Background and purpose of the development programme
Espoo's strength lies in its active residents, communities, businesses, and extensive partner networks. Events provide opportunities for people to meet, gather and interact. Events create a sense of well-being and communality, offer experiences, and generate entrepreneurship, work and income.
The cross-administrative Events Together in Espoo development programme promotes the participation and activity of residents, businesses, and communities through event work. The programme implements the objectives of Espoo story by working with other development programmes and partners to plan and implement the events and supporting activities defined in the objectives.
A communal and collaborative approach promotes growth of the cultural and sports sector in Espoo, as well as supporting entrepreneurship and growing the number of events in the sector. By gathering services and information together, a sustainable and vibrant Espoo City of Events will be created that is resident-oriented and customer-oriented and functions as a whole.
Long-term goal
Espoo will be an international, natural, and attractive city of events, enlivened by an active urban culture and community-strengthening events produced by residents, partners, and businesses.
Programme goal 1: Promoting the development of a resident-oriented and customer-oriented Event City Espoo service entity
During the programme period, joint processes for the smooth implementation of resident-oriented, local and participatory events and major events in Espoo will be built in cross-governmental cooperation, in consultation with partners.
The information provided by the city and the different authorities needed to organise events will be gathered on a digital, accessible platform.
The development programme is determined to reduce bureaucracy and lower the threshold for organising pop-up, food, and local events in Espoo. Previous work done in the city on this matter will be utilised.
Programme goal 2: We will use the city-wide Espoo Day event and its production model as a platform for testing new forms of activity and promoting resident participation
We will support the existing community spirit that strengthens local activities. We will also offer new job opportunities to operators in the fields of culture, sports and events.
We will promote the development of a joint platform for event communications, where external operators can also provide information about their events.
We will support residents’ own event ideas by allocating guidance and resources especially to events organised in the summer.
Programme goal 3: Espoo will be an attractive and competitive partner for major national and international events
Identifying, preparing and describing an open and transparent process for organising events, and a set of criteria for organising major national and international events in Espoo, based on the Espoo story. Centralised and coordinated event work strengthens the city's vitality and attractiveness and increases Espoo's event offering in the long term. Exploiting the positive public image of events in city marketing and raising awareness of Espoo as a city of services and events.
The development programme will identify and assemble areas and spaces suitable for major events and promote an international major event in Espoo during the programme period.