| Name: | Jenni Bäckström-Toivanen |
| Year of birth: | 1977 |
| Municipality: |
Kauniainen |
| Town: | Kauniainen |
https://www.jennibackstrom.com
Jenni
Bäckström-Toivanen
Kauniainen
I’m a mother of two elementary-school kids and “a soccer mom”. I work as a Marketing manager in the pharmaceutical industry.
Our family has hosted exchange students from Japan, USA and Italy.
My native language is Finnish, but we speak some Swedish in our family since our youngest child goes to a Swedish speaking class in a Finnish elementary school.
I hope that being a candidate in the Swedish People’s party as a Finnish-speaking person will encourage other Finnish-speakers to vote for the party – and maybe run as a candidate in the future. My themes are inclusion & sense of community, exercising & active children and teenagers and cozy & vital environment.
Important political topics
Thriving citizens
The sense of community, inclusion and diversity are definite strengths of a small community! I believe that they are good drivers and keepers for international experts too.
GraniAID-, Grani Day and Christmas opening are wonderful, inclusive events to be proud of.
I would encourage Kauniainen - and society in general to have more bilingual events and encounters with each others.
Children, Youth, and Families
Active children and teenagers feel better. An active lifestyle is cultivated during childhood and early years. Sports teach children how to act in a diverse environment as a team player. Despite this, many young people stop playing sports before middle school.
It is valuable that due to short distances in Kauniainen our children are not dependent on the public transportation or having their guardians drive them to practices. But still we need to activate more people to exercise in Kauniainen. A lot relies on the example of adults too.
How can we support young people whose goal is to combine elite sports and school without too much stress?
Municipal and urban vitality
Support your local! Keeping the services alive and near benefits us all.
Candidate's answers in election machine
1 / 14
We should have a swimming hall in Kauniainen.
The swimming hall is an essential part of our city. It is easier and safer to organize swimming lessons for children in schools when the pool is located nearby.
2 / 14
The Swedish-speaking municipal daycare should continue to be concentrated at Kasabergets daghem daycare center.
3 / 14
Both Finnish- and Swedish-speaking early childhood education and schools should continue to be governed by their own committees.
It is important to secure the strong position of the Swedish language in our city in the future as well. At the same time I would encourage Kauniainen - and society in general to have more bilingual events and encounters with each others. As a mother of a child in language immersion class I see all the benefits of bilingualism.
4 / 14
Early childhood education should be free for everyone.
Is completely free and high-quality daycare even possible? Daycare fees in Finland are low compared to many other countries. However, access to daycare should be equally encouraged to everyone. It also facilitates the employment of women.
5 / 14
Schools should prioritize traditional textbooks over digital learning materials.
6 / 14
One of the municipality’s most important tasks is to invest in sports facilities and opportunities for exercise and recreation.
An active lifestyle is cultivated during childhood and early years. It is valuable that due to short distances in Kauniainen our children are not dependent on the public transportation or having their guardians drive them to practices. Despite of that we need to activate more people to exercise in Kauniainen. A lot relies on the example of adults too.
7 / 14
It is important to provide all residents with equal opportunities for cultural activities.
8 / 14
The municipality should introduce or improve opportunities for residents to influence how municipal funds are used through participatory budgeting.
9 / 14
The municipality should invest in public transportation.
10 / 14
It should be possible to be a resident in more than one municipality, for example, through digital municipal citizenship.
11 / 14
The municipality should better facilitate the expansion of renewable energy, such as solar and wind power.
12 / 14
The municipality should mix more housing types in planning than is currently the case.
We need diverse and transformable housing, but building new buildings should happen moderately and carefully. It is important to cherish our original, garden-city-like atmosphere where there’s space to breath and enjoy nature.
13 / 14
The municipality should introduce anonymous recruitment.
14 / 14
If you could give a superpower to your future political leader, what would it be?
This would cover all issues from human rights to climate change and conflict resolution.