A health and welfare promotion consultation, or HYTE consultation, is held annually between the City of Helsinki and other HYTE operators. The basis for the consultation, held in March 2026, was the new welfare plan and its objectives. The HYTE consultation between the City and the HUS Group will take place in the autumn.
Low-threshold services, multidisciplinary cooperation and communication that reaches residents
The health and welfare promotion consultation addressed the challenges and opportunities for cooperation in relation to the objectives of the welfare plan. These discussions were held among different age groups, in three different configurations: children, young people and families with children; working age people; and older people.
The common themes of all the consultations were Functional capacity and healthy lifestyle and Mental wellbeing and inclusion.In these discussions, the participants together sought solutions to issues such as increasing the physical activity of all age groups, strengthening young people’s faith in the future and reducing loneliness and marginalisation among working age and older people.
The results of the consultation are quite consistent across the different age groups and emphasise in particular the role of low-threshold services, multidisciplinary cooperation and active, clear service coordination and communication in promoting the wellbeing of Helsinki residents. Making physical activity part of people's everyday lives and removing obstacles to everyday mobility in the urban environment support the wellbeing of people of all ages, as do community meeting places. Children and young people need safe adults, both at school and in their free time. The digital exclusion of older people requires special measures.
“Our goal for this year's consultation was to find common solutions to the phenomena identified in last year's consultation – and we found plenty! The workshopping was very rewarding and we gained valuable information for the preparation of the measures in the welfare plan,” says Head of Welfare Promotion Heidi Hagman of the City of Helsinki.
Health and welfare promotion consultation strengthens cooperation
This year's HYTE consultations were attended by 97 partner representatives and 36 City of Helsinki employees.
“The Helsinki health and welfare promotion consultation brought together a wide range of representatives of organisations, City partners and other stakeholders to discuss the wellbeing of Helsinki residents and topical questions related to this. The wellbeing of Helsinki residents is built through multi-actor cooperation, which is why it is important to maintain a regular dialogue with the various stakeholders in the field of health and welfare promotion,” says Hagman.
Wellbeing and inclusion as themes of the Partnership Market in May
The results of the spring health and welfare promotion consultation will be presented on 26 May 2026 at 16.30–19.00 at the Partnership Market event organised by Helsinki at Central Library Oodi. The Partnership Market is an open event for all Helsinki-based associations, organisations, clubs and foundations. The May event will share news about the health and welfare promotion consultation, as well as the City’s renewed participation and interaction model.
Sign up for the Partnership Market (in Finnish)(Link leads to external service)
- Information on the City of Helsinki’s consultations on health and welfare promotion(Link leads to external service)
- Registration for the Partnership Market and more information about the event (in Finnish)(Link leads to external service)
- City of Helsinki Welfare Plan to focus on everyday mobility and narrowing welfare gaps