Children and Young People's Turku

We promote the wellbeing and participation of children and young people

We want every child and young person to find a meaningful hobby and to be physically active in ways that fit naturally into everyday life. Promoting hobbies and physical activity supports the mental and physical wellbeing of children and young people, as well as a sense of community.

We develop free-of-charge hobby opportunities in connection with the school day and increase movement and physical activity during early childhood education and school days. We also support participation in sports and physical activities through the Boostii benefit.

Efforts to promote wellbeing and participation also include reducing the effects of school segregation, strengthening safety work, and improving children’s and young people’s literacy skills.

We develop meeting places and shared-use facilities

We expand the shared use of the City’s premises. By opening schools, day-care centres and other municipal facilities for broader use, we can increase opportunities for hobbies and activities for children and young people in the evenings, at weekends and during school holidays. This also applies to school yards and other outdoor spaces.

We are developing the “School as a Platform” concept, in which schools function as centres of community life in their areas. The concept is based on the Gothenburg School As Arena model, where schools are seen as safe and trustworthy spaces and therefore effective bridges between different target groups.

We pilot a new way of working together within services for children and young people

Within the service entity for children and young people, we are developing a new way of working across administrative boundaries within the City and in cooperation with organisations, the wellbeing services county, companies and other partners. The aim is a people-centred and needs-based approach to service leadership. An important part of this work is also the assessment of the impacts of decisions affecting children and young people as part of advance impact assessment.

We are involved in designing a community impact model together with the Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland and child welfare organisations in the region. The aim of the model is to strengthen the wellbeing of children, young people and families through shared goals, mutually reinforcing actions, shared indicators and continuous dialogue.