Paanajärvi was included on the Watch in 1996, 1998, and 2000 Watch. In 1998, WMF, with support from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, assisted the Juminkeko Foundation with the implementation of a four-week training program for young village residents on the theory and practice of conservation of vernacular wooden structures, as part of a restoration plan created by Juminkeko. (...)
Paanajärvi was included on the Watch in 1996, 1998, and 2000 Watch. In 1998, WMF, with support from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, assisted the Juminkeko Foundation with the implementation of a four-week training program for young village residents on the theory and practice of conservation of vernacular wooden structures, as part of a restoration plan created by Juminkeko. Trainees, taught by Finnish architects and a local master carpenter, performed emergency repairs on village houses. The success of the program led to a second award from the Kress Foundation for a three-month workshop, held in summer of 1999, in which trainees repaired deteriorated windows and roofs in the village. Over 100 windows were repaired, efficiently reducing the consumption of firewood during the winter. Trainees built a workshop in the village to house a timber saw and a forge provided by the Finnish Ministry of Environment, providing a sustainable means by which materials and facilities could be ready for future restoration work and local employment. Further funds from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Finnish Culture Foundation allowed the program to continue well into 2002; trainees were awarded certificates as “Independent Restoration Workers.”
