Municipal Election Programme 2025

HELSINKI OF POSSIBILITIES – THE HELSINKI GREENS’ MUNICIPAL ELECTION PROGRAMME 2025

We want Helsinki to offer hope and opportunities to every resident. We want Helsinki to play a major role in curbing climate change and halting biodiversity loss.

The goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C is in danger of slipping away—but it is still achievable. Uncertainty about livelihoods and the future has crept into many minds. The government’s short-sighted austerity policies ignore both the climate and people. We Greens want to do things differently.

The Greens want to build a Helsinki where everyone can live a life true to themselves. A child should be able to walk alone to soccer practice. A student should be able to find affordable housing. A family should be able to take a tram on a nature outing. An entrepreneur should be able to find workspaces and skilled employees for their business. A parent should be able to enroll their child in a nearby daycare. More must be invested in the safety and well-being of the elderly. A caregiver should be able to receive support and help whenever needed. Everyone should have the opportunity to live a good life in a climate-resilient city.

In the Helsinki of the future, opportunities will be even greater than today. We Greens will ensure that a good everyday life is possible for every Helsinki resident.

1. We Will Make Helsinki a Carbon-Neutral City That Lasts For Generations

As the capital, Helsinki has both an opportunity and a responsibility to influence Finland’s carbon dioxide emissions. The Greens have consistently worked so that Helsinki meets its climate targets and the environment is taken into account in all decision-making. Coal-fired power plants will be closed and transport emissions will be reduced as a result of our work. Helsinki’s ambitious climate policy has also been noticed abroad. However, the current government’s inaction threatens to derail Finland’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2035. Therefore, reducing emissions and increasing carbon sinks is more urgent than ever.

We are planning a city whose construction is low-emission and in which one can live a low-emission lifestyle. We want a low-emission lifestyle to be an effortless choice for everyone living in Helsinki. This means that walking, cycling, and public transport must be easy, smooth, and safe throughout the city. Low-emission heating and electricity should be an easy and natural choice for every Helsinki resident. We encourage the renovation of buildings and insist that new homes built in Helsinki are energy efficient, located along sensible transport routes, and close to services.

We can not manage climate change by backtracking. We take the climate into account in all decisions. Helsinki must be carbon neutral by 2030 and carbon negative by the 2040s.
We do not want district heating to be based on fossil fuels or large scale wood burning. We actively promote heat production that does not rely on combustion and will close Helsinki’s last coal power plant in the spring of 2025.
Our goal is carbon-neutral public transport.
Reducing emissions must be made effortless for housing associations and owners of detached houses. We will continue to provide clear advisory services on energy renovations and transitioning to geothermal energy.
Our aim is a “15-minute city,” where the most important services are accessible on foot, by bicycle, or by public transport within 15 minutes from home
Our goal is that from 2030 onward all vehicles in Helsinki’s city centre are zero-emission. We will restrict the use of fossil fuels in the city centre. This will improve the area’s livability, reduce noise pollution created by traffic, and encourage the shift to zero-emission modes of transport.
Reduce construction emissions! We demand that new construction has lower climate and nature impacts than today’s common practice. We require that new buildings be adaptable and repairable to extend their lifespans.
We will halve the amount of meat and dairy products served by the City of Helsinki.

2. We Will Take Care of Biodiversity and the Greenness of Residential Areas

Nature must be cherished for its own sake. Our goal is to increase biodiversity in Helsinki and to ensure that the extent of natural areas at least remains at its current level. In a growing city this is a challenging target—but one that can be met. We have done it before. Under the Greens’ leadership, the number of nature conservation areas has grown and the green area has remained the same over the last ten years despite the city’s growth. This work must continue into the future.

