Imagine this! Storytelling, places and empathy

Implemented in 2017–2020 in South-east Finland with the aim of producing storytelling material linked to fascinating yet little-known sites—primarily for the purposes of tourism businesses in rural areas—Rural Explorer was a joint project initiated by the Humak and LAB Universities of Applied Sciences. South-east Finland is a region at the eastern frontier zone facing Russia; it is rich in waterways and cultural history. The colourful history has given rise to a multitude of stories, but many of the physical scenes of the intriguing events that have occurred are rather modest in appearance or difficult to reach. The aim of the stories that were collected and edited during the Rural Explorer project was to infuse them with a touch of the elusive experience residing between reality and imagination, the present and past.