Janne Kareinen

e-moderator | Mer/Wed 01/07/2009 | 19:00-20:30

1. What are your channels of information? From Agency (company, citizen, research-students) to the citizen? (eg phone, fax, sms, website, newsletter, mailing lists, chat - skype, forum)

Web site is the first one, the main one and then phone.

2. What are your channels of communication? By citizens to the Agency (company, citizen, research-students) and vice versa? (eg phone, fax, text messages, mailing lists, blogs, chat, wikis, forums)

Meet people; probably I phone them and I go to meet them. Usually in that way. And e-mail of course. And text messages also a little bit. But mostly e-mail or Facebook, because in this building —I live in this building— there are something like 200 children and all the families are very same kind of our families and 75 apartment in this house and something like 30-40 of those apartments are using Facebook. So we are using that a lot.

3. Where did your interest for the use of ICT to inform, communicate and to participate (engage, consult)?

If I can start from the beginning, I was employed in [office] services and I'm very curious person, I got very bored easily. I imagine what I can do that I don't know already in [...] services and than they were that kind of company that make new teams. So I got involved in different kind of solutions and developing that solutions. It was because I was working there and get very bored and trying to get something interesting to do.

And the second face, in Arabianranta, in the net, there were many house net pages but we didn't have. Si I called Kari Halinen "why we don't have this kind of pages?". It should be a e-moderator in every house who make those pages and then I ask "Do have I to know anything technique?" and than he said "No, you don't have to" and than I said "ok! I can make that."

After that I was so interesting about net and solutions. But after that, when I make this page for this house I got to see that taken be something of social media. So the people get to know each other much more better. And when I first time see that view, I was very involved and very interesting in this kind of places and possibilities about what you can do in Internet.

4. What are your resources and equipment of IT infrastructure?

We have few laptops at home: my personal laptop and then this kind of laptop that everybody use. We have wireless network at home. In my working room, I carry my laptop with me and I have also the wireless network. In the other place where I working there is that kind of table pc with Wlan network.

Sometime I use —because my wife has— mobile free mobile phone where you can get also internet connection and we use it when we are boating or summer house. And than I use mobile phone. I like laptop in general, but PC not Apple.

5. All of the workers (members, partners, research group) have the ability to use ICT tools?

Yes, they use e-mail and watch our blog or my wife blog —she has a blog—. And my father is on Facebook also, but he can only watch our photos, but he doesn't use it.

6. There is a responsibility of communication? An employee communication? Of tutors or consultants?

Yes, is me the responsable.

7. Occurring phenomena empowerment or voluntarism?

It is strange, because before I moved here I've never want to know my neighbours. Never ever. Probably because I've small children and this house has very homogenic families. I think for my self that I'm a very stranger worker: I don't do that kind of 5 to 7 working days, and I don't a carrier, I do different kind of things. And in this house there are a lot of people which are same kind. I think that is the main reason why I want to know this people. For some reason in this building rule the voluntary work, they has started to develop some kind of community or feeling to take care to other people. I think that is a very rare thing to happen and I like very much. After that e-moderator team (because I've done many many voluntarism things after that) it's nice to try to get some kind of influence to other houses that they would get some same kind of community feeling. I like this area little bit community thing and I think that is largely beacuse for the intra pages in every house and they're a very active city organization. I like it but the e-moderator power there isn't and Art and Design City Helsinky hasn't given any power. Maybe responsability.

8. Communication is differentiated according to target audience?

You don't know how is different. We are making this happening in this area. We are making advertising of that. So is for the all public area. So we have also get all kind of permissions (parking use permission, permission that we can make noise). Many different of permissions and you have to use different kind language in those public place. If I write in the Facebook to somebody that I know very closely I'll write very badly language, I don't watch if is written right. And about my kids a always think what they understand.

9. Can you tell me the experiences of information, consultation and active participation made using the ICT and NOT as a factor of involvement? (past, present, and future plans)

There are so many but I can tell you two different kind of level. I star with this house. We have an house book: that is use as a book where landlord keep the names of who is living or coming in house. That's the main use. We usually use house book for that, but in our house in the intra pages in the house book people can tell what they are, how many persons are living in their family, what they do, what they like and put the picture also. The people have used it. So I know few families truth that and is very nice to have that kind of basic informations about families. So is more much easier to talk with them when you are in the same lift or... I our house pages people list that kind of sauna changing discussion. So you can inform the other like: I'm not using my sauna turn and is free to go; and the people put a mark "yeah we'll go, thank you!". It's very nice, because is always warm anyway.

And if I tell larger scale, moderators choose sometime some kind of things: if there are some problems in the internet line or tv broadcasting, moderators ask each other: "is only in our house or do you have the same problem?" And is very easy to say everyone has the same problem or only in one house. And than you can call and say in this are there is that kind of problem.

If I go still a more larger scale [e.g.] it happen in this yard and there are five different house company (type of houses in this yard) and we did by e-mail but we organised together and the meaning or the reason for that is to know people also from the other houses. Just to talk not only with your own house people.

And if I go much larger than that, I'm in the city organisation chairman and we have public different forum to get people together. There are two different examples for that: we get chore (where people sing together) and we search people trout Artova page (city part organisation page) for a little less than twenty singing people together. And we have this kind of local newspaper which we public and search people to do that paper trout artova.fi net page and something like 30 volunteers journalist and photographer came. This happen from the virtual. And when we do that kind meeting to celebrate this voluntary work usually few people come physically in the place; but in virtual they are really active. So there are different kind of example.

