A model for resident activities in the making: we invited the people of Espoo to get involved
The City of Espoo started developing a new model for resident activities in the autumn of 2021. The resident activities model is a way of listening to residents and involving them in the development of their city and neighbourhood. We are developing this model to give everyone in Espoo the opportunity to contribute and to involve as many different types of residents as possible.
We started the development of the model with a survey to find out what residents would like to participate in and in what ways. We examined the results of the survey and delved deeper into them in a workshop held on Tuesday 9 November 2021.
The survey and the invitation to the workshop were published on the Espoo.fi website on 21 October 2021. The survey was open until 15 November 2021 and received 313 responses.
We encouraged the residents of Espoo to respond to the survey and sign up for the workshop on the Espoo.fi website and our social media accounts. We also sent the invitation to all residents’ associations, some educational institutions, the Youth Council, various organisations and youth centres. The invitation was also displayed on Omnia’s and the library’s information boards and in the City’s service points.
The most interesting themes are roads, parks, exercise and sports
We conducted a survey to find out what residents are interested in when it comes to the city’s development. Roads and parks along with exercise and sports were the most popular themes. The general development of the city and cultural services and events also ranked high.
The main factors that motivate the residents of Espoo to participate are the development of their local area, hearing about current issues and social influencing.
The most popular ways to participate were responding to surveys and giving feedback.
Influencing, communications and communality got people talking in the workshop
In addition to the survey, we organised a workshop on 9 November 2021 at Espoo Council Hall. It was attended by 38 residents. The workshop included discussion in three languages: Finnish, Swedish and English. Six residents participated in English and two in Swedish. The participants were of all ages, and more than half of them had never participated in resident forum activities before.
In the workshop, we divided the participants into small groups to discuss resident activities and ways to get involved. The main themes that emerged from the discussions were influencing, communications and channels, and the importance of communality. We recorded the discussions, and the participants also wrote down their insights.
We will analyse the results of the survey and workshop and use them to develop the new model for resident activities. In addition, we will carry out targeted interviews with residents from different backgrounds to add to the material. Residents will also have a chance to comment on the model before we present it to the City Board, which will decide on its introduction at the start of the year.