Situated Knowledges Meet Consumerism: Monikonpuro in Sello, Leppävaara

Running from Vantaa through northern Espoo all the way to Leppävaara and finally into the Huopalahti Bay in the Finnish Bay, Monikonpuro is a small stream among many streams in Southern Finland, that all used to be homing streams for wandering salmon, each stream housing a spceific species of salmon of its own. Due to farming and construction salmon has disappeared from most of these streams. The flow of Monikonpuro has been altered on many occasions, due to various large scale construction projects (Kehä I, Vermo horse race tracks, Maxi Market, and  Sello Shopping Mall). Currently, Monikonpuro flows underground in many places and in one single passage of 600 meters under the shopping mall Sello. It is therefore even more astonishing that a group of water activists have managed to rejuvenate the stream and install spawning grounds for salmon.  A sample of a species of a salmon still spawning in Ingarskila stream, 50 km West of Leppävaara, was introduced to Monikonpuro in the early 2010’s and so far, the spawning has been successful.