Guest blog by Tiina Kalliola, Heidi Kiuru, Marianna Niemi-Korhonen, Ia Pellinen, Marjaana Martinez de Pinillo
In March 2024, we began our three-month Harvard training with anticipation. 24 people from regional cooperation networks for children and young people were selected to participate in the training. The City of Helsinki organized PDIA training with Harvard University. PDIA stands for Problem Driven Iterative Adaption. They had chosen increasing the experience of children’s and young people’s safety in urban environments as their theme. They chose Kannelmäki, which is one of the urban renewal areas in Helsinki, as their more specific area.
The aim of the urban renewal is to increase the attractiveness and safety of the area as a living environment and to improve the area’s services for residents of all ages. The promotion of safety is linked to the prevention of segregation, the promotion of wellbeing and health, and the work of the Child-friendly Municipality in urban renewal work. You can read more about the previous group’s process in their blog From Silos to Bridges – Improving Children and Young People’s Experience of Safety in Helsinki.
Participants at City Hall in March 2024. Photo: Meri Virta.
Our team had the honor of continuing the process started so well by the previous group in the Kannelmäki area. 12 weeks ago, we met each other for the first time at Helsinki City Hall, where we were introduced to the content and structure of the training and got to build teamwork through practice. As a team, we built towers out of spaghetti and marshmallows. At that time, our team already showed its best side in teamwork by clearly winning the competition. Our multidisciplinary team consisted of Tiina Kalliola, Marianna Korhonen, Heidi Kiuru, Marjaana Martinez de Pinillo and Ia Pellinen.
Group work. Photo: Meri Virta.
What is the Kannelmäki area like and what challenges did we work on
Kannelmäki is one of the western residential areas of the City of Helsinki. It is typical of the area that the names of the roads are characterized by music- and gaming-themed starting points. Perhaps inspired by this, we chose to name our team Kannelmimmit. In the Kannelmäki area, services are concentrated around Kannelmäki station and Sitratori, as well as in the Kaari shopping center. Over the decades, many apartment buildings have been built in Kannelmäki. There is also a residential area for detached houses on the old side. There are about 3200 young people under the age of 29 living in Kannelmäki, and the area has one of the highest proportions of foreign-language speakers in Helsinki.
Sitratori and Kanneltalo are located next to the Kannelmäki train station. Tori and Kanneltalo host many different art and dance events, exhibitions and concerts. Kanneltalo houses cultural services, a youth center, a library and an adult education center, which the residents and young people of the area use and consider as their meeting place.
Sitratori, Kannelmäki station and the shopping center area have been identified by the police, child welfare, youth work, etc. as unsafe areas among operators. Factors causing insecurity include bars in the square, alcohol users and drug addicts spending time in the square, and insufficient lighting during the dark season. In recent years, efforts have been made to increase the comfort of the outdoor area with flower plantings, trees, benches and a children’s climbing frame.
Kannelmäki and the summer Sitratori. Photo: Ia Pellinen.
Kanneltalo and its surroundings are popular places to spend time among young people, even during school days. One of Helsinki’s largest schools in the area, Kannelmäki Comprehensive School, has 1221 pupils in five different locations. In addition, troublesome young people gather in the Kanneltalo area from nearby schools and educational institutions.
The task of our group was to think about the challenges and possible solutions behind the restless behavior of young people, especially in Kanneltalo and the Sitratori square in front of it, to reduce the feeling of insecurity experienced in the area and improve the attractiveness of the area.
We pondered at length the factors behind anxiety among young people. One of the reasons behind the restless behavior seems to be that there are not enough activities and hobbies in the area, and this is also the opinion of the young people themselves. Young people get together to spend time, and moving in a group sometimes provokes irritation among adults in the area, due to loud and slightly restless behavior. However, adolescence involves many kinds of group phenomena, and it is important for young people to belong to their own group. Groups of young people sometimes conflict with adults. These differences cannot always be resolved with young people, but families should be involved. Young people’s families are often difficult to reach and workers in the area have not had enough contact with families, even though schools and youth workers organize parents’ evenings, meetings and mothers’ groups in the area. Involving families would increase awareness of young people’s disruptive behavior and opportunities for cooperation to calm down and increase young people’s safety. The unrest in the region has been going on for a long time, which is why some adults and workers in the area are tired and hoping for a solution to the problem.
One of our goals was to make the environment more pleasant and safer. We took a small step forward here too. We involved the pupils of Kannelmäki schools, the youth center and the staff to make the area’s environment more beautiful and pleasant. Next autumn, they will plant flower bulbs in the green areas of the area. Children and young people get to influence their living environment and see the imprint of their own hands the following spring, when the flowers bloom exactly where they planted them themselves.
