VLR report part 3: Vantaa builds well-being

The At Home in Vantaa anniversary dialogues organised in 2024 offered a comprehensive view of the everyday life and work of the people in Vantaa. Thousands of residents from different language and age groups participated in the dialogues. Roughly 200 participants took part in the Finnish-language discussions, while 88 people participated in the multilingual dialogues arranged by organisations. Discussions were held in Somali, Arabic, Russian, Estonian, English and Albanian. Interviews with substance abuse rehabilitation patients, seniors and people from a Romani background reached 76 participants. The Perfect City – A Sustainable Future for Vantaa dialogues for children, young people and guardians heard 3,749 people, and discussions were held in Finnish, Swedish and English.

Even though Vantaa has a very young population structure compared to the whole of Finland, from the perspective of inclusion, children and young people are silent groups whose voices are not necessarily heard enough in the City’s decision-making. The Perfect City dialogues provided children and young people with the opportunity to participate in the development of the city in a safe environment (in a school classroom, day care group or hobby group). In this way, valuable information was gathered from thousands of participants. 

The goal of all of the dialogues during the anniversary year was to find out what being a Vantaa resident and living in Vantaa means to locals. The themes of the discussions addressed Vantaa’s strengths, development needs and residents’ hopes for the future.

Participants highlighted Vantaa’s strengths – specifically its multiculturalism, community spirit and proximity to nature. The activity of the communities was considered to be a valuable asset, and regional events and low-threshold meeting places were seen as important. They strengthen the community, which in turn increases the sense of well-being and security. In the discussions in different languages, the price level of flats also came up, which is more affordable in Vantaa than elsewhere in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

Themes related to safety, well-being and services were seen as areas that require development. In particular, substance abuse, the social exclusion of young people and unrest in public places, such as railway station areas, are causing concern among local residents. Challenges were also observed in the use of digital services, especially among seniors and immigrants. Multilingual and plain language communication was seen as an important way to improve access to health services and support integration. In all discussions held in the different languages, the availability of language training and general trust in public actors emerged as areas to be developed.

The discussions highlighted young people’s desire for low-threshold meeting places and guided activities. The role of schools and youth centres was emphasised as a key support network, but the desire was to improve the accessibility of recreational opportunities. The people of Vantaa value local nature and green areas, and preserving them in the midst of increasingly dense urban development was found to be very important. At the same time, people wanted to promote recycling and environmental awareness. Local pride and history were seen as important elements of local identity. Accessible information about the history of Vantaa was desired by young people to promote communality and integration.

Inclusion and communities are key issues for well-being, and they can be linked to broader sustainable development goals, such as reducing poverty and hunger and combating climate change. These perspectives are combined in the Shared Table activities, which combine food security with reducing food waste and community activities. In Finland, food consumption accounts for roughly 20–25 per cent of an individual’s climate impacts. Some 650 million kg of edible waste is generated in Finland each year, approximately half of which is food waste. The Shared Table measures combat this problem by donating food waste to those in need while also providing employment opportunities for the long-term unemployed and volunteers. 

The Shared Table is an operating model developed in Vantaa, in which cooperation between the city, parishes, the third sector and educational institutions focuses on utilising food waste and distributing food aid. The network includes more than 60 active food waste donors, such as wholesalers, shops and food factories, as well as over 90 organisations and residents' farms that distribute food in various ways. The scope of the activities also includes Lutheran parishes and other church actors. Food aid reaches roughly 5,500 people each week, most of whom are poor elderly people, especially women. 

At the heart of the operations is a food waste terminal established by the City of Vantaa. The amount of food waste passing through it has varied in recent years. The year 2023 was a record year for the Shared Table operations with more than 750,000 kilograms of food were distributed, i.e. roughly 15,000 kilograms per week. Even though 2024 was slightly slower (680,000 kg) in terms of the amount of food donated, the number of people in need of food aid is still increasing. This is due to increasing unemployment and tightening social benefits, among other things.

In 2024, the Shared Table launched a new pilot project that utilised production line waste for food aid in collaboration with five educational institutions and 11 food aid distributors. This was an important step in the use of food waste, as an estimated 37 million servings of food are wasted annually in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area’s food services. 

The Shared Table works closely with local companies, while strengthening the implementation of corporate environmental and social responsibility. The network collects food waste from over 60 companies in Vantaa. This prevents unnecessary waste and provides companies with the opportunity to support local communities and disadvantaged people.

At the beginning of 2024, UNICEF granted Vantaa the Child-Friendly Municipality award in recognition of permanent changes that improve the realisation of children’s rights and the well-being of children and young people. The model aims to secure children’s rights and a good childhood, especially for children in vulnerable situations. Vantaa continues to develop child-friendliness through an action plan, and the new plan was approved in August 2024.

The Child-Friendly Municipality model is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which emphasises non-discrimination, the importance of the children’s best interests, the right to growth and development, and listening to children. Vantaa strives to strengthen these principles in all of its operations. The recognition will be valid for two years, and Vantaa is committed to continuing its long-term work to promote children’s rights.

