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11.6.2026 | The Government will conduct pilot projects to reduce youth unemployment in cities with high youth unemployment, focusing on neighbourhoods and districts. Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Turku, Tampere, Oulu, Pori, Lahti, Kuopio, Jyväskylä and Joensuu have joined the pilot.

23.6.2026 | According to a recent report, it would be beneficial for people to have access to electronic services already before their entry into Finland. This would make it easier for them to attend to necessary official matters.

20.5.2026 | The European Urban Initiative (EUI) brought together European and Finnish cities, the European Commission and national and regional authorities to discuss the changed geopolitical situation in Finland and its impact on cities and the development of innovation ecosystems. The event to support cities with capacity building was held in Oulu on 19–20 May 2026.

1.6.2026 | On 29 May, Minister of Climate and the Environment Sari Multala signed a decision of the Ministry of the Environment on the establishment of the Tampere National Urban Park. The National Urban Park extending from the national landscape of Tammerkoski rapid to lake shores and several districts of the city combine the characteristic landscapes and built environment of Tampere.

26.1.2026 | The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment appointed a working group to prepare a programme to prevent segregation. The working group will identify measures to reduce segregation. The programme is due to be completed by the end of 2026.

11.12.2025 | On 11 December 2025, the Government submitted to Parliament a Union communication concerning the European Commission’s proposed regulations on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). The proposals are part of the Commission’s proposal for a new multiannual financial framework for 2028–2034.

11.3.2025 | Prime Minister Petteri Orpo invited representatives from Finland’s six largest cities (Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Oulu and Turku), immigrant organisations, religious communities and public officials to explore ways to promote good relations between population groups in Finland. The event was organised in cooperation with the City of Vantaa on 11 March.

12.10.2023 | As part of the strong urban policy package, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will launch the preparation of thematic agreements with cities. Preparation will begin with a survey that will be sent to cities to assess their readiness and needs for thematic agreements.

2.4.2025 | The European Enterprise Promotion Awards reward the most successful promoters of entrepreneurship and business across Europe. The awards highlight the best entrepreneurial practices, raise awareness of the importance of entrepreneurship and encourage and inspire Europeans to become entrepreneurs.

9.1.2025 | Minister of Employment Arto Satonen will travel to Vietnam and the Philippines from 11 to 18 January 2025. The purpose of the visit is to create a cooperation model between Finland and the countries to promote international recruitment.

19.6.2023 | As part of the Ministry of the Environment's Sustainable City programme, twelve experiments on sustainable urban development were carried out between 2022 and 2023. They focused on inclusion, interaction and solutions that cut across dimensions of sustainability. The results included, among others, a local sustainable development agreement model, a digital portal for resource wisdom work that suppo...

13.12.2022 | Sixteen Finnish municipalities are taking part in in the work on challenge clusters under the Sustainable City Programme. The aim is to tackle the most difficult sustainability challenges that cannot be solved by individual organisations or sectors alone. The three themes selected on the basis of the needs of cities are: urban green spaces in increasingly built-up cities, urban planning that ta...

13.6.2022 | The project carried out by the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE ‘Indicators for sustainable urban development’ was a multi-stage participatory process to draw up a proposal for key indicators for sustainable urban development. The aim is to support cities, ministries and other stakeholders in monitoring sustainable urban development. The follow-up project to be started now will test the key indicators that have been identified in municipalities interested in this work.

6.3.2025 | The Government submitted a legislative proposal relating to micromobility to Parliament on 6 March 2025. The aim of the proposal is to improve the safety of electric scooters and other micromobility vehicles.

The amended programme document Interreg AURORA 2021-2027 VERSION 3.0 After reallocation of Interreg NEXT Kolarctic and Interreg NEXT Karelia 1 CCI 2021TC16RFCB027 Title (Interreg VI-A) Sweden-Finland-Norway (AURORA) Version 3.0 First year 2021 Las...

28.4.2022 | The European Commission has selected six Finnish cities, Tampere, Turku, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Espoo and Helsinki, as European pioneers that aim to achieve carbon neutrality already by 2030. In all, 100 cities were selected from among 362 applicants in the EU. Nine cities in Finland applied.

19.10.2024 | Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's opening speech at the International Conference on Environmental Safety, Point 8 of the Ukraine's Peace Formula, Helsinki 19 October 2024. (Check against delivery).

19.10.2023 | The Urban Policy Committee aims to strengthen the partnership and dialogue between the central government, cities and urban regions. Minister of Local and Regional Government Anna-Kaisa Ikonen chairs the Committee.

20.5.2020 | An agreement will be concluded between the state and university cities on ecosystems that enable closer cooperation between cities and the state to drive research, development and innovation.

9.2.2021 | The State has concluded agreements with 16 urban areas to strengthen innovation activities. The objective of the agreements is to build innovation ecosystems, in other words, to intensify cooperation within networks, strengthen key competences and increase effectiveness of RDI activities. The content of the agreements is based on the local strengths of urban areas and they relate to comprehensive and current topics of carbon reduction, digital technology, and wellbeing and health.