Mayor Piia Elo joined the first reunion of the inaugural class of the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative in Torino.
Through participation in the initiative, Turku's city team aims to develop a model to increase young people's sense of belonging in their neighbourhood and city through sport and other leisure activities. The target demographic – young residents – will have a say in shaping the outcome.
The Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative is the first-ever professional leadership and management programme designed specifically for the region’s mayors and municipal officials. Mayor of Turku Piia Elo is one of 30 mayors and a total of 60 city officials who participate in the programme. The initiative builds on more than 10 years of work led by Bloomberg Philanthropies to advance mayoral leadership and local government innovation across the globe.
"In Torino, we took stock of the progress made so far. Over the past few months, my dedicated team in Turku and I have been working closely with experts to strengthen the city’s capacity to develop new solutions and ways of working to tackle complex challenges. In line with our mayoral program, we chose to focus on advancing social inclusion among young people," says Mayor Piia Elo.
Turku’s city-level aim is to reduce social exclusion and segregation among young people by strengthening social inclusion, community belonging and wellbeing through meaningful leisure-time activities. The work is aligned with the city’s segregation strategy, service network reform and long-term investment in neighbourhood development. The approach combines data-driven planning, young people’s participation and cross-sector collaboration, with pilots used to inform scalable, permanent operating models.
The goal in Turku is to strengthen young people’s wellbeing, inclusion and sense of belonging as residents of the city. Special attention is being given to neighbourhoods where young people are more likely to experience loneliness, exclusion or difficulties in finding meaningful leisure activities.
"Together with young people, families, city services, schools, clubs, associations and other local actors, we are looking for solutions that support smooth everyday life and make it easier to take part in hobbies and shared activities. The goal is for more young people to find a safe community, inspiring things to do and opportunities to grow through their own strengths," says Programme Director Niina Haukioja.
Young people are involved in planning the activities from the very beginning so that the solutions are based on their own experiences and needs. Young people have been interviewed, and they have taken part in a workshop held in their neighborhood, which serves as the pilot area for the development work. The lessons learned from the project will later be applied more widely so that effective practices can be turned into lasting solutions for the benefit of all in Turku.
Mayor Piia Elo is grateful that she and the City of Turku were selected for Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative.
"It offers valuable insights, new perspectives, and important opportunities for peer learning. Cities are no longer seen only as providers of public services. They are also places where society’s challenges are most visible – and where new solutions can be developed."
Read more about the City of Turku joining the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative