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Promoting resident participation

10.12.2025 6.03
Marianne Sepponen is smiling towards the camera.
What I love about my job is that I get to promote practices that improve people’s wellbeing. My work is linked to promoting important values such as equality, non-discrimination and safety, says Marianne Sepponen.Photo: Tero Ikäheimonen

Senior Planning Officer Marianne Sepponen helps make resident participation part of the basic work of the city’s units. The Voxit participation platform is a tool for surveying city residents’ opinions to support decision-making.

What are your duties as a Senior Planning Officer for resident participation?

I am responsible for the city-level development of resident participation in Espoo.

I help the city’s employees understand how everyone can promote the participation of residents as part of their basic work. Participation means that everyone has the opportunity to participate and influence things, be heard and belong to a community that is meaningful to them.

I also support participation-related work within various city units by developing staff training, for example. In addition, I am the project manager for the Voxit participation platform project.

What is the Voxit participation platform?

Voxit is a digital participation platform for organising open resident discussions among Espoo residents.

The first discussions focused on the wellbeing of people with disabilities as well as children and young people. Topics to be addressed in 2026 include the decision-making of the Sports and Wellbeing Committee and encounters between residents and staff in city services.

The results of the discussions are used in the development of services, staff training and the preparation of the city’s wellbeing plan, and also as support for decision-making.

How does the Voxit participation platform work?

The city chooses a discussion topic and provides the initial statements on which participants vote anonymously. Participants can also add statements that they consider important.

The platform enables multi-voiced, constructive discussions. Knowing what people agree on and what needs further consideration supports our decision-making.

Read more about the participation platform of Espoo, Voxit

Text: Vesa Ville Mattila

This article was originally published in the Espoo-lehti magazine 3/2025. Read other Espoo-lehti articles.