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EESTI ELU reedel, 26. augustil 2022 — Friday, August 26, 2022
Cities and sustainability: how Tallinn is promoting an inclusive green future Natalie Jenkins, LJI Reporter In his book, Solved: How the World’s Great Cities are Fixing the Climate Crisis, former Mayor of Toronto David Miller explains that cities are the best unit of government to effectively promote sustain ability and fight climate change. Why is this? Miller offers many reasons, two of which are highlighted below: Firstly, the organization and structure of the municipal level of government differs from provincial and federal ones. Municipal governments have direct control over the future of their city. Questions of infrastructure, their function, regulation (including building codes), and location, are delegated to city officials. This means, then, that individuals working in municipal government have the capacity to enact change in respect to issues concerning climate change, including the generation of electricity, the heating and cooling of buildings, transportation, and solid waste. Second, by law, cities are required to consult residents about official city plans. “As a result, city governments have developed robust resident engagement processes that give local residents a very real say
over decisions that affect their lives and their neighbourhoods. There is a lively, robust, and extremely healthy local democracy, in which the voices of local residents are heard, and they can and do participate in decisions made by city hall – well beyond planning,” says Miller. This point is an important one. To build sustainable cities, its residents must be heard, especially considering how climate change adversely affects low income and marginalized groups in society. Miller highlights a health survey done in Barcelona, which “demonstrated significant connections between the impact of climate change and poverty – ranging from issues such as energy poverty to the differential effects of heat and rising temperatures on the elderly, the young, and women.” To combat this, Miller highlights how Barcelona directly consulted its residents in 2018 to gather recommendations on improving the city’s accessibility and sustainability, while taking extra measures to ensure that marginalised groups were also meaningfully included. Since then, Barcelona has implemented various policies that have counteracted these challenges, including “superblocks.” Es sentially, these prioritize the “movement of people over
Time Machine: The history in every bottle of Vana Tallinn Vincent Teetsov It would seem that every Estonian has a bottle of Vana Tallinn at home. For some households, it might be gather ing dust on the dining room shelf, unopened from the time you bought it as a souvenir before departing from Estonia. Conversely, you might be smitten with this brown elixir. Admittedly, for this author, the liqueur’s sweet vanilla and tangy citrus notes get appreciated pretty much only around the holidays. A few sips will be taken, maybe it’ll be poured into a cup of coffee with dessert, and then it goes back on the shelf. This led me to wonder, is it genuinely meant for
ixing, or is it intended to be m consumed just as it is? Furthermore, as each bottle describes the contents as “authentic Estonian liqueur,” how long has Vana Tallinn been around to obtain this title? We must first look at the origins of Liviko, the manufacturer of Vana Tallinn. Liviko traces its history back to the distillery Revaler Spirit Fabrik, “which later grew into Tallinna Piiri tusetehaste Omanike Ühisus Rosen & Co (Tallinn Distillery Owners’ Association)”, from which the separate Tallinna Viinavabrik OÜ was started. In 1939, an eighteen year old woman named Ilse Maar (née Tuisumäe) came to work at Rosen & Co for the first time. She climbed up in the company,
Vana Tallinn recipe co-creator Ilse Maar at work. Photo: vanatallinn.eu
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the hub will be easily accessible by foot, bicycle and public transport for all Tallinn residents coming to participate in an event or activity. The prominent location will also encourage spontaneous visits to the hub.”
A rendering of the participation hub’s interior. Photo: estonianworld.com
But, as Miller points out in his book, sometimes these open invitations simply aren’t enough to include everyone. “Lowincome residents of a city, by definition, tend to be both excluded from power and the manifestations of power – such as direct engagement with government – and preoccupied with ensuring their own econo mic survival,” he says. “In this context, special efforts must be made to connect with low- income and other disem powered residents; otherwise, their voices will not be part of the conversation, and any solutions developed will likely not meet their needs.”
