratively written work Metsä meidän jälkeemme (by Räinä’s working group) was awarded the Finlandia Prize for Non-Fiction in 2019.
Teemu Saloriutta Journey into the Primeval Forest
Teemu Saloriutta, 36, has been actively photographing nature for twenty years. He prefers to photograph and hike in remote wilderness areas: old-growth forests, pristine mires, and the peace of the archipelago. In recent years, he has worked on hiking books, the latest of which, Retki Ikimetsään (2025), took him across some of the wildest corners of Finland. In his presentation, he leads the audience from the lush oak groves of the southwest coast to the dim spruce forests of Kuusamo’s hills
Esko Valtaoja The Children of Stardust
The universe was born fourteen billion years ago. Our telescopes can see trillions upon trillions of stars, most with their own planetary systems. We are an infinitesimally small part of nature as a whole—of this possibly infinite cosmos. What should we, the children of stardust, think of all this? Esko Valtaoja is Professor Emeritus of Space Astronomy and an award-winning non-fiction author.
