Vantaa residents’ feelings about involvement have remained unchanged

The involvement survey, conducted at the turn of 2023-2024, utilized the National Institute for Health and Welfare's (THL) involvement indicator where respondents answer ten statements that are then graded on the scale of 0-100.

A high score indicates a strong feeling of involvement, whereas a low score is proof of a poor feeling of involvement.

According to the involvement indicator, there have been no real changes in Vantaa residents’ feelings about involvement, compared to the previous survey. The average of the involvement indicator amounted to 74.2, which is almost the same as the year before (74.9).

At the turn of 2023-2024, altogether 884 Vantaa residents answered Vantaa’s involvement survey. Of the respondents, 402 were randomly selected, while the rest answered the survey through an open survey link.

The majority of the respondents were Finnish-language speakers. Two thirds of the respondents lived in owner-occupied accommodation and more than half of them had lived in Vantaa for over 20 years. Many of the respondents also deemed their state of health and financial situation to be good.

The respondents’ profiles affect interpretation of the results, and it is possible that the feeling of involvement is lower, for example, among members of different language groups.  

Income level affects the feeling of involvement

The respondents that deemed their health and livelihood to be good had a higher experience in involvement than the other respondents.

When the average of the involvement indicator was compared to the respondents’ background information, the biggest differences in the averages were between those who deemed their income level to be good and those who regarded their income level as poor. The average of the involvement indicator for those respondents who regarded their income level as poor was 22 points lower than for those who deemed their income level to be good.

In addition, experiences of one’s state of health and educational level correlated with experiences of lower involvement, while the differences were not great regarding residential areas or sex.

The respondents’ satisfaction with participation and influencing options had increased, if considering all the respondents (43.8 percent). Nevertheless, satisfaction had fallen among those who were randomly selected (37.1%), compared to the previous survey (38.2%)

There were no major differences in satisfaction between different residential areas or sexes.

"Vantaa residents have several means to impact decision-making at their disposal. People often feel as they are heard, but residents’ points of view are not accounted for when making decisions."
- a respondent to the involvement survey

The majority of the respondents were interested in participating in influencing decision-making in Vantaa

The survey investigated the respondents’ motivation to participate and influence. Of the participants in the survey, 63.7 percent were interested in participating in and influencing the development of the city, as well as of their own residential area.

Fewer, however, had knowledge about, or time for, participation and influencing. Communication challenges are clear in statements that analyzed the respondents’ trust in their own city. Even though half of the respondents felt that gaining information was easy, 24% of them totally or somewhat disagreed with the statement in question.

“I would like to influence the development of Vantaa and my own residential area, but I am not aware of all the channels to do so. In addition, as an employed person, I prefer channels where I can participate flexibly.” 
- a respondent to the involvement survey

Voting was deemed to be the most effective form of participating

Fifty-four-point-two percent of the respondents felt a sense of social cohesion with their residential area. Moreover, 44.7% of the respondents felt a sense of social cohesion with Vantaa. Compared to the previous survey, this figure had slightly increased. At the time of the previous survey, the percentage of respondents feeling a sense of social cohesion with Vantaa amounted to 41.4%.

The best-known information and involvement channels used by the City of Vantaa were the vantaa.fi website and Asukaslehti, whereas the least well-known were residents’, customers’ and users’ juries, of which 56.9% of the respondents had not even heard.

About half of the respondents had never heard of Vantaakanava.fi, the OsallistuvaVantaa.fi websites, or local newsletters.

The overwhelmingly most effective form of participation was deemed to be voting at municipal elections (82.4%). Voting was also regarded as a favored means of influencing.

After voting, the most effective means of influencing were acting in trustee positions, online surveys, participatory budgeting, participating in organizations’ activities, and submitting initiatives to municipal authorities. These ways of influencing were also seen as reasonably pleasant ones.

According to the respondents, the least effective means of influencing were paper surveys for residents, appeals or editorials, as well as personal contacts with the city's office-holders or decision-makers.