Diverse natural areas, street trees, and vegetation keep the city pleasant in every season. They also help reduce deaths from heat waves as well as flooding of streets and basements. Every Helsinki resident deserves a nearby forest or park. That is why we protect Helsinki’s valuable natural sites and ensure that now and in the future everyone has a natural area or a park within walking distance

We will protect Helsinki’s most valuable natural areas from development and ensure that animal and plant species can move smoothly from one green area to another. We will take care of Helsinki’s extensive green network.
Our goals include ensuring that from every home, three trees are visible; every area has a tree canopy cover of 30%; and everyone lives within 300 meters of a natural area.
We will establish at least five new conservation areas each year. Our target is to protect over 10 percent of Helsinki’s land area.
Helsinki is not only a home for people but also for animals. We will enhance biodiversity throughout the city—even in built-up areas. We will convert lawns into meadows and leave dead wood in green and natural areas, which a quarter of our forest species depend on.
We will continue our work to improve the condition of the Baltic Sea in cooperation with other coastal cities. We will prevent the spread of microplastics into the environment. We are looking for alternatives to shoveling snow into the sea.
Trees should not be cut down if alternatives exist. If trees must be felled for a project, at least an equal number must be planted in their place. We demand that nature values and residents’ concerns about local green areas be widely considered in all construction projects.
We will improve riverine nature and remove migration barriers for fish. At the Old Town Rapids, we will improve the river so that it better enables migratory fish to ascend upstream.
Our aim is a pleasant and litter-free Helsinki with diverse outdoor opportunities. We will add benches, toilets, waste bins, swimming piers, and nature trails. We will improve waterfront paths and ferry connections to islands and increase opportunities to enjoy nature.

3. We Will Design Helsinki at a Pedestrian’s Scale

We want a Helsinki where one can move smoothly by all modes of transport. To achieve this, far more must be invested in walking, public transport, and cycling than before. Since the 1950s, the city has prioritized the needs of motorists over those of people. When transport is developed in a balanced way, space used for cars is reallocated to other purposes. The resulting greener city benefits everyone.

As car use decreases, air quality improves, noise lessens, and urban space is freed up—for example, for street trees and benches. Our goal is a safe urban environment where children can travel independently without parents fearing traffic accidents.

We will ensure that winter maintenance of pedestrian paths and bike lanes is reliable. City residents must be confident that they can move on foot and by bike in all seasons. This also secures mobility for the elderly and those with limited mobility.
We will build new bicycle routes that are separated from other traffic. This will make cycling and walking smooth and safe. We will focus on the consistency and continuity of bicycle routes throughout the city.
We will calm traffic speeds near schools and encourage children to walk or cycle to school.
We want better public transport and cheaper ticket prices. The rising costs of Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) tickets are a burden resulting from the government’s actions.
We want everyone in Helsinki to be able to live comfortably without a car. New residential areas must have adequate and smooth public transport connections from the very beginning.
We will abolish the current parking norm, starting with the city centre. This will allow for more affordable housing and denser construction without sacrificing nature. Road space will be allocated for parking for city residents, for example through angled parking.
We will ensure that metro and train stations are welcoming and safe at all hours. We will ensure that stations are properly maintained and that necessary repairs are carried out in a timely manner. Particular attention will be paid to improving accessibility and comfort during station renovations.
Large street renovations will be implemented as quickly as possible and in phases so that movement between neighbourhoods is not overly hindered. Detour routes around street works will be clearly and safely arranged for pedestrians and cyclists without unnecessary detours.
We will expand the areas designated for parking of e-scooters and other micro-mobility vehicles, and extend speed limit regulations throughout the city.

4. We Will Build Homes for All Life Situations

Helsinki is growing faster than it has in decades. At the same time, the current government is making several cuts that raise the cost of living in Helsinki. Our task is to ensure that in Helsinki there are homes available for all kinds of life situations at reasonable cost. At the same time, we must ensure that growth is sustainable and does not threaten Helsinki’s unique nature.

We will build more affordable housing in Helsinki by converting old industrial areas, empty office spaces, roadside plots, and neglected areas to housing. This saves nature and ensures that the unique characteristics of residential areas are taken into account in new construction projects. Residents must have their voices heard in urban planning. People should have a genuine opportunity to share their wishes and ideas for the development of their neighbourhoods. We want a Helsinki where everyone feels at home.

