Elonkierto is a concept of a sustainable rural environment and natural resource research exhibition park open to all and free of charge. Elonkierto mirrors the history and present of food production. The unique learning and recreation complex is located in Kanta-Häme in Jokioinen municipality. About 30,000 visitors visit the park every year. The main approach of the
Elonkierto promotes cooperation based on the resilient use of natural resources and the principles of the circular economy. The park’s basic exhibition illustrates the diversity of the rural environment, tells about climate change and the well-being of the soil, and highlights the relationship between food production, and human and animal well-being. Step onto the park’s science trail to learn about sustainable food production and the relationship between people, animals, and the environment’s well-being! The science trail of the life cycle shows the roots of food production and draws the limits of the earth’s sustainability on the Finns’ dinner table. On the science trail, you will find out what is needed to produce your food and where it comes from! You can take the 1-2 kilometer long routes of your choice, along which you will meet native Finnish farm animals in the summer and find crops adapted to our northern farming conditions. Herbs and cat flowers also flourish in Elonkierto. Traditional biotopes, i.e. fields, meadows, clearings, and forest pastures, are habitats with abundant species shaped by traditional livestock farming, which have produced the winter fodder needed by livestock or served as pasture. With the intensification of agriculture, the surface area of most habitat types of traditional biotopes has decreased by more than 90% in the last 50 years. They are all endangered, nowadays. Elonkierto presents traditional biotope areas in eight blocks managed by grazing, thinning the trees, mowing, and raking away the nutrient-rich vegetation. A species inventory has also been made of traditional biotopes. Abandoning traditional management methods would mean the impoverishment of the species, a substantial change in the habitat type, and a gradual disappearance due to overgrowth. In Elonkierto Makasiin, you will find the guidance center and the Makasiini cafe, where coffee, refreshments, ice cream, and pastries are available. The store also has a straw bouncer for children. Elonkierto provides rest shelters suitable for eating your snacks, a gazebo, a campfire site, and benches along the science trail. A smoke sauna is available for a charge. Elonkierto welcomes groups of all ages to learn the origin of food, the effects of climate change, biodiversity, and the relationships between people and animals! You can book a guided tour, presentation or workshop around a season or theme from us in advance. In Elonkierto, we have a year-round travel park for caravanners.
