The basic pillars of well-being in society are inclusiveness, belonging and trust. We work towards achieving a society where everyone feels safe and well. Preventive and health-enhancing services for people of all ages play a central role in municipalities’ operations.
By investing in fitness, sport and culture we can generate well-being and keep our municipalities lively and welcoming. Adult education centres and folk high schools, active NGOs, exercise trails, sport facilities, libraries, and music and art schools are important for a thriving local community. These places and activities offer inhabitants opportunities for meetings, learning, physical activity and cultural development, which reinforces both belonging and the attractiveness of the municipality. Adult education centres and folk high schools offer people opportunities for improving their competence and also perform an important function in terms of well-being.
SFP wants:
- to ensure there are diverse opportunities for people of all ages to exercise, such as playgrounds, skate parks, outdoor gyms and fitness stairs
- to reduce the costs caused by sitting by increasing access to fitness opportunities, e.g. through service vouchers
- to have well-functioning youth services, such as outreach youth work, navigator services and youth workshops, that support a safe upbringing and help to prevent social exclusion
- to stop the increase in loneliness among the young and elderly
- to ensure all young people have the right to meaningful leisure activities with a low threshold
- that youth representatives, elderly citizens’ councils and disability councils play significant roles in decision-making and inclusion
- to look after liberal adult education
- to ensure municipalities offer equal opportunities for cultural activities, leisure activities, training times and facilities, regardless of gender or age
- to reinforce the status of the Sami and ensure their right to cultural autonomy
- to ensure locals are offered opportunities for financial planning and advice, to strengthen their personal finances
- to see inclusive budgeting being used to involve inhabitants more closely in municipal decision-making
- to see well-functioning cooperation between municipalities, the private sector and the third sector, so that citizens’ services are secured
- municipalities to have an inclusive recruitment policy that better facilitates the recruitment of marginal population groups
- municipalities to invest more in integration services, to ensure everyone feels welcome and achieves a smooth transition into working life in Finland
- to see more people being integrated into the society in the Swedish language, and to ensure integration-related information is provided in both the national languages
- to ensure municipalities offer training in equality and equal treatment to their personnel and elected representatives
- to see municipalities conducting pre-emptive assessments of the gender-related impact of decisions, and using gender-aware budgeting
- to see municipalities using child impact assessments to ensure the child-friendliness of decisions
- to ensure municipalities understand the importance of culture for their inhabitants’ well-being