What we learned from the process
The 12-week study provided a good basis for further use of both collaboration and the PDIA process. The joint journey brought both group members and the individuals in the group a completely new kind of mindset and understanding of how challenging entities should be approached. Surely one of our main findings is that there are no easy solutions to big and difficult questions. Complex problems often require in-depth focus, multidisciplinary expertise and long-term work. Solving them often requires multi-stage actions that involve trying different approaches, learning from mistakes and adapting strategies. That is exactly the direction in which PDIA gently guides us.
We noticed how important soft values are when it comes to challenging entities. It is important to be patient and open to collaboration to achieve sustainable and effective solutions. Cooperation always requires time, commitment and empathy. Time is needed for team members to build trust and understanding for each other. Commitment, on the other hand, means that each team member is willing to contribute to common goals and do their part. Empathy helps to understand the perspectives and needs of others, which promotes effective and fluent communication and problem solving. All these elements are essential for successful and productive cooperation in both internal and external partnerships.
In our everyday life, solution-orientation is at the core, and unfortunately this leads to too busy work. Listening to others is easily overlooked. By listening, we can better identify the root causes of problems and develop more effective solutions. In addition, active listening improves communication and reduces misunderstandings.
Through the PDIA process, we learned how important it is to define one of the so-called main problems and start looking for its root causes. It is only appropriate to start thinking about solutions to these root causes. Big questions are big and difficult for a reason, and as has been said, there are no easy solutions. This approach makes the problem more manageable and makes it easier to track progress. Small advances improve motivation because they provide concrete evidence of progress. This is important for both collaboration and teamwork.
The training taught us in many areas, from practical problem solving to time management and how people are treated. During the training, we learned that even big problems can be solved by breaking them down into small manageable areas and by dividing and delegating tasks fairly. We learned to ask why repeatedly, which allowed us to get to the root causes of the problem and use the 5-why technique to break down our group’s challenge into smaller pieces.
We also learned that teamwork works better when psychological safety, good manners and listening to and appreciating each other are maintained in the group. In a safe working environment, people dare to speak their minds and be active members of the group, which has a significant impact on the success of the entire group. Small actions also make a big difference. During the first few weeks of training, we received a weekly Act of kindness assignment, i.e. each member of the group cheered up one selected member of their own group with some kind act, but it was not allowed to be of any material or cost anything. It was refreshing and trust-inspiring to hear and receive small, delightful words, pictures or promises from team members during the working day.
At the beginning of the training, we agreed on times in our calendars for group meetings, so that we manage our own calendars and calendars do not control us. This was also one of the lessons learned from the training. This training has encouraged me to work across borders and given me faith that things can be moved forward when you are persistent and have the courage to ask. We learn ways to find out who would be the right person in large organizations to decide on issues where different people have influence on different issues.
Where to go from here
The past few weeks have been an impetus for future work, as major regional challenges cannot be solved in 12 weeks. Despite the short time, we managed to start several measures in our group, which will be implemented during the summer and next autumn. A team of young people from the area has been gathered with regular football training, and the team will play in the Nuta Cup between youth centers in June. There are also other summer activities for young people, which are organized together with third sector operators in the area, in addition to which targeted groups operate at the Kannelmäki Youth Centre. The plans for the fall include implementing a peer-tutor model for young people together with youth services, the area’s comprehensive school and associations, and a homework club starting in the library. In the autumn, joint flower bulb planting volunteers will also be organized with young people. Parents’ evenings, organized together with regional services and various communities, are also planned to start in September. In April, we presented our observations on the regional situation of young people to Paavo Arhinmäki, Deputy Mayor of the City of Helsinki. We received a promise that the necessary resources will be allocated to the situation of young people in Kannelmäki.
The work to secure the well-being of Kannelmäki’s children and young people and the entire community has only just begun, and our team will continue to build collaborative networks between sectors, increase recreational opportunities for children and young people and improve the comfort of the area also in the future. We have noticed how important it is to have a joint, continuous dialogue openly with different actors to bring about change. Through the lessons learned in the training, it is possible to commit all actors in the region to a common process and goal, when key people in the region are involved in solving the problem. Defining common steps, evaluating experiments and processes provide an opportunity to reflect on the success of actions and to change and modify them if necessary. In the future, it is important to keep in mind the building instructions for functional teams and get those involved excited about the possibility of change. Celebrating small successes and victories along the way motivates and gives strength to continue the long-term work.
Kantsu Village Festival at Sitratori in August 2022. Photo: Päivi Viljakainen.
This blog was written by participants who completed a 12-week PDIA for Child and Youth Safety in Helsinki online action-learning program from March – June 2024. 24 participants successfully completed this program.