Vantaa will organize a summer camp for young people from its Ukrainian sister city, Boryspil
In its meeting on Monday, March 10, Vantaa’s City Executive Board decided to organize a summer camp for young people from Vantaa and its sister city, Boryspil, next summer. In addition, the City Executive Board handled the initiatives of city councilors and residents from last year.
Vantaa and the Ukrainian airport city of Boryspil entered into a sister city relationship in 2023. As a show of support, the organization of a youth camp in Vantaa in summer 2025 has been discussed together with Boryspil. The aim is for children and young people from Boryspil to have the opportunity to gain international experience, get to know Vantaa residents of their own age and to relax in a safe environment. The roughly week-long camp will be organized next summer in the City of Vantaa’s camp center in Kukonnotko, and it will include a visit to Vantaa and Helsinki. The camp would welcome 18 young people aged 13–17 from Boryspil who have been significantly impacted by the war. About 15 young people from Vantaa would also take part in the camp.
Vantaa has previously supported Ukraine by granting 150,000 euros in aid to the state of Ukraine and its citizens in 2022, in order to mitigate the humanitarian problems caused by the war. Vantaa’s Ukraine Help Center was opened in the Koivukylä citizens' house in April 2022 in cooperation with the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare. In January 2023, the city executive board decided to grant a €60,000-operating grant to the Ukrainian Association in Finland, for Korso logistics center’s operations for the year 2023. In addition, as part of the Generators of Hope campaign launched by the European Parliament and the Eurocities organization, Vantaa worked together with Helsinki and Espoo to organize a collection in 2023, through which aggregates, generators and heaters donated by the cities’ residents, companies and communities were delivered to Ukraine.
90 city-council initiatives and 19 citizens’ initiatives were submitted to Vantaa last year
The city executive board decided to submit the initiatives of city councilors and residents made in 2024 for the information of the city council. A total of 90 city-council initiatives were submitted in 2024. The number of submitted initiatives increased significantly from the previous year, 2023, when 51 initiatives were submitted. Most of the city-council initiatives were related to matters concerning the urban environment department (29) and the urban culture and wellbeing department (26).
A total of 19 citizens’ initiatives were submitted to the city for handling in 2024. The number of initiatives decreased from previous years (2023: 44; 2022: 42; 2021: 48; 2020: 51). The majority of the citizens’ initiatives were related to matters concerning the urban environment department, which accounted for 12 of the initiatives. Citizens’ initiatives and their responses can be found at the address www.kuntalaisaloite.fi, if the initiative has been submitted through the service.
