Vantaa to start voting on residents’ ideas soon

In April, Vantaa residents will have the chance to participate in the development of their own neighbourhood. For the first time, participatory budgeting is being carried out across the whole of Vantaa, according to the City of Vantaa.

In November last year, Vantaa residents were asked to come up with ideas on how to spend €1.2 million in participatory budgeting. All Vantaa residents aged 13 and over will be able to vote for their favourite ideas in a voting starting on 1 April. The voting will close on 21 April.

Residents can vote for one or more ideas that fit the budget of their chosen major region. The amount of money will be divided among the major regions on a per capita basis. For example, the Myyrmäki region’s budget is the largest, €300,000, while the Kivistö region’s budget is €90,000.

The voting will take place at vantaa.fi/osbu, which you can log into with your own email address.

In addition, each major region has one library where voting can be done using a paper form. Digital support for voting will be available at community centres and Vantaa Info centres.

“We have received all kinds of ideas. There are particularly many suggestions regarding sports facilities and park amenities. There are also many ideas related to schools, various cultural events and courses. We would like to thank all the people who shared their ideas,” says Meri-Helmi Viinikainen, Inclusion Coordinator.

The rejected ideas will also be published 

Before the voting, the ideas will be discussed by the city’s experts who will draft them into proposals. During the process, the ideas can be combined, modified and even rejected if they do not meet the criteria for participatory budgeting. The proposals will also be given cost estimates during the process.

“All the ideas will be published at vantaa.fi/osbu, and they will be available for viewing at the latest when the voting starts,” says Viinikainen. 

Residents to have the opportunity to plan projects 

Once the results of the voting are in, Vantaa will invite residents to participate in the co-creation of the winning projects. In the co-creation process, residents and experts will work together to draw up more detailed plans for the projects.

Residents can participate in the development work online or face-to-face.

The city will implement the winning projects in 2024–2025. You can follow the progress of the projects online at vantaa.fi/osbu.