We will build enough new homes and affordable rental apartments so that people can afford their own home. Construction must be carried out sustainably and must not threaten the city’s valuable natural areas.
We will build homes primarily in already built-up areas and along public transport corridors—for example, in former industrial areas. We will ensure diversity in the housing stock, which is an effective way to prevent the segregation of neighbourhoods.
We will build enough new student housing so that students can afford to live in Helsinki. We will look for these places close to educational institutions and campuses.
We will ensure that existing right-of-occupancy housing is preserved. We will take care of residents’ positions when the current government ends production of new right-of-occupancy housing.
We will simplify cooperative building, where residents design a home that suits their needs at an affordable price. We will build homes that enable communal living, where different generations can meet and which help reduce loneliness.
We will eliminate homelessness from Helsinki in accordance with the “housing first” principle. We will ensure that social housing is adequate and that support services for the homeless are strengthened so that no one has to sleep outdoors in the cold.
We will safeguard the ability of Heka (the municipal housing company) to offer affordable housing.

5. We Will Promote an Exciting Urban Life and a Diverse Cultural Scene

We want more small-scale and large-scale urban culture: events, encounters, and experiences that are the spice of living in and visiting the city. A vibrant city means world-class events and a strong creative economy. It also means accessible walkways, green parks, and winter swimming spots that are open and free for everyone.

The city belongs to everyone. We want pleasant urban spaces where every person feels welcome regardless of age, gender, or other characteristics. We will invest in public art and a diverse cultural offering, as they make the city interesting. Libraries are, for us, common living rooms in neighbourhoods that promote literacy and local culture. We will encourage grassroots civic activism—the city should not be a blocker for neighbourhood events.

We will create a broad and inviting pedestrian centre that attracts people from near and far. We will transform Kaivokatu into a public transport street and Pohjois-Esplanadi into a pedestrian street.
Helsinki must be a good city for major events. We will expedite the opening of a new event arena in Helsinki and develop it in collaboration with event and tourism companies.
We will invest in the cleanliness and safety of streets. We will build spaces that attract people to linger and use the services of the city centre. This increases demand for brick-and-mortar stores and experience services.
We will ensure that there are fun, engaging, and green playgrounds for children throughout the city, with attractive climbing trees. We will create large thematic playgrounds for all ages, around which we will bring café and restaurant services. We will involve children in designing playgrounds.
We will leave room for grassroots urban culture to find its place in the city. We will support low-threshold art activities and urban activism.
We will safeguard Helsinki’s diverse cultural offering. We will support artists and cultural producers. We will ensure that there are appropriate spaces for artists and various cultural practitioners, as well as funding for diverse cultural activities.
We will ensure that there are sufficient affordable and free opportunities for hobbies and sports in the city. We will promote the construction of new public saunas, grill shelters, and winter swimming spots.
We will continue the participatory budgeting, as originally initiated by the Greens. We will further develop the budgeting process to make it clearer and ensure that Helsinki residents have genuine opportunities to influence the content of proposals.

6. We Will Make Helsinki the Best Place for Children and Youth to Grow Up

High-quality early childhood education is the cornerstone of the future. It supports children’s growth, development, and learning. It provides children with equal opportunities for education and enables parents to work. The Greens have worked hard in Helsinki to ensure that every child has at least one reliable adult to count on and equal opportunities to succeed in life.

For us, high-quality early childhood education and low-threshold family services are among the most important things Helsinki can offer its residents. On the Greens’ initiative, free early childhood education for five-year-olds was introduced in Helsinki. Our goal is to extend free early childhood education to all Helsinki children. However, early childhood education is not possible without the dedicated professionals in daycares. That is why we continue the salary development programme to raise wages in sectors suffering from labor shortages, such as early childhood education and child protection.

We will ensure that family services—from maternity and child health clinics to summer meals in playgrounds—are accessible and of high quality for all families.
We will continue our wage programme so that those working in daycares and child protection can live in Helsinki and receive competitive salaries.
We will improve the working conditions for professionals working with children so that they can support children in the best possible way.
We will build new daycares designed for children: spaces that feel safe for little ones, playgrounds that are sufficiently large and varied, and units sized so that daycare staff can get to know every child.
We will support children in foster care and their families and enable services in both homes for children with two homes.
Our goal is that every Helsinki youth has the opportunity to participate in at least one free hobby.
We will involve young people in the planning of youth centres and other leisure venues provided by the city.
Resources for child protection have long been insufficient and, due to government cuts, will become even scarcer. In Helsinki, we will not accept this. We will ensure that parents receive help in their daily lives with children when the load becomes too heavy and personal support networks are unavailable. Aftercare services must support young people’s transition to adulthood and independence in various ways.

