Stuart Jarvis

First, in the absence of any nice graphics yet and not wishing to encourage puppy killing by using Paul’s great graphic, I have to settle for:
Update: yay, we have an image:

I'm going to Akademy

A big thanks to everyone on the organising team for their efforts so far and for all that they still have to do In their wisdom they have decided that I get to talk at you for a bit. I was a little surprised by that (in a good way) as I thought at least the main topic I chose might have been picked up by someone a lot better qualified, so now I had better crack on and get something decent written…

Getting there – I’m a hypocrite

Tampere looks like a great place to be, but unfortunately it is not the easiest place to get to without flying (which is bad due to carbon dioxide emissions, air pollution around airports and getting stranded every time a volcano erupts…). I found various options for getting from the UK to Finland, but the quickest would take three days each way and costs two-three times more than flying, so I’m doing the latter. However, if you live in northern or eastern Europe there are some other possibilities by train, coach and ferry so please take a moment to consider those before booking your flight. Yeah, I know – I’m flying and most of you are probably flying too – lecture over

By the way, if you are flying then Skyscanner is a pretty excellent flight finder that I’ve used a number of times (and this time too).

Plans for before and after

I’m arriving in Helsinki in the evening on Friday, hoping to get to Tampere by bus or train around midnight and perhaps meet a few people in Tampere or at the hostel. After Akademy I plan to head to Helsinki on Saturday morning and then stay there for a night (somewhere) before catching a flight back on Sunday evening. So, if anyone else plans on doing similar, has recommendations for accommodation or sights in Helsinki – or nearby – please let me know.

Tags: akademy, community, environment, travel