Award-winning! Smart Work 2026: The Cultural Delicacy Café at Nummi Centre brings people together
The Smart Work page presents everyday innovations and success stories developed by the employees of the City of Hämeenlinna.
In the winter of 2025, employees at the Nummi Centre library brought forward the idea of bringing different cultures together. Together with the library, youth services, and the school, we brainstormed a café where multiculturalism would flourish, and people of different ages and cultural backgrounds could meet in a free space open to everyone. It is a place where you can play games, do crafts, read magazines, and enjoy tea and buns. Following a planning meeting, the activity was launched in March 2025.
In the spring of 2025, the café met five times, for two hours every other Wednesday. The name Cultural Delicacy Café was chosen by vote. A record 28 people attended the first session and 11 people the last. On other occasions, attendance ranged from 15, 17, and 20 people. Almost all visitors were of immigrant background, and some spoke only a little Finnish.
In August 2025, we enthusiastically began developing the activity to reach immigrant children, youth, and adults more broadly, as well as HAMK students, in addition to our own school community. During the remainder of 2025, the Cultural Delicacy Café will meet seven times, with each evening having its own theme, such as a beauty evening, a disco night, and a winter crafts evening.
The aim of the activity is to support Hämeenlinna’s goal of being a communal city of well-being.
Developers
Minna Hiiri and Sonja Sundström, library clerks, Nummi Library
Tuisku Sulin, youth worker
Hanna Ailio, Nummi Comprehensive School, S2 teacher