Sanna Kallunki
Innovator
Ruska Laukka
Finland
Social
Farming
Remote rural areas
The innovation journey
Sanna Kallunki is the founder of Ruska Laukka, a horse farm that offers finnhorse experiences, animal-assisted therapy, and animal-assisted social work and activities. Originally from Kuusamo, she moved back with her husband after buying the Ronivaara farm in 2006. During maternity leave, Sanna decided to leave her previous work in the IT field. She had a will to help people and from the beginning, it was clear that it would be based on the wellbeing brought by horses and by a connectedness to a community. Sanna decided to turn her horse farm into an empowering community.
She established Ruska Laukka LP in 2006, while still working in her day job. She began by offering tourism services, after noticing a demand for riding experiences. Since 2013, Ruska Laukka has been offering solution-oriented neuropsychiatric coaching, rehabilitation services, and equine-assisted social education. Now a full-time entrepreneur, Sanna also does family social work, for which she has a separate space at the Kuusamo Center.
The innovation impact
Sanna is a pioneer in animal-assisted welfare services and socially sustainable horse entrepreneurship. Ruska Laukka has become a nationally well-known business that has contributed to putting Kuusamo on the map. Ruska Laukka is generating permanent employment opportunities for the local people, as well as internships, work tryouts, and work rehabilitation. Sanna was among the first horse entrepreneurs to obtain various quality labels for her operations, such as the Sustainable Travel Finland label. In addition, Sanna is participating in the preservation of the Indigenous Finnish horse breed, Finnhorse, and of biodiversity. The farm estate has field and forest pastures, wetlands, and traditional biotope meadows that are managed by animal grazing.