Havukoski, Länsimäki and Mikkola participatory budgeting begins with idea-generation phase on April 21

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four young people on a sports field on a sunny day.

Participatory budgeting, that is, a process where residents can decide on developing their own area, will take place in Havukoski, Länsimäki and Mikkola in the spring. The residents can submit their own ideas, which will be voted on by the residents. The winning ideas will be implemented. A sum of €50,000 has been allocated for each area.

The ideas shall be connected with increasing the pleasantness of the local environment in city-managed areas, that is, in parks, streets, outdoor recreation areas, as well as on the yards of schools and day-care centers. The idea can be a small change in the environment or in activities. The participatory budgeting projects in these areas are called: Our Havukoski, Our Länsimäki and Our Mikkola. Money could be spent on, for instance, new benches, exercise equipment, bike racks, or arranging a village celebration.

“Now is a good time to think about what would cheer up the local outlook and atmosphere, and bring joy to your everyday routes,” encourages community involvement coordinator Laura Lettenmeier.

Participatory budgeting begins with the idea-generation phase on April 21-May 16. Anybody can submit ideas, whether they are residents of the areas in question or not. You can submit your ideas online at: osallistu.vantaa.fi, or by calling 09 839 50160 and leaving your ideas as a voice message. Furthermore, you can submit your ideas on paper in the idea-collection boxes that you will find in Länsimäki near the shopping mall and in the plaza next to the library, in Mikkola on Venuksentie near the shopping mall, and in Havukoski in front of citizens' house Kafnetti and in the vicinity of Alepa.

After the idea-generation stage, the city’s experts will study the ideas and decide on those that will be worked on together with the residents and then voted on. The ideas will be worked on in workshops, in which everybody interested in further developing the ideas can participate.

In order to make a plan for an idea, the idea's costs must be sufficiently affordable and otherwise meet the requirements set. Implementation of an individual plan may not exceed €30,000, so that no single proposal costs the entire sum of €50,000.

After the developmental stage, the plans will be voted on; the vote will take place on September 22-October 17. The winning plans will be implemented in the course of 2022.

For more information on participatory budgeting, go to Get involved.

Keywords

WorkshopsGet involvedParticipatory budgeting