Implementation of the "Participate and influence" program

The program implementation update on this page was last made at the beginning of April 2023.

Link Participate and influence the program.

Group services

Resident operators

Housing events in cooperation with the Oiva Osallisuus project

  • Rajapatsas 21.4.2022
  • Karhumäki 27.4.2022 April XNUMX
  • Itä-Siitola 5.5.2022 May XNUMX
  • Mustalampi 10.5.2022 May XNUMX
  • Sienimäki 29.9.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX
  • Mansikkala 11.1.2023

customer feedback

The city's customer feedback was compiled into one system in September 202. Now the city group's feedback, with the exception of Mitra's properties, such as rental apartments, is processed in one system. The feedback system is connected to the map service used by the city. Its web address is kartta.imatra.fi/palaute 

Communication and digital means of inclusion

In the OSVA program, the city of Imatra is committed to using digital applications to support inclusion flexibly as needed. We are always curious about applications. During the program period, new applications supporting inclusion have been examined as follows:

  • It will be put into continuous use in February 2023 Maptionnaire application. Maptionnaire is a map-based query tool. With Maptionnaire, urban planners and researchers can collect, analyze, and visualize map-based materials, and citizens can participate in regional development and express their opinion on various plans.
  • In addition, the functionality of various applications has been studied, such as:
    • volunteering.fi- an application that helps volunteers and those in need of services to meet,
    • working for the same purpose Common-format. 
    • Howspace platform as a common web-based interaction platform for office holders and decision-makers. 
    • Participation in a friend app intended to alleviate loneliness has also been examined.
    • Insta-live has been implemented twice. There has been no interaction.

Forming the service package of the Wilderness and Nature Culture Museum

The Eräpöhinää project organized five workshops in 2022, with the help of which the model of the museum and the local actor network was developed.

The workshops were attended by an active and committed group of actors who represented a diverse range of expertise and perspectives. About 60 different people participated in the workshops and the number of participants in the workshops varied between about 20-45 participants. 

The cooperation continues in the Reflections project, where part of the network continues the partnership working on the wilderness and nature culture museum in workshops aiming for more concrete cooperation in service business. 

Moving the town hall

The move has been substantiated in workshops held among city hall employees and the plans made have been changed by listening to the needs of the employees. 

Future city facilities will be more accessible due to their location. The policy of the Participate and influence program, that the city should lower the threshold for residents to do business in its premises, has been kept on display. The planning of the premises is still in progress and the decision to move has not been made.

Urban development

Participatory budgeting

As promised, the city implemented the elements of participatory budgeting in rather small but concrete matters, in the implementation of the Huvikummu playground, in the renewal of bus stops and in the selection of summer flowers for 2023. 

In 2023, double the amount of development money operating in accordance with the idea of ​​participatory budgeting was distributed compared to the previous year, i.e. €40000, which has also contributed to the expansion of the circle of communities that use development money through enhanced communication. 

There are no plans for a new type of participatory budgeting for 2024. Instead, the intention is to monitor and communicate the progress of those sites where the residents have been particularly strongly involved.

Interactivity of planning

No special participation processes have been implemented in the zoning. 

Development of mobility opportunities for the elderly and disabled

In the Accessible and safe Imatra project, accessibility walks were carried out in Vuoksenniska and Imatrankoski, areas with a special level of accessibility that promote planning were defined for Imatrankoski, Vuoksenniska and Mansikkala, experiences of using public transport were asked, the method of providing accessibility feedback and the accessibility of public transport were developed. Councils for the elderly and disabled participated in the project.

Welfare and education services

Library

My municipality project first discussion sessions have been held on 19.1.2023 January XNUMX, 20.4.2023 April 14.9.2023 and XNUMX September XNUMX.

The number of visitors to the library has recovered slightly, but is still not at the pre-corona pandemic level.

Library visitor numbers 2019 - 2022
  v. 2019 v. 2021

v. 2022
main library 143 972 68 279  97 708
Rajapatsa library 17 857 14 592  15 176 
Vuoksenniska's library 38 787 18 421 26 047
in total 200 616 101 292 138 931

Museums

Cooperation opportunities and synergy benefits with the Wilderness and Nature Culture Museum are being explored.
 
The museum's digital material has been utilized in the city's social media channels. The old pictures have contributed to creating a community of people from Imatra. The city creates the conditions for this by constantly digitizing its collections. There are now 3661 objects from the Imatra City Museum in the search service for cultural and scientific materials in Finna (photos and objects; situation on February 7.2.2023, XNUMX).
 
Imatra has investigated the implementation of a school-themed tradition exhibition or another alternative implementation method to highlight school history.

Culture house Virta

-

Virta-opisto

In cooperation with the Roma, a course in roijy sewing was organized.

A parents' association was established at the music school in the fall of 2022.

