Hiitolanjoki – Salmon river for locals and travelers of all times

Programme 2014 - 2020 South-East Finland - Russia ENI CBC

Date of latest update: 2025-06-17

Description

Description (EN): RivTimes project aims at developing new attractive tourism destinations by restoring an impressive natural rapid with living stock of endangered Ladoga Salmon. Creating nature trails and historical water trail as well as design for an industry historical place.

Description (RU):

Проект RivTimes направлен на развитие новых туристических направлений за счет реставрации впечатляющего естественного речного порога, являющегося домом для исчезающей популяции дикого ладожского лосося. Проект предусматривает создание природных троп, исторических водных маршрутов, а также плана музея промышленной истории.

Description (FI): RivTimes hankkeen tavoitteena on kehittää uusia houkuttelevia matkailukohteita palauttamalla uhanalaisen Laatokan lohikalan luonnonmukaista kantaa. Hankkeeseen kuuluvat lisäksi luontopolkujen ja historiallisen vesireitin luominen sekä suunnitelma teollisuushistorian esittelemiseksi.

Achievements (EN):

The RivTimes project and its measures focused on the Hiitolanjoki area on the Finnish side and its tourism development as well as nature conservation measures after the changes in conditions. Initially, Russian partners were also involved, but all cooperation with them ended in the middle of the project due to the war in Ukraine. Consequently, goals and measures that crossed the border could not be implemented. In Finland, the project was implemented by the municipality of Rautjärvi and the South Karelia Foundation for Recreation Areas Ekvas. They had three work packages: WP1 i.e. Hiitolanjoki tourism masterplan, WP2 i.e. the plan for converting Kangaskoski's old hydro power plant into a museum and WP3 i.e. demolition of the Kangaskoski dam and restoration of the rapids. In connection with all the work packages, the visibility and recognition of Hiitolanjoki was also raised both in Finland and internationally. Masterplan was implemented as a purchasing service by FCG. Tourism operators in the region were involved in the implementation through workshops and interviews. Due to changes in the situation, the Masterplan was only completed at the end of the project, so its distribution and spreading work can only be done after the project. The materials can be found on the website of Rautjärvi, issuu.com and the Hiitolanjoki website. The old Kangaskoski hydropower plant was taken out of use during the project. A museum is being planned for hydro power plant, so that the culturally and industrially historically valuable building gets a new life and the tourism companies in the area can add content to their tourism products. Proper plans are needed for that. In the museum plan, Granlund Saimaa Oy, as a purchasing service, has done the drawings of the various spaces and the plans for their use including cost estimates. The demolition of the Kangaskoski dam and the restoration of the rapids were the largest and the most expensive WP in the entire project. Kangaskoski has acted as a pilot and a very successful model for many other rapids. Oteran Oy was responsible for the practical implementation. The end result has attracted a lot of admiration and praise. The dam was dismantled without explosions. This way we have been as gentle as possible to natural ecosystems. The costs of dismantling rose considerably from the estimates in the planning phase, and the extra costs were left to be paid by Ekvas. However, the end result is worth it all. Dismantling the dam and restoring the rapids has been a great success in many ways. Very soon after the demolition, the rise of salmon and spawning nests in the restored rapids could be observed. 2022 fish counts yielded record high numbers. River's water ecosystem has noticeably changed quickly into a flowing water ecosystem. Other fish species have also shown recovery. Many national and international stream water organizations are excited about the good results in Hiitolanjoki. The visibility and recognition of Hiitolanjoki in various media has multiplied during the project. There wasn't a big budget for marketing, but it was done alongside other work with other partner’s help. It was possible to present the measures and results to the public within the framework of the corona restrictions by first organizing a Dam Demolition Party in September 2021 for invited guests only. An open public event was organized in Kangaskoski in November 2021, and it gathered a large number of interested people. The project's visibility work culminated in November 2022 when organizing the Open Nature for All (Avoin luonto kaikille) seminar in collaboration with LAB's and WWF Finland’s projects.

