Tarmo Tüür, leader of the Let’s Do It collective action day, said that this week, thousands of people will gather all over Estonia to participate in collective works aimed at improving the safety of their neighbourhoods and the well-being of our common living environment. “It gives me great pleasure to note that the COVID-19 pandemic has not curbed the Estonian peoples’ enthusiasm for working together, and many communities all across Estonia are anxiously awaiting the annual vernal Let’s Do It collective action day,” Tüür said. “Because of the spread of the corona virus, for the past two springs, we could only do collective works in the company of our loved ones, but this year, the all-Estonian collective action day traditionally held on the first Saturday of May will take place in its regular form.”

As has been customary in previous years, everyone and every community can organise their own collective actions and invite others to participate. This spring, our new compatriots who have reached Estonia while fleeing from the war in Ukraine, are also encouraged to participate in the collective works. “The collective action day gives a sense of togetherness and safety, which this spring is more important to all of us than ever before, but it is particularly important to those who have lost their loved ones, their homes, and their livelihoods because of the war. Working together, eating soup together we can open our hearts to our new neighbours, become acquainted with them, and accept them as members of our communities in every corner of Estonia,” Tüür said. Moments spent working together help strengthen the cohesiveness and safety of the society, as well as everybody’s personal sense of security.

This spring, the Let’s Do It collective action day encourages to pay extra attention to the safety of water bodies in home neighbourhoods. “In cooperation with the Rescue Board, we invite people to improve the safety of smaller water bodies, because working together, we can achieve a lot to avoid dangerous situations at the water bodies situated in the proximity of our homes,” Tüür explained. He went on to add that in order to facilitate collective works aimed at improving water safety, event foremen will receive a 25 € construction store gift card, which has already been sent to 250 collective action sites.

The collective works aimed at bolstering biodiversity will continue as well. In support of creating a species rich patch of meadow flowers, event foremen can apply for a package full of seeds of local flowers. As of 3 May, there are still gift cards and seed packages available. You can find more information on that at www.teemeara.ee.

Once again, the planned collective works are very varied. For instance, the organisers of Kalamaja Days have planned collective works with the aim of getting their neighbourhood cleaned up for the Kalamaja Days held on 14 and 15 May. All the Kalamaja locals and other volunteers can lend a hand. More information on that can be found at www.kalamajapaevad.ee.

The all-Estonian Let’s Do It collective action day arose from the big clean-up day of 2008 and the subsequent collective brainstorming of 2009. Since 2010, it has been an opportunity for every active citizen, neighbourhood, and community to do something for their own living environment. This spring, the collective action day also provides a great opportunity to get acquainted with our new neighbours – those who moved to the countryside during the COVID pandemic and also our new compatriots who have reached Estonia while fleeing from the war in Ukraine.

This is the 15th time that the annual vernal collective action day Let’s Do It is held in Estonia, and the collective action spring culminates on the first Saturday of May. The organisers of the 7 May collective action day are The Estonian Fund for Nature and Kodukant, the Estonian Village Movement, plus its surrounding network. National Foundation of Civil Society, Rescue Board, Sigrid Rausing Trust, Vizeum, Bauhof, LHV Youth Bank, Nordic Hotel Forum, Tele2, and others participate as supporters and partners.