Finland's Christmas Wish For a Sustainable Future

(ATR) Olympic medalists, musicians, movie stars and politicians are par for the course at the opening of a Rio hospitality house. Santa Claus is a little more unexpected.

The Finns went all out the opening gala of Finland House on Friday night at central Rio’s historic Casa França Brasil building, bringing the big man himself in from the north pole to promote Finnish culture and messages of sustainability.

Santa took part in a discussion about sustainable technology in sport, along with Finland’s IOC Member Sari Essayah and Ilkke Homanen, the Head of Industry for Cleantech Finland, one of the house’s major partners.

Cleantech Finland is a hub of Finnish expertise and sustainable innovations, bringing together great minds, ideas, and solutions to advance the cleantech business. And according to Homanen, the Olympics are the perfect platform for creating more sustainability.

"This is the first showcase for us but this is a long term project for us," Homanen said.

"Next we go to Asia – to PyeongChang, to Tokyo, to Beijing. Clean environment and how to apply clean technologies to clean environment is in our blood.

"For sport and the Olympics, sustainability is hugely important. We have all the technologies available and the right mindset and we can deliver solutions that can help the environment."

Risto Nieminen, president of the Finnish Olympic Committee is excited to promote sustainability and to be the first Olympic Committee to bring in Cleantech technology as a partner for the Olympic Team.

"At an international level, sustainability is extremely important," Nieminen said.

"It must be something that we can rely on in the Olympic movement. We are really using their expertise in our competitions and development, to ensure we are doing everything in a sustainable way.

"The athletes are really excited to be associated with this clean technology. It is providing better facilities and cleaner facilities. The sustainable idea is something the younger generation is really interested in."

Finland House is the first high-end Olympic Finnish hospitality house, and will host exclusive business and sport-related events, ministerial and presidential visits, and the Finnish Olympic Team press conferences.

Written by Alice Wheelerin Rio de Janeiro

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