Creative Alliance

I am Aino Huotari, a freelance photographer and journalist living in Helsinki. I have been snowboarding for almost two decades. At that time, there are memories of both snowy downhill trips and winters, when no snow has come despite expectations.

I am trying to take responsibility for my own actions on this planet, and therefore I cannot close my eyes to the climate crisis or the loss of species. The significance of winters is therefore even deeper than snow hobbies - it is about our survival.

At POW, I experience empowerment from doing and working together. None of us alone can solve the climate crisis, but when we unite our forces and get the people around us involved, we can make a big difference. Community also creates comfort.

My path to building a more sustainable life has been long, and some of the changes have taken years. The more I know and learn, the harder it seems to act against the knowledge. My biggest single act has been a radical reduction in flying. My diet has also changed, and more and more often I choose the vegan option.

Personal choices are important, but the most important thing is to influence decisions that make things change at the national or international level. In the POW path to save winters, I therefore emphasize political influence and training.

The best things to do right now are trips with a group of friends in the hinterlands of Pyhä: moonstones, artillery trees, pastel skies and powder snow.

Telemark counter, outdoor nerd and father of three muzzles. I spent my childhood in Kittilä and now I have flowed south, to Rovaniemi. In day care, I’m in a hut house called Flatlight Creative House with the title of Head of Post Production. Life is outdoors, and the desire for the mountains is incurable.

POW is born of a similar awakening that I myself have experienced when I see the Mer de Glace glacier in Chamonix shrink. How can something so great and seemingly eternal shrink so quickly? POW gives me peer support, platform and tools to influence.

I started with my own climate actions on what I buy from the store - and what I don’t buy. I started eating heavily vegetable-focused. I buy Eco-certified electricity. I consciously reduce motoring, and the plane is no longer the only way to bend in Helsinki. I have placed in a swamp. I offset my carbon emissions with Compensate. I will vote for candidates who value nature in the election. Find out about sustainability by reading and listening to podcasts. Next, I am transferring my pension fund to the sustainable investment funds.

Kajsa Silow moved to Åre from Varberg, so to speak changed the surfboard to the snowboard. Here she realizes her dream and satisfies her need for closeness to nature. She is a bit of a multi-tasker; expedition guide, mountain leader, ux designer, entrepreneur and certified adventurer. She runs the company Adventure Stories together with a colleague where they organize adventure trips and outdoor events. Kajsa now focuses on travel in the Nordic countries to reduce his and his guests' footprints and thus also wants to inspire others to find the adventure closer than on the other side of the world. Living sustainably and consciously has been an aspiration since a young age, and she believes that everyone must find their own way to change. She is happy to show the way by showing and arousing positive interest in experiences in alternative life choices.

Rickard Croy is a freelance photographer, filmmaker and sustainability entrepreneur, and is one of the founders of Lokatt Helmets, which develops the world's first ski helmet made of fossil-free plastics.

This is how he thinks about sustainability, entrepreneurship and snowboarding: “I am convinced that we can adopt a sustainable lifestyle without compromising our quality of life, quite the opposite. To get there, the individual, society and industry need to work together, but the basis of the whole change lies in the fact that pioneers dare to break new ground, test new solutions and inspire sustainable behavioral changes. ”

Mark first made his career as an adventure athlete and broadcaster, with World firsts and records to over 130 nations & territories, making documentaries over 15 years for the BBC and Global Cycling Network.

Having cycled around the World twice, he still holds this 18,000-mile record in 78 days & 14 hours – achieving the famous ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ for the first time by bicycle. Off the bike, these record breaking journeys have been through the high Arctic, mountaineering and ocean rowing, including surviving capsize in the mid-Atlantic. Mark was awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s New Years honours for contributions to sport and charity. When time allows, Mark is a hugely experienced keynote and conference speaker, having worked with hundreds of UK and international clients.