Half-yearly review of Tuusula's child-friendly municipality work

The action plan for Tuusula Municipality’s Child-Friendly Municipality initiative has five objectives, each with its own set of measures to promote them. We have compiled a six-month review of the steps we took in the spring for each objective, as well as excerpts from our plans for the autumn.

Improved accessibility of hobbies and leisure activities for children and young people

Hobbies and leisure activities play a significant role in the lives of children and young people. By working together to promote goals that children and young people have chosen themselves and that are particularly important to them, we can offer an even better life in Tuusula.
 
 Spring has been an excellent time to review the hobby opportunities available to children and young people together with the Tuusula hobby network and associations working with families with children. In addition to the municipality, the Tuusula hobby network includes representatives from many other organisations. Young people aged 12–15 have also been invited to meetings to share their thoughts on what is on offer and to participate in joint planning. A cooperation meeting with the associations held earlier this year provided valuable information about the leisure and participation opportunities available to children and young people in Tuusula and reinforced the joint effort to raise awareness of these opportunities.
 
We are currently preparing for another regional hobby fair for children and young people, which will be held this year in Hyrylä, Jokela and Kellokoski on 19–21 August. We warmly welcome hobby presenters to join us! 

Children’s views and experiences influence environmental design 

In April, student representatives from schools that will be transferring to Lahela School in the future gathered for workshops to discuss their dream schoolyards. Pupils from Ruotsinkylä and Vaunukangas primary schools and Hyrylä secondary school sketched and drew their dream playgrounds, and they also worked together to create models using Lego. In addition, pupils from all three schools had the opportunity to respond to a survey. Even the youngest

users of the planned Lahela building complex were not forgotten, as the future users of the daycare centre to be built in connection with the school were also given the opportunity to dream. Two groups from the Vaunukangas daycare centre visited the playgrounds of the two newest daycare centres in Tuusula to observe the things they liked.
 
 This spring, we have also planned meetings with secondary school pupils to be held in the autumn, with the aim of increasing young people’s awareness of their opportunities to participate in the planning of the urban environment. Children and young people

are already experts in park planning in Tuusula. The sports facilities near our schools, the playgrounds of our daycare centres and our public playgrounds have been renovated with the input of children and young people. The aim is to create a common platform for stakeholders, where asking children and young people for their views and experiences is an important part of the process.  

Information about children is utilised in a variety of ways for different groups of children.

We have access to a wide range of research, empirical and official data on children and young people, which we are not yet utilising as we would like to. As part of our Child-Friendly Municipality work, we are diversifying the breakdown and analysis of data for different groups of children. We

have identified, for example, the situation of disadvantaged children and young people and internal regional differences within the municipality as areas requiring more detailed analysis. Work on making more extensive use of this information is carried out systematically on a daily basis. 

Understanding of children’s rights is increasing

We have launched an orientation programme for our staff on children’s rights. Each of our employees will undergo introductory training, after which our units will jointly familiarise themselves with the four key principles of children’s rights: equality, the best interests of the child, the right to life and development, and participation. The familiarisation period will last for the current year. The elected representatives

for the new council term will be familiarised with children’s rights and the Child-Friendly Municipality model in the autumn. The aim is to pause and consider how the best interests of the child are taken into account in decision-making and what role decision-makers themselves play in promoting children’s rights.

Children’s rights are also highlighted at various events, such as organisation forums and guardian meetings. Children’s rights will be highlighted in particular during Children’s Rights Week in November. All municipal departments and other actors, such as associations, communities and companies, are invited to participate. The search for Tuusula’s most child-friendly act, which was launched last year, will continue. 

Children are taken into account in decision-making 

Our municipality uses a preliminary impact assessment model that includes a child impact assessment (LAVA) closely linked to the Child-Friendly Municipality initiative.
  The use of child
impact assessment requires, in particular, the identification of those groups of children for whom the impact of decisions must be mitigated before implementation. The use of LAVA requires an active approach and joint training. 

The participatory budgeting (PBF) round for children and young people, which will start in the autumn, is linked to the Child-Friendly Municipality initiative. The PBF round for children will enable those under the age of 18 to have their voices heard in the creation of a pleasant and well-being-oriented Tuusula. The participatory budgeting process was developed in the spring in a child-friendly manner with children in the Power to Children workshops and together with a youth advisory group. 

In order to become an even more child-friendly municipality, it is time for everyone to take action. You too can consider how you can promote child-friendliness in your own life or in your work when you encounter children and young people. Let’s work together to make Tuusula child-friendly!

Further information:
Acting Director of Education Markus Torvinen, markus.torvinen@tuusula.fi, +358 40 314 3410
Learning Specialist Laura Aalto, laura.aalto@tuusula.fi, +358 40 314 3485 

This content has been translated using AI