Website: https://hiitolanjoki.fi/rivtimes-cbc/

Delivered Outputs (EN): target value: TI Number of business organisations… 9/35 PSI Master plan for tourism develpmt… 1/1 PSI Removed dam / restored rapids… 1/1 PSI Plan for a hydro power museum… 1/1 PSI Document film… 1/1 PSI Nature and cultural events… 4/6 PSI Seminars… 1/1

Thematic information

Cultural heritage and arts Tourism

Thematic Objective: Business and SME development

Partners (6)

Lead Partner: Rautjärvi Municipality

Address: Simpeleentie 12, 56800 Rautjärvi, Finland

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.rautjarvi.fi

Total budget: EUR 76 826.95

State Budgetary Institution of Culture of the Leningrad Region House of Folk Art

Name: State Budgetary Institution of Culture of the Leningrad Region House of Folk Art

Address: Torzhkovskaya str. 4, office 28, 197342 Saint Petersburg, Russia

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.dntlenobl.ru

Total budget: EUR 113 850.00

Tourist Information center of the Republic of Karelia

Name: Tourist Information center of the Republic of Karelia

Address: Sverdlova St., 8, 185035 Petrozavodsk, Russia

Legal status: public

Website: http://tickrk.ru

Total budget: EUR 115 000.00

All-Russian Society of Nature Protection, Leningrad region office

Name: All-Russian Society of Nature Protection, Leningrad region office

Address: Roshchinskaya, house 1, building 1, room 5, 188300 Gatchina, Russia

Legal status: private

Website: http://www.voop.spb.ru

Total budget: EUR 285 000.00

Directorate of the Protected Areas of the Leningrad region

Name: Directorate of the Protected Areas of the Leningrad region

Address: Lesnoy pr. 19-4V, 195009 Saint Petersburg, Russia

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.ooptlo.ru

South Karelian Foundation for Recreation Areas

Name: South Karelian Foundation for Recreation Areas

Address: Virastokatu 2, 55100 Imatra, Finland

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.ekvas.fi

Total budget: EUR 381 986.92

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

State Budgetary Institution of Culture of the Leningrad Region House of Folk Art

Hiitolanjoki – Salmon river for locals and travelers of all times

Partners and Projects info

Tourist Information center of the Republic of Karelia

Hiitolanjoki – Salmon river for locals and travelers of all times

Partners and Projects info

All-Russian Society of Nature Protection, Leningrad region office

Hiitolanjoki – Salmon river for locals and travelers of all times

Partners and Projects info

Directorate of the Protected Areas of the Leningrad region

Hiitolanjoki – Salmon river for locals and travelers of all times

Partners and Projects info

South Karelian Foundation for Recreation Areas

Hiitolanjoki – Salmon river for locals and travelers of all times

Partners and Projects info

Rautjärvi Municipality

Hiitolanjoki – Salmon river for locals and travelers of all times

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Hiitolanjoki – Salmon river for locals and travelers of all times

Project acronym: RivTimes

Project start date: 2021-01-01

Project end date: 2022-11-30

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 458 813.87

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 318 800.07

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 42.00%

Co-financing sources:

Third-country contribution: Russia: EUR 151 257.00

Documents

Documents on this project are listed below, and organised by category. Please note field "Data source", attached to each document. Keep.eu users are free to use these documents as long as they mention the data source and keep.eu.

Reports

Luksusta Luonnosta Hiitolanjoen alueen master plan

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://hiitolanjoki.fi/rivtimes-cbc/

Publication date: 2025-02-26

Document date: 2022-10-31

Languages: fi

Attachment file: Download

Rahoitusmahdollisuuksien kartoitus

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://hiitolanjoki.fi/rivtimes-cbc/

Publication date: 2025-02-26

Document date: 2022-11-30

Languages: fi

Attachment file: Download

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 South-East Finland - Russia ENI CBC

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2024-01-29

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

71 / 71 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

320 / 320 (100%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme.

The financial data featured in keep.eu for this programme, it's projects and its partners is not exact and should be taken as a reference only.

Languages

Contact Form

Hiitolanjoki – Salmon river for locals and travelers of all times

Description

Thematic information

Partners (6)

Partners map

Summary

Documents

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Disclaimer