• Raising environmental awareness among residents and summer visitors in the Lappeenranta region by highlighting the mutual benefits of biodiversity for people and nature.
• Encouraging concrete actions to prevent biodiversity loss and improve local ecosystems.
• Establishing a public biodiversity site and hosting a nature event in each of the five municipalities, along with 20 nature walks and village info sessions.
• 100 biodiversity-enhancing actions by individuals and associations.

Activities

The project Our Footprint realised more than 1 000 actions for biodiversity. These activities were realised through the participation of local residents, which produced excellent results. They involved reaching out to people, guiding and inspiring them to take concrete action to benefit nature and to participate in implementing these actions.

Core project action listened to residents’ needs and adapted biodiversity measures to the interests of local communities. Another important step was enabling nature action by providing inspiring tools to get started, such as grass seeds or materials for building birdhouses and insect hotels.

Community-led actions realised 30 village information events and nature walks. During these, people came up with ideas for biodiversity actions to be realised in the area. The project organised several events across different municipalities to increase knowledge about nature and biodiversity, including an event focused on improving the living conditions of waterfowl and another specialised event on improving the living conditions of hole-nesting bird species.

During a forest excursion, participants gained practical insight into the possibilities of continuous cultivation forestry for integrating biodiversity.

Risks of harmful effects of net fishing on the Saimaa ringed seal and other organisms in Lake Saimaa were highlighted through the Verkko ei valitse (‘The Net Does Not Differentiate’) campaign.

Active, inspiring and practical communication across multiple channels, mostly on Instagram (@meidanjalkemme), was a key part of the project. Residents were also encouraged to share their own nature actions on social media. Indirectly, through communication, the project reached hundreds of thousands of people (through media such as the newspapers Maaseudun Tulevaisuus and Etelä-Saimaan Sanomat, Radio Tempo and Instagram). Extremely successful cooperation took place during the communication actions.

A biodiversity site open to everyone was created in all five municipalities in the project area to highlight the opportunities available to residents for biodiversity action. In addition, a larger nature event planned and realised by local residents took place in each municipality. All in all, more than 1 000 different nature actions, large and small, such as building birdhouses, establishing a meadow, arranging a nature event and combating invasive species, were realised during the project period.

• The project successfully established five biodiversity sites across the Lappeenranta region, each tailored to local conditions: a meadow in Luumäki, a nature and art site on a former landfill in Savitaipale, a traditional landscape in Lappeenranta, a dry sunny habitat in Lemi and a swamp paradise in Taipalsaari. Bumblebee monitoring showed remarkable results in just one year, with nature increasing significantly at the restored sites.
• Large resident-driven nature events were held in each municipality, with one attracting over 700 participants. In total, 30 village info sessions and nature walks were organised, and over 1 000 biodiversity actions were completed, including meadow creation, birdhouse and insect hotel construction, and invasive species removal. More than 1 000 meadow seed packets were distributed, and 15 meadow sites were established or maintained.
• Special events focused on improving habitats for birds and waterfowl, and a forestry-themed excursion was held. Additionally, four signs warning about the dangers of net fishing to Saimaa ringed seals were installed in collaboration with municipalities and the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation.
• More than 1 000 people were directly engaged through events and volunteer activities, while media coverage and social media outreach reached hundreds of thousands.
• The project’s success was recognised with a landscape action award from the rural women’s advisory organisation for southern Finland.
• Another notable good practice outcome was the launch of a regional invasive species project, which demonstrated how community-driven, inclusive environmental action can lead to widespread engagement, long-term impact and new partnerships across sectors.

Key lessons

• The project significantly improved environmental awareness among local and summer residents in the Lappeenranta region, highlighting how biodiversity enhances both community well-being and the area's appeal.
• Its hands-on, visible approach inspired individuals, associations, and municipalities to take voluntary action, resulting in new nature sites and a stronger sense of community. Residents also began using nature-based imagery, such as meadow seed mixes, in their own communications and branding.
• Hundreds of people and dozens of communities were inspired by the practical examples to take their own actions to benefit nature, from establishing meadows to building birdhouses.
• The concrete, visible actions created a ripple effect: people were inspired to act independently for biodiversity, both outside the project and after the project period.
• The project implementation method proved successful and has inspired others to undertake similar activities in different parts of Finland.