v ehicles by making local streets in a neighbourhood – or superblock – virtually car free (local traffic only), while enhancing amenities for pedestrians – such as tree cover and benches. They have improved local quality of life, personal mobility, air quality – and local economic activity,” says Miller. Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn, is on a similar path to inclusive sustainability. At the beginning of 2022, Tallinn announced its plan to build a people-centred city through “spacial creation.” At its core, this involves maximizing public green space and ensuring accessibility to sus tainable transport, including bike paths and extended tram lines. But perhaps one of the most important aspects of Tallinn’s green spacial creation plan is the establishment of the Tallinn Involvement Centre, “a unique city engagement centre [that will foster] the participation of citizens in the process of shaping the city,” according to the city’s website. Simply put, the centre will
facilitate what Miller claims as one of the most effective means of promoting sustainability: dialogue between city officials and residents. Developers, architects, and other professionals will host discussions and events open to the public. The goal of these will be to maximize dialogue, and from this, to gather grassroots recommenda tions on urban planning that will be integrated into public policy. Whether placing the hub in a “The creation of a partici pation hub bringing together busy street will be sufficient different stakeholders will enough to rectify the systemic certainly foster meaningful barriers that low-income resi dis cussions between the city, dents face is questionable. developers, professionals and Perhaps a better solution would residents. It will help to create a be for the city to collaborate better urban space for all in the directly with organizations that future,” said Andrei Novikov, already work with low-income Deputy Mayor of Tallinn. “The residents, including non-governconcept of such a co-creation mental organizations, social associations, and private busispace is unique in Estonia, with Stockholm and Aalto University nesses, as Miller suggests. in Espoo as examples in the In any case, the centre is a region.” step in the right direction toHow accessible will this wards building a greener, more centre be? According to the sustainable city. It is scheduled city’s website, the hub will be to open as an exhibit in “located in an active street September 2022 and as a frontage in the heart of the city, co-creation space in 2023.
and in 1950, created “Liviko,” a “likööri ja viinakokteil” (“a liqueur and vodka cocktail”). The manufacturer moved through a number of facilities and names, but made this their company name in 1971. In 1960, Maar, along with bottling manager Bernhard Jürno and the distillery specialist Jaan Siimo, took the time to develop a new spiced liqueur that continues to sell well in Estonia, and even more so abroad, as an export. Though, it wasn’t expected to make such an impact. Before she passed away in 2012, Maar recounted how “...every year a new product had to be launched. We didn’t plan to mix any new miracle drink, but it turned out so much that it has withstood the market to this day.” Maar made other recipes, too, up until her retirement from the master distiller role in 1976, but it was this specific liqueur that earned her the collo quial title of “Vana Tallinna vanaema” (“the grandmother of Vana Tallinn”). Liviko describes how it “became Liviko’s flagship from the start: the liqueur with its distinctive taste became a kind of currency and deficit commodity in the Soviet Union, the demand for which at that time was surpassed only by bana nas.” The original recipe of Vana Tallinn, produced at what used
to be a vodka warehouse in the late 1800s, is focused on the rum it contains, the fruitiness of citrus ingredients, along with cinnamon and vanilla. Of the original recipe, there are 80, 90, and 100 proof liqueurs. At its simplest, it’s served in a lowball glass on the rocks. It’s curious, though, how a household name in Estonian beverages is made with rum. Currently, it’s sourced from Jamaica. But at its starting point behind the Iron Curtain, where did this rum come from? According to a 2006 issue of the World Trademark Review, significant exports of Havana Club rum from Cuba to the Soviet Union and Sovietoccupied nations began in 1972. For the first decade of Vana Tallinn batches, then, it’s certainly possible that the rum was made closer to home, in Russia. Today, you can marvel at all of the myriad ways the core recipe has been adapted. For one, there’s a “Cream Liqueur”; another cream liqueur with nutty marzipan flavour; a variety made with cinnamon, ginger, pepper, and star anise; and even a slightly gold “Summer Lime” variation with a lime and mint flavour. The textured upper ridge of the bottle across these varieties solidifies their sym bolic link to Estonia and to the Old Town’s terracotta roofs. So what are the manufac turer’s recommendations for
consumption? One way of serving it is as a spritz: fill a glass with ice, pour in four centilitres of the liqueur, four centilitres of dry white wine, eight centilitres of tonic, and stir it all together lightly. Slice an orange and place it inside as a garnish. Alternatively, Kuleto’s Cocktail Bar in Sydney, Australia has their own recipe for an “Estonia Martini Cocktail”, where the liqueur is stirred together with Teichenné Kinross Tropical & Exotic Fruits gin and ice, before it’s strained into a glass with lemon peel and an olive. Considering the drink’s core components, estoniancuisine. com came up with a dainty, clever rum ball recipe, made with Vana Tallinn, leftover cookie and cake edges, butter, cacao, and condensed milk. If the liqueur can be found in rum balls, chocolate bars made by Kalev, or in a coffee and chocolate chip ice cream, there’s no limit to how its flavours can add flair to baking. Though the Vana Tallinn recipe is only slightly over 60 years old, these spiced flavours appeal to the idea of a time in the past when these flavours would have been even more rare and exciting. And for its presence in Estonian homes alone, it has certainly earned its label of authenticity.