7. We Will Invest in Education and Everyone’s Right to Learn

We are building a Helsinki in which every child and young person has equal opportunities to learn in every neighbourhood. Every school must be a good school! We will combat the inequality between schools by increasing funding for those that need extra support. We will take care of teachers’ well-being by providing them with sufficient support and opportunities for further training.

The growing inequality among children and young people is a major concern. The Greens’ goal is to build a Helsinki that offers hope and opportunities for all young people. We will safeguard every child’s right to learn by keeping class and group sizes small and creating an effective model for countering bullying, violence, and harassment. Our aim is that every Helsinki youth completes secondary education.

We will secure everyone’s right to education. We will ensure that the budget for positive special treatment is sufficient and develop targeted teaching, elective subjects, and club offerings so that they are equally accessible to all.
We will strengthen learning support and increase part-time small-group teaching in primary, secondary, and vocational schools.
We will ensure healthy and safe learning environments. We will add playful and active elements to schoolyards, and invest in creating calm, acoustically well designed spaces.
We will invest in morning and afternoon activities for children and opportunities for extracurricular activities during the school day. We will continue cooperation between schools and hobby clubs.
We will create a unified model in Helsinki for handling serious cases of bullying and violence. We will expand the role of harassment coordinators in Helsinki’s schools.
Helsinki youth must have the opportunity to pursue their studies in Helsinki. With growing class sizes, more places in high schools and vocational schools are needed. We will increase the number of study places in higher education.
Helsinki will offer regular training in gender-aware education and in the education of early childhood and school personnel.
We recognize the importance of skill- and arts-based subjects even in primary schools. We will increase positions for music teachers in primary schools.

8. We Will Build a Helsinki That Attracts People from Near and Far

We are building a Helsinki that invites international talent and families to build exciting careers and enjoy a good everyday life. Everyone moving to Helsinki should find a job or a place to study. We want Helsinki to be an internationally attractive student city where everyone can have an unforgettable student experience — whether moving here from the capital region municipalities, Suonenjoki, Delhi, or Hamburg. Everyone should have the opportunity to feel at home and safe in Helsinki.

The government’s increasingly restrictive immigration policies ignore that the skills shortage is our economy’s biggest bottleneck. Finland needs more immigrants. Our Helsinki is open, vibrant, and proudly multicultural—we will not tolerate racism.

We will ensure that Helsinki is an internationally attractive city in which to live, work, and study. The city, universities, and companies will together ensure that international students have career paths after graduation.
We will improve the integration of newcomers in Helsinki. We will ensure quick access to Finnish or Swedish language courses. We will offer support for employment and provide English-language early childhood and school places for children.
We will promote the employment and inclusion of immigrant women by investing in partner programmes, language teaching, and networking opportunities.
We will promote anti-racist practices in city services, education, and recruitment. We will utilize anonymous recruitment and skills assessments when hiring employees and public officials.
We will ensure that city services are available in several languages. We will open more career paths in the teaching and care sectors for those who are not native Finnish or Swedish speakers.
We will advance anti-racist work.

9. We Will Make Helsinki Accessible and Invest in Well-Being

We want a Helsinki where everyone can grow and age safely. An accessible and barrier-free city is a city for all. High-quality services, safety, and a pleasant environment belong everywhere in the city. We are building a Helsinki where everyone can live a life true to themselves, regardless of their background or social class. Helsinki is a Pride city!

Too many in Helsinki experience loneliness, struggle with mental health challenges, and risk being marginalized from society. The low-threshold mental health points (Miepit) initiated by the Greens have become necessary. Access to mental health services must be further simplified and expedited. The importance of nature for mental well-being must also be better recognized than it is now. Every Helsinki resident deserves peace of mind.

