Have you ever heard about an idea and wished you had come up with it yourself?
Daniel Herrera is from Costa Rica and designs self-driving cars, but somehow he ended up in the small city of Oulu, Finland where he now plans to solve one problem he saw within this city: there's not much to do.
When I heard about Daniel's idea to renovate an abandoned water tower into a cafe/ cultural center, I had to check it out.
"At the bottom of the waterpower, will be the coffee shop." He explained.
Then, as you walk up the spiraling staircase, the walls will be filled with local art exhibits. At the top of the tower inside the water tank, he envisions a theatre where cultural performances and other shows will play. Just above the water tank is another section where he will build a sauna. As you walk out of a little door at the top of the tower, you can see the city from a birds eye view of the city.
Even Daniel admits, a boring city may not seem like the biggest problem when there are countries in the world suffering from terminal diseases or human trafficking. But making an impact, and working to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals comes on all different scales. Making a small difference in the right direction is how our world will essentially change.
By regenerating this old tower into a cultural center, Daniel is working toward many of the goals. Primarily, goal 8, decent work and economic growth.
He is creating jobs for those in the community and constructing a place people want to visit, which will increase tourism in the city and grow the economy.
Daniel didn't have to start a nonprofit, find the cure to a disease, build schools, or plant a forest to make a change in the world. Simply by following his creative passion to transform an abandoned waterpower, he will increase the cultural value of Oulu. It takes a small creative change from everyone for a big change to happen in the world.
