Communal Turku

Most Turku residents do well, but the well-being does not divide equally among all. Hobbies designed together in your own areas, comfortable everyday areas and communal open spaces enable moving, encountering, and sustainable growth for upcoming years. The work is being done together with residents, organizations, and companies.

The project consists of three areas:

Turku for Mental Well-being 

We aim to reduce loneliness and strengthen resources that support mental health. We want to ensure that every Turku resident is met and heard.

Active Turku

We promote the movement of Turku residents in a way that supports health and develop the network of sports services and expertise.

Renewing Suburbs of Turku

We build the vitality of areas based on the strengths of each area. The work is based on the suburban program and vision, and we implement it together with residents and our partners.

In the Turku for Mental Well-being section, special attention is paid to promoting residents' mental health, preventing loneliness and exclusion, strengthening residents' participation, and accelerating integration.

New methods to promote well-being:

• A city-wide model for preventive mental health and substance abuse work was introduced in Turku, with measures piloted in 2023.
• Trainings that strengthen mental resources are organized for residents, organization actors, and municipal professionals.
• Loneliness is prevented through cooperation with the organizational sector and the parish. With the Tykkää turkulaisesta! activity, Turku is made into a city where everyone can feel they belong.
• Residential areas have been established with community living rooms where residents can gather for socializing and joint activities.
• The Vimma night café activity offers young people a safe meeting place and responds to the observed service need in the central area. Customers are offered further guidance to other services at the café.

We offer meeting places for everyone and support for mental well-being at all stages of life.

 

Turku supports the well-being of city residents by promoting physical activity. Sports services are brought closer to residents, and their planning takes better account of the needs of different ages and fitness levels. The development work is based on, among other things, the results of the 2021 hobby surveys and the 2022 adult movement survey.

New solutions to increase physical activity:

Children and Youth

• 7–19-year-olds receive the annual Boostii benefit for guided sports activities in Turku-based sports clubs and associations.
• The project promotes equal hobby opportunities for children and youth by offering free, enjoyable hobby and holiday activities close to home. The goal is also to develop communication so that children, youth, and families who move less find their way to hobbies.
• With the Leiki & Liiku model in early childhood education, the aim is to ensure that every child learns basic motor skills before starting school.
• Together with children's and youth sports clubs, we develop a mentoring model aimed at strengthening coaches' skills and promoting knowledge sharing within the club network.

Working-age

• Practices for addressing physical activity and service guidance are strengthened through employment services, Varha, and private occupational health actors. By addressing physical activity and service guidance, even those who move less can be inspired to get active.
• Working-age and elderly people are offered group-based sports counseling that helps adopt an active lifestyle.
• Staff physical activity is developed by mapping staff physical activity services and creating a model to promote well-being.

Elderly

• For the elderly, a city-wide Liiku lähellä model was built, offering low-threshold physical activity and community in every residential area. The model is developed together with Turun Lähimmäispalveluyhdistys and other partnership associations.
• Additionally, the activities of strength and balance exercise groups for people over 75 years old have been expanded.
• Free training is offered for coaches in sports clubs and the private sector to strengthen expertise in sports services for the elderly. About 50 coaches have completed training for strength and balance exercises for the elderly.
• New models and methods for communication with the elderly have been developed, focusing on outreach and mobile work as well as print communication; including peer communication activities, the Seniors' Well-being Guide, and broader newspaper advertising.

We ensure that everyone has the opportunity to move and enjoy the well-being effects of physical activity according to their own needs.

 

In the Renewing Suburbs section, the focus is on the needs of residential areas outside the city center. The goal is to develop the areas in a balanced way, increase residents' well-being, and strengthen the city's area activities and stakeholder cooperation.

The Turku suburban vision, prepared in collaboration with residents, summarizes the goals for good suburbs. The goals set in the vision are promoted as part of the spearhead project Communal Turku and the city's other development work.

Measures to develop suburbs:

• The special features of residential areas are mapped in detail so that development measures can be targeted where they are most needed.
• The city's cooperation with residents, organizations, and businesses is strengthened. Participation is a central part of the implementation of the spearhead project's measures.
• Together with the other parts of the spearhead project, new community living rooms are opened, offering residents spaces for meetings and joint activities.
• Turku's various residential areas have many strengths that we want to highlight and utilize in communication.

We support development where all areas in Turku have the conditions for vibrant and community-oriented growth.