We will develop age-friendly and accessible living environments. We will design urban spaces to be barrier-free, add seating, and invest in the attractiveness of residential areas that offer meaningful activities for both children and the elderly.
We will invest in the accessibility and safety of public transport. Trams must be accessible to wheelchairs and metro elevators must work.
We will maintain reduced ticket prices in the city’s sports services for students, children, and the elderly.
We will invest in preventative substance abuse work and low-threshold support centres where help can be sought without an appointment. We will promote the legalization of supervised drug consumption rooms. Such facilities have been found to reduce overdose deaths and encourage people to seek treatment.
We will ensure that undocumented people continue to receive the social and health services they need in Helsinki, even though the national government has decided otherwise.
We will ensure that gender and sexual minorities are comprehensively considered in all city activities.
We will expand low-threshold mental health and well-being services.
We will invest in affordable and accessible sports services by taking advantage of Helsinki’s diverse and maritime nature.

10. We Will Cut Waiting Lists and Guarantee Everyone’s Access to Healthcare

Problems with well-being and burnout are an everyday reality for many. The government’s cuts to social security and health services affect everyone—but hit low-income people particularly hard, increase child poverty in families, and push many into difficult circumstances. In Helsinki, we can do things differently.

In social and health services, we want to invest in the continuity of care and support. People must be taken off waiting lists and ensured that everyone gets help quickly. We demand good leadership in the social and health sector as well as better working conditions and pay. We will work actively with organizations and civil society to prevent health and well-being problems from worsening. We will act vigorously to ensure that Helsinki residents receive social and health services with sufficient state funding.

We defend the free-of-charge nature of health centres so that everyone can access care with a low threshold. We will ensure that high-quality, equal services are available throughout the city.
We will implement a team-based model where a doctor or another health professional serves as the primary coordinator of a patient’s care. As a result, care will be better and faster since the patient does not have to recount their history from scratch each time. Identifying and preventing serious diseases, such as cancer and dementia, will become easier.
We will invest in improving the working conditions, well-being, pay, and benefits of healthcare professionals. This will increase staff retention and reduce the need for locum doctors.
We defend high-quality specialized healthcare and its sufficient funding.
The city must support social and healthcare organizations and strengthen cooperation between these organizations and the Helsinki Well-Being Region. Many of these organizations do indispensable work by offering low-threshold help to those in greatest need.
We will strengthen support and resilience for caregivers by developing home-visit support services and caregiver health services. We will ensure that every caregiver has a genuine opportunity to take the days off they have earned.
We will invest in the quality and sufficiency of home care. No one should be left alone at home without help.
We will provide enough spaces in senior centres and service homes for those who can no longer manage at home. Special attention will be given to people with dementia by establishing special “memory villages” within Helsinki, where they can live safely in a home-like environment.
We will offer home services for exhausted families with children. Home services are an effective way to help families through difficult times.

11. We Will Enable a Vibrant and Economically Strong Helsinki

A Green Helsinki is a good place for entrrepeneurs, startups and international business. A city that is attractive to tourists deserves world-class events and culture. Growth should not be constrained in economically challenging times, and instead we must invest in employment, research, and innovation. We have a positive attitude towards new ideas and innovative practices by companies that create new jobs and vitality for the city. We want a city where everyone can find their place and develop.

We want Helsinki to be the best place in Finland to be an entrepreneur. We will ensure that there is a sufficient supply of business spaces and that city processes run smoothly.
The city must enable people in all kinds of life situations to work and develop their skills. We will support the employment of those in the weakest positions and ensure access to work and education by offering high-quality, customer-oriented employment services in cooperation with companies. The Greens’ goal is to promote equality and well-being through employment services.
Helsinki’s city centre is Finland’s most active economic hub. We will strengthen the centre by making it even more attractive and accessible..
We will ensure that Helsinki gains more gig and event venues, diverse children’s events, and pleasant urban areas with walkable boulevards, cafés, and museums.
We will invest in the circular economy in the city’s operations. Not everything has to be bought new; old items can be recycled. This saves the environment and money while creating new entrepreneurial opportunities.
We will promote the employment of people with disabilities and those with partial work capacity by introducing a disability employment quota for the city.
We will simplify the use of wage subsidies for small and growing businesses, and also offer such subsidies for learning the Finnish language through work and training. We will ensure that wage-subsidized work can continue to be done in associations.
Helsinki’s city administration must be a reliable and encouraging employer, with employees among the happiest in Finland.

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