On the side of the Labor College, the 8 percent participation goal has not been realized in the last two years. The biggest reason is the restrictions due to the corona virus

Sports services

Strength in old age, Stay upright and Strength and balance groups were organized for the elderly. In addition, the sports services organized several healthy exercise groups for seniors in 2022. The mobility of the immigrant population was promoted with the Liikutaa sätto project. Among other things, the women's ball team and the women's swimming team reached both immigrants and Finns.  

The goal of the Movement for everyday life event was to find a regular hobby, a group of friends or some other content in life for people who don't move much. In the event, people were helped to participate in the activities of various groups, clubs or associations. The event was aimed at working-age and elderly people.

Group-based family exercise counseling was implemented in the family cafe of the Imatra parish and in the Imatra open early childhood education group. Two exercise counseling groups were also organized for working-age people. Sports services carry out sports counseling in the premises of the multidisciplinary joint service that promotes employment (Typ). 

The exercise council for the elderly was not implemented in 2022. 
  
Gym groups guided by peer instructors in different parts of the city have reached very old people into exercise. Peer instructors are supported with training and materials. The peer tutor training did not take place in 2022 due to the low number of enrolments. 

Feedback has been collected from the group exercise counseling groups, which has been utilized in the implementation of the activity. Feedback was also collected from the participants of the Liikettä arkeine event.

Sports services have recorded visitor numbers for organized sports activities (groups, events, sports advice)

Early childhood education and preschool education

-

Basic education and upper secondary education

In schools, the participation challenge of the council term is recovering from the corona era and correcting the related incompetence. Reducing inequality will be at the center of inclusiveness work in schools in the coming years.
The challenges of marginalization are answered by:

by increasing special education resources

  • Imatra has a working group for the development of special education, which monitors and outlines the entirety of the support.
  • Flexible small classes and groups have been added to school centers
  • trained teachers and instructors

by developing the activities of the communal student welfare group

  • Community student care activities have been strengthened and a student care coordinator has been hired. A community-based student care plan is currently being prepared.

by developing a model of the whole school day (at the Koske school center, a sports-oriented model built in cooperation with clubs and based on children's hobby wishes.)

  • The model has been realized with the Koppari project at all school centers in schools, in addition, club activities supported by the Board of Education are organized, which are implemented based on the wishes of children and young people at each school center. Cooper activities and club activities are free, low-threshold activities for all children and young people.

Flexible support classes will be introduced to each school center, which will increase equality between regions. Support classes are made into period classes, so the student does not spend all school time in the support class.

  • The reform has come to fruition and the child/youth has the opportunity to attend their own neighborhood school, even if they need more demanding support.

Parents are offered the opportunity to get to know the schools and the possibilities of participation are presented.

  • Open houses for parents were organized in all school centers, and after the corona period eased, parents' evenings are running normally again.

Psychiatrists make visits to the homes of students with special support and hold discussions both in the direction of the school and the home.

  • The service has been offered for four years and there has been a great need for it. With the changes in the welfare area, changes are coming to the service, but we want to secure the continuation of the support. 

Influence activities for children and young people are developed by organizing joint activities between the youth council, the children's parliament and student councils.

  • We have joined the model consulted by the Youth Academy, in which a participation model is built for Imatra, where all kinds of young people are heard in such a way that influence is not a matter for the youth council or the children's parliament.
  • School-specific workshops have been organized at Imatra and at the town hall with officials and trustees.

The development of the experience of inclusion is monitored with the help of quality surveys aimed at schools.

Youth services

Together with educational services, youth services have developed a youth participation model together with the Youth Academy. It was decided as a result of the workshops

  • enhance communication with young people and on channels preferred by young people, such as Tiktok, where Youth services are involved.
  • organizes informal meetings of young people and decision-makers, the first of which was held at the Koski school center between eighth graders and Imatra city councilors on August 28.8.2023, XNUMX.
  • organizes authorized gatherings for young people in places where their presence is usually not viewed favorably, such as shops.

Applying to be a UNICEF child-friendly municipality

Imatra has mapped the current status of the city's child-friendliness and selected the actions that the city will take to obtain Unicef's child-friendly municipality status. Imatra got child-friendly municipality bachelor's status in August 2023.

Activities

1. Office holders, employees, trustees and key stakeholders have been familiarized with the rights of the child. The rights of the child are part of the municipality's orientation programs. 

2. The municipality has clear guidelines in place to support the implementation and systematic implementation of the Child Impact Assessment (LAVA). The assessment of child effects is done together by a group of qualified professionals. 

3. The municipality ensures that there is at least one safe adult in every child's life, whom the child can trust and who supports the child in growth and development. 

4. In services aimed at children, bullying is prevented and community spirit is promoted. In addition, children's emotional and interaction skills are promoted in children's growth environments. 

5. When planning the urban environment, children's experiences and views are explored and taken into account. This is how it works in different stages of the process and in different planning tasks, such as land use planning and zoning and otherwise when planning public spaces. 

Table of contents