10. Have you had other experiences point and specific areas? (eg historical, tourism, management and design of the neighbourhood, social cohesion, organization of events, planning, gas, real estate services ...) (past, present, and future plans)

Our house pages when there is this kind of wave of bike steeling it goes through the houses pages that now bicycle again. Or when —we have this kind of lock room in the basement where you can put your staff away— this kind of wave that somebody burglaring them also. They go this kind of discussions and people discuss that: have you seen in this hour in that street somebody getting inside illegal in this case. This is one case; small different cases.

Then in our page people trade things; because there are so many children from different ages. People are offering: "I have this kind of baby sitter; somebody want it?" And usually somebody somebody want it. "We need a bicycle of this size; anybody have this kind of bicycle? And usually they get it. In this page!

11. Have you tried other combinations, systems and tools, and between real and virtual? How to reach non digitization?

I don't have example in arabianranta.fi but I have in city part organisation. Yes, we have a board but we put our happenings, city part organization happenings, an usually when we make some happening there is that kind of happening page in artova.fi than we make posters and flyers and those put them illegally in the street. And we also start a club and we have done that also in virtual page and then posters and we send also all the house all that kind of poster that they can put their walls. Because I have been design in this kind of house page, for this new version of arabianranta.fi especially design of house pages and I tryed to suggest that you should promote your own house pages through this wall that you have in the corridors. And I think that quite many houses do that. Me also when in the beginning when this published advertise that page (not happen but page) in the walls. so the habitants can know that there is kind of intra page in the house.

12. Have you taken action to mediation and communication with the council or other bodies?

It's very quite, if you work in virtual way you probably don't get any feedback, it's very quite. If you want to get some result you have to make this kind of public letters where they will have to answer. And you can do it individually. If you wish to make something to happen you have to meet people. Phone isn't enough, you have to go and meet people. You can't through internet. City council is not that kind of virtual place. It would work like virtual. They many kind of solutions and place to give feedback but they don't react to those feedback.

13. What are your perspectives, orientations and evaluations of general use of ICT?

Social network. It think that it will go more human, even more human than today. For me is very interesting to what is this human side. What I mean for that is many kind of platform you can use, but I think that people will miss use them, in the human way. Because, first place when I become e-moderator, our house pages were place to keep all official records and all official numbers: service company, mantaing numbers, that kind of informations. I wasn't interesting in it at all, my interest was to get to know people and get some community feeling and then we miss use that platform what was in those days, which was totally awful and probably so anxious to get to be part of that development to the new arabianranta.fi and change this view for the human view. I think that is interesting. I hope that will go in that way.

14. Acknowledges an interest, a push on the part of institutions? What funds or claims regarding the use of ICT?

Yes, I think so, because they watch it in some economical way. It's cheaper if people use ICT. I think they see also in that view, you have to invest. Because there is huge investment in this kind of companies, development companies which are largely governament funding and they develop different kind of solution for the computer and this social solution. Example for the old people: housing where they can leave longer in their own home and I think that partly is cheaper for the government have that kind of solution of old people houses.

15. You start courses approach to new technologies? Literacy? What's missing citizens?

There was courses earlier but I think that not in our days. But I think there might be, I think there are person that would learn things in those kind of courses also and library would keep that. But if you think from another point of view, library almost are doing that every day; because they have this open computers and they teach you if you don't know how to use it. So I think that they do it every day, because they have something like open computer. Almost every time when I go to the library I heard somebody ask "How I put this my USB" and they go and tell that "you do this and this". So is very easy to learn. And this kind of "you don't learn what you don't use".

16. The people in your neighbourhood, feel a lack of services ICT?

Movies that you can rent by internet and food that you can order through the net. People can see that might be this kind of service, why we don't have it. All the change of service or staff, a kind of free change service if you can't find that. I think that few services are they don't exist already and some are that you don't just find.

17. Felt that push too much on Ict reinforce inequality? Or open the territory to the phenomena of greater democracy?

Democracy absolutely because if people can't find information, even if you don't use internet you can ask some person to find information somewhere. But if you think that kind of official city information that is now in internet, most of official papers (Helsinky city official papers) you can find in internet if you know where to fin them and it almost the same kind of situation compared if you don't have the ability to search those information you can't find them. And many many people ask me where find this and this document. If you compare to that situation, information isn't in internet, you can find anywhere.

18. Could you speak more of your active contribution to planning and land management? The participation of citizens with regard to land and public spaces?

First, is very hard for citizen participate on city planning, is almost impossible. Via city part organisation and via fisial representing of habitant of this area and even for as is very hard to get part of city planning. They send us plan very far and is very difficult to get some part of that planning or development. But if you think this city part habitant, they are very active and also politics living in this area, a lot. For example they are living in this house and are board, chairman and city council, so they can handle those things. We have try in this area to get a role of planning of parks and what should in the park but city very restricted and doesn't want as to be a part of that. Is a very one way. But if you think where you can have some influence, of course in your house cleaning or how those plants are minded or water it, that very small things you can say.

There was that kind of meeting and city planning have to send all the plans to as and we can make complain about that. They have to, it's the law. But if you complain it doesn't matter anything. You can build a faccade and show that and if we say that's not very good or if you say that is very good but we would like to change something over here. Answers will be (specially from Michael Sundman) "yess you can have that kind of part but we don't do it that". But in the law days this kind of thing that you have to hear habitants is not that you have to do something after you have head habitants. If you want to have some kind of change, you have to get media and get some kind of scandal from it, than you have some power. But is very difficult. You have Finland media to have something or you have to know somebody.