Within the framework of the Child-Friendly Municipality model, Vantaa has developed prevention and intervention related to harassment and violence experienced by children and young people, introduced the principles of safer spaces and committed all personnel to children’s rights training. Children and young people have been actively involved in the development work. In the new operating period, the work will prioritise promoting the inclusion of children in vulnerable positions, ensuring that children and young people receive information about their rights, and supporting work against bullying. In addition, a model for assessing the impact on children will be created during this operating period, so that the city can more systematically consider the impacts of various decisions on children and young people in the future.

TEPPO stands for flexible, work-oriented basic education for 8th and 9th graders. TEPPO is an innovation from Vantaa, which involves the studies of TEPPO pupils alternating between on-the-job learning periods at workplaces and teaching at school. In total, there are approximately 5–7 weeks of on-the-job learning periods during the school year. During an on-the-job training period, the student learns in working life or learns about studying in upper secondary school or vocational education. The rest of the time, TEPPO pupils study in their own classes at their local school and complete secondary school studies normally according to the curriculum. The work-focused teaching follows Vantaa’s basic education curriculum. In Vantaa, you can apply to become a TEPPO pupil at any secondary school. There are more than 500 TEPPO pupils in Vantaa every year.

The aim of TEPPO studies is to support young people in identifying their own strengths, motivation, agency and decision-making skills. Young people learn working life skills and gain related knowledge and career planning skills, as well as experience in different professions, jobs and educational opportunities. A TEPPO pupil can also take part in on-the-job training during the secondary education orientation week. You can learn more about the studies at a Vantaa-based upper secondary school, Vantaa Vocational College Varia or Mercuria Business School.

Each TEPPO pupil receives intensive guidance and takes part in an optional TEPPO course led by a student counsellor. The student guidance supports young people in finding a suitable place for further study. In addition, young people can develop their skills and self-esteem for further study.

TEPPO is suitable for any pupil, regardless of whether their goal after basic education is to move on to vocational studies or upper secondary school studies, or whether the young person’s future plans are still unclear. The focus on working life can also serve as a form of support from the perspective of integration into Finland and learning the Finnish language, for example. Through TEPPO studies, pupils can also gain versatility and additional challenges for their studies.

There has been nationwide interest in Vantaa’s TEPPO model. The operations have expanded without being regulated nationally, which is why local implementation methods vary. The largest cities implementing TEPPO activities are Helsinki and Espoo, but there are also operations in smaller municipalities, such as Pyhtää. The Ministry of Education and Culture has considered TEPPO to be a pedagogically justified and flexible solution for basic education pupils for whom conventional curriculum-based teaching is not the best option. For this reason, the Basic Education Curriculum (2014) will be amended and supplemented regarding work-oriented basic education. The Finnish National Board of Education is guiding this work and the changes will enter into force on 1 August 2026.

Well-being Promotion Specialist Suvi Korhonen, what does your job involve?
I am responsible for the municipality's statutory reporting and plan related to well-being. We report annually to the council on the well-being and health of municipal residents through a well-being review and once per council term through a comprehensive well-being report. A well-being plan is also prepared for each council term. In addition to these, I build cooperation with the well-being services county through various working groups and well-being and health promotion (HYTE) negotiations. I also handle a great deal of other duties, such as drafting a disability policy programme, strategic development of work to promote well-being and health, and the development of knowledge-based leadership.

What kind of collaboration do you engage in and with whom?
Well-being and health is carried out throughout all services in the municipality, meaning that the tasks take place at the city level. I collaborate with all city departments. I cooperate quite a lot with the well-being services county and also with the City of Kerava. The exceptionally small number of municipalities in our well-being services county enables personal contact. Other important partners include other organisations working with the coordination of well-being and health promotion in Uusimaa and national networks. Organisations and the HUS are also part of my collaboration network. The cooperation with the various parties involves compiling well-being reports and plans, various working groups and sharing information. 

What is challenging about your job?
As one of the most sizeable challenges, I see maintaining smooth services and service guidance for local residents since the well-being services county reform. Many residents do not know who provides the services – they just want the services to run smoothly. We continue to work closely with the well-being services county to ensure that no blind spots emerge. My work is challenged by the fact that, broadly speaking, all municipal work can be classified as work promoting well-being and health. This is both a positive thing and a challenge, because we need to find the most essential measures that will allow us to genuinely impact the well-being and health of the local residents.

What positive news have you heard recently regarding the well-being of the people of Vantaa?
I am very happy about the fact that Vantaa is investing in anti-bullying work through training and dialogue-related methods. The establishment of free lifestyle advice as a service is also positive thing and has yielded good results. Moreover, I am proud that we have our own cultural producer focused on cultural work for the elderly, who plans and implements events and activities for seniors. As a plain language activist, I am also delighted by the increased use of plain language in Vantaa’s communications!