Half-year review of Tuusula's Child-Friendly Municipality work: Autumn encouraged children and young people to think about their free time and how they can make a difference

Tuusula’s journey towards becoming a more child-friendly municipality is progressing with the support of UNICEF’s Child-Friendly Municipality model. The two-year action plan approved by UNICEF is a pathway for Tuusula, currently a candidate, towards Child-Friendly Municipality recognition. If the plan’s objectives are achieved, recognition is possible at the end of 2026.  

The Tuusula municipality action plan has five objectives with corresponding measures. In our half-yearly reviews, we report on the progress made towards these objectives during the previous six months and also look ahead to the future. 

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

The goal chosen by children and young people will, if achieved, give them additional tools for a better and more enriching life in Tuusula – without forgetting the importance of belonging to the community.
   At the start of
the autumn term 2025, a multilingual brochure about the extracurricular activities and clubs offered by Tuusula schools was distributed to the homes of first-year pupils, providing families with additional information on how to apply for these activities. The actual activities started in September and offered new opportunities for hobbies in the autumn. When planning the offerings for the 2025–2026 school year, children and young people were asked about their wishes, and several new ones have been implemented. 

The autumn season kicked off with regional hobby fairs for children and young people held on 19–21 August. The fairs took place in Hyrylä, Jokela and Kellokoski and encouraged children, young people and their families to explore the hobby opportunities available in the area. A wide range of hobby and leisure activity providers were on hand to showcase their activities.  

On 24 October, a gathering was held at Kellokoski School to discuss leisure activities. The aim of the discussion, which was conducted using the Skididialogi model, was to gather the views and experiences of pupils, especially those aged 12–15, and adults working with young people on the subject. Skididialogi discussions will continue in spring 2026, with Jokela next in line. These discussions provide children and young people with a valuable opportunity to participate in the planning of leisure activities and free time in their area. 

Children’s views and experiences influence environmental design 

In the autumn, children and young people had the opportunity to learn about the planning of their own local environment. Lessons held at upper secondary schools and lower secondary schools covered various ways of influencing, such as developing leisure facilities and areas in their own neighbourhoods. As part of the Länsi-Kolsa town plan, children of different ages were asked for their views on places and routes that are important to them. 

Children and young people were also able to participate in the development vision work for Lake Tuusula by responding to a survey that was open to everyone. A total of 50 responses were received from underage residents. In addition, the Tuusula Youth Council was invited to participate in a joint development workshop organised by the Tuusula and Järvenpää councils in November. Young people were also invited to participate in a remote workshop to develop a questionnaire for commenting on the vision work, where they provided their perspectives and suggestions on what kind of questions and map questionnaire format they thought would work best. 

The lessons learned and methods used in the initial phase have been compiled into guidelines for shared use, and this work will continue in 2026. Once the guidelines are complete, a service design student will implement training on the application and use of methods for involving children and young people for experts in the field of growth and the environment.  

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

Statistics, research data and other sources of information have been examined in greater depth, focusing on smaller groups rather than averages, and selections have been made at municipal level regarding the data to be monitored more closely. Based on these selections, summary data is being compiled.  

Choices have also been made regarding content for which the views of children and young people are particularly sought. Among other things, Skididialogi discussion events on current topics such as safety and leisure time have been added to the information sources.  

Significant sources of information on the well-being of school-aged children and young people include the school health survey and Move! measurements. The results for 2025 were discussed extensively in the municipality, and the results of the school health survey were also discussed with the Central Uusimaa well-being area in order to reach a common understanding. The municipality’s service areas use the results of the surveys as a basis for planning their activities. 

Valuable information on early childhood education is obtained using Reunamo Education’s Developmental Feedback research method. The method produces comprehensive and up-to-date material on everyday early childhood education, reflecting the real everyday lives of children. The analysis examines a child’s day through four key well-being factors: learning, physical activity, emotions and engagement. The analysis of the current situation provides a broad picture of what is happening in early childhood education in Tuusula from the children’s perspective and serves as a basis for knowledge-based management and development. It is used to create municipal-level priorities for the pedagogical development of activities. 

Understanding of children’s rights is increasing

The first round of staff training on children’s rights was ongoing until the end of 2025. The introductory training led to joint unit-specific discussions among staff on the key principles of children’s rights, and a questionnaire based on these discussions will provide the Child-Friendly Municipality coordination group with additional input for the coming year. In 2026, familiarisation with children’s rights will become part of the staff’s professional development path, which will be built on a new system to be introduced and induction sessions.
  The lessons learned
from the Child-Friendly Municipality work and new ways of involving children and young people will be compiled into a shared idea bank for staff.
  
 Elected officials received an initial introduction to the Child-Friendly Municipality model in June, and the actual orientation session took place in November. Regular status reports on the progress of the model are also held for key committees.

Children’s Rights Week was celebrated together, inviting not only municipal actors but also associations, organisations and companies. Children and young people had their voices heard in many different ways in the units under the theme of the week. In connection with the week, a search for the most child-friendly act in Tuusula was also carried out. The winner was announced on 19 November during a live-streamed mayor’s question time, where children and young people had the opportunity to ask the mayor, the chief executive and the deputy mayor questions that were on their minds. A recording of the question and answer session is available on the Tuusula municipality’s YouTube channel. 

Children are taken into account in decision-making

The preliminary impact assessment model used in the municipality of Tuusula will be expanded to include an assessment of the impact on children (LAVA). The model, which takes children and young people into account, was developed in the autumn and will be implemented in 2026, among other things, by compiling joint material and training staff. Child impact assessment is particularly important in the implementation of construction projects. Any negative impacts on children and young people identified in the assessments must be taken into account at the early stages of preparation and efforts must be made to mitigate them. 

The participatory budgeting (osbu) round for children and young people, which began in autumn 2025, is linked to the Child-Friendly Municipality initiative. In the autumn, children and young people were given the opportunity to come up with ideas for improving comfort and well-being in Tuusula. Approximately 1,500 proposals were submitted, which will be used to create voting proposals for the voting phase to be held in late spring 2026.

Thank you for joining us on our journey towards a more child-friendly municipality! 

Further information:  Heli Hakulinen,
Development Manager, Education and Culture Division, heli.hakulinen@tuusula.fi, +358 40 314 3084 Laura
Aalto, Learning Specialist,laura.aalto@tuusula.fi, +358 40 314 3485 

This content has been translated using AI