Astrid Y
Feb 18, 2025
Major: Landscape Architecture
Program: CU Denver in Finland: Architecture & Landscape Interdisciplinary Design Study
My experience in Finland served as a maturation of my understanding of urban nature. With my case study of a large wetland preserve in the city of Helsinki, I came to understand a concept of nature here that has yet to gain mainstream application in the USA. In Finland, nature is a functional, designed and essential part of urban life, rooted in the strong Finnish heritage of "everyman's right" which is a principle of equitable access to healthy natural spaces for all. This was one part of the greater sense of humanitarianism and design for well-being that I felt during my time in Finland. Studying in-depth the relationship of Finns to nature further concretized my dedication to design inspired first by the natural landscape of a place. With rapid urbanization of our society amidst the increasingly volatile climate changes, Finland set a precedent for me of a phenomenally well managed, transparent public process of putting climate goals and the well-being of future generations of humans and their ecosystems first in design and planning.
