Code of Conduct
“Solmukohta is a playful space.
It is a summer camp, a student club, and a rock festival.
It is a place where like-minded people gather to think outside the box,
to meet new people, to fool around.
When newcomers describe Solmukohta as a magical experience,
it is this playfulness they are talking about.”
– Markus Montola and Jaakko Stenros
Solmukohta is a place where people of many cultures, ages, interests, traditions and backgrounds assemble to play, explore and discuss. This code of conduct exists to ensure that play happens as safely as possible.
Actively include other people
- Please speak English in public spaces even when talking to your fellow native language speakers, whenever others are welcome to join in.
- Please keep an empty chair at your table or a space in your circle to signal others are welcome to join.
- Please actively include people coming into the situation by filling them in on the topic of the conversation and introducing people to each other.
- Please use a microphone if provided when speaking in front of an audience.
Take care of and respect each other
- Harassment, bullying and discrimination will not be tolerated. This means e.g., sexual harassment, violence, sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia or ableism. If someone asks you to stop whatever you are doing, stop.
- Please don’t make assumptions on a person’s health status, gender, ethnicity, sexual preference, etc based on their looks. Instead, respect self-determination: no one knows better who and what they are but the person themself.
- Please don’t assume someone wants to talk about their health status, sexual or gender identity, ethnicity, body shape, the terrible thing that is happening in their country, etc, even if their experience is unusual and interesting to you. Instead, let people decide the level of intensity and detail at which they discuss their experiences, especially around minority or other sensitive topics.
- Please be aware of and respect each other’s boundaries.
- Please always ensure consent when e.g. escalating intensity of play or physical contact with other participants, especially if you don’t know each other well yet. Please always accept that a “no” means no, and that “maybe some other time” also means no.
- Please support each other, check in on people who look like they’re not well, and ask for help when needed. The community host team is there for you.
Resolve conflicts constructively
- Please assume the best of others if communication mistakes and misunderstandings happen. We are a diverse group, and miscommunication happens even when no transgression was intended. This does not apply to harassment and discrimination, which we expect no one to tolerate.
- Please try to communicate clearly when asking someone to change their behaviour.
- Please listen to the other party, and ask questions rather than assuming.
- Please accept and respect it when someone asks you to change your behaviour or to back off, even if you don’t understand why.
We expect all participants to honor this code of conduct as well as the Finnish law during the event and online.