Joki was the first regional visitor centre in Finland and it was built with record speed in the Turku Science Park area in autumn 2017. According to the door counter, there have been more than 60,000 visitors in the last two years since the opening. Since then updates have been made in the content.

Visitor and Innovation Centre Joki

www.vierailukeskusjoki.fi/en

Lemminkäisenkatu 12 B
FI-20520 Turku
info@jokiturku.fi
Tel. +358 10 315 3020

Opening Hours: 
8–16 every weekday

The facility of Turku Futurescapes on the second floor of Joki puts the attractiveness, know-how and accessibility of the Turku region on the display. The interior and its contents have been designed with different types of visitors in mind:

– The starting point of our design work was that there are two types of visitors in Joki. On one hand, there are those who just pass by on their way to and from the third floor, and on the other hand, there are those who spend more time there, describes the Main Designer of the Turku Futurescapes, Service Design Professional Emma Vironmäki.

We want to offer a special experience for each visitor and to provide information for them. The visitor who is passing by notes on the Wall of Facts where the City of Turku is located, how to get there, or the number of companies in the city. The visitor may memorize that Turku has the best know-how in the world in the field of water treatment, and that the city is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.

The visitor who spends five to ten minutes in the facilities has time to read about the special innovations in the Turku region, to get to know the climate actions of the City of Turku and the companies in order to attain a Carbon Neutral Turku by 2029, to watch a video telling about the day of an entrepreneur, and to follow in an animation how the drinking water is cleaned up and how the wastewater is treated.

There are plenty of contents available for those who aim to spend a longer time at Joki. You can browse with iPad information about Turku, play a board game themed with Turku or read about Turku, ride with the city bike or dive in the innovation forest.

The designer anticipates that specially the 360⁰ Virtual Reality presentation of Turku will be a success. The presentation has been planned by photographer Mika Kurkilahti who is known for his 360⁰ images.

–When you put the VR glasses on and go to the headland called Kuuvannokka on the Ruissalo Island in Turku to watch the stars at the night sky and to listen to the sound of the waves, you don’t want to come back right away, Vironmäki states.

We want to showcase that there is plenty of knowhow in the region of Turku. It is good to live here and it is easy to access the city,

What is the Visitor and Innovation Centre Joki?

The City of Turku wants to present the City of Turku for the potential investors and inhabitants. The Visitor and Innovation Centre Joki presents the whole ecosystem where each company and organisation operates in the city: the knowhow, the services and the quality of life. Both the factors affecting the attractiveness and the competitiveness of the City of Turku are present in Joki.

– We want to showcase that there is plenty of knowhow in the region of Turku. It is good to live here and it is easy to access the city, tells Saara Malila, Director of Communications and Marketing of the City of Turku.

The material is in English because the target group is international. The furniture and the technology were reused in the facilities because the city is committed to promote the circular economy. New contents will also be exploited in the international communications of the City of Turku. A miniature model introducing the Turku Science Park will be added to Turku Futurescapes during the spring.

The Visitor and Innovation Centre presents Turku and the region specially to the B2B guests but the exhibition is open to everyone who is interested. The renewed space of the City of Turku – Turku Futurescapes – can be found in the second floor of the building.

Next to the premises of the City of Turku, there is facility for Partner Expo which is meant for changing exhibitions. There is an exhibition arranged by the students of the School of Architecture of the Tampere University of Technology. You can explore the possible future visions of the Turku Science Park in the exhibition. The exhibition will be open until the end of February.

Joki is the first regional visitor and innovation centre in Finland. The Centre was opened in autumn 2017 and it has been visited already by more than 60,000 people. Joki is open on weekdays from 8–16 and it is meant for everybody who is interested in the City of Turku and in the development of the Turku region. There is free admission to Joki.