This year, Sustainability Week will be held from 21 to 27 September. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are reflected in Helsinki’s strategy as wellbeing, equality, education, climate and nature work, sustainable urban development, employment and cooperation.
Helsinki’s current City Strategy for 2025–2029 makes this commitment clear: the City will continue its work in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and reporting on them. At the same time, the fundamental objective of the strategy is a Helsinki that grows and develops in a sustainable and responsible manner, while providing opportunities for a good quality of life regardless of a person’s background or starting point. This links the global 2030 Agenda, adopted by the UN in 2015, and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the City’s strategic work.
The City Strategy 2025–2029, ‘A Helsinki We Can Be Proud Of’, has five key priorities: ‘Pleasant neighbourhoods with a strong sense of community’, ‘Widespread wellbeing’, ‘A smooth everyday life and functional services’, ‘Development that respects nature and makes the city more attractive’ and ‘Activity, vitality, skills and growth’. Alongside these, our operations are underpinned by themes of the economy, climate and the natural environment, personnel and leadership, safety and preparedness, as well as advocacy and international engagement.
The strategy has now been in place for a year, and during that time its objectives have been incorporated into the City’s financial and operational planning. Work on updating the programme package for the strategy period is now in its final stages. This work involves updating the City’s unifying, reforming and established strategic programmes to align with and refine the implementation of the strategy’s objectives.
The City Strategy is closely linked to the social sustainability goals of Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4) and Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10). The strategy pledges to enhance the wellbeing of children and young people, prevent social exclusion, improve mental health and substance abuse services, reduce inequalities in wellbeing, and promote an active lifestyle. The education system places emphasis on strong basic skills, high-quality local schools, support for learning, participation in early childhood education and needs-based funding.
The Welfare Plan promotes health and wellbeing through a preventative approach. Its priorities are functional capacity and healthy lifestyles, as well as mental wellbeing and participation. The practical objectives range from promoting physical activity among children and young people and strengthening their confidence in the future to enhancing the functional capacity of people of working age, as well as promoting physical activity among older people, reducing loneliness and fostering participation.
The objectives of preventing segregation help to reduce inequality. The City is targeting services and resources specifically at suburban regeneration districts and similar areas, increasing needs-based funding and implementing improvements to the built environment. The objectives emphasise the educational and career pathways of children and young people, leisure activities, local services and cross-sectoral cooperation.
Equality and non-discrimination plans supplement the other measures. The service plan outlines four priorities for the entire City organisation and ten measures aimed at strengthening non-discrimination in services, their effective accessibility and the realisation of the rights of Helsinki residents from diverse backgrounds.
In terms of ecological sustainability, the strategy is directly linked to SDG 13 Climate Action, SDG 15 Life on Land and SDG 14 Life Below Water. Helsinki is aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 per cent by 2030 compared to the 1990 levels and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. The strategy also addresses emissions from transport and construction, low-emission procurement, adaptation to climate change, the green structure, flooding, heatwaves, biodiversity and the protection of the Baltic Sea.
The environment and climate cluster brings together this work on ecological sustainability. The City’s Environmental Protection Targets 2040 outline long-term goals for the theme as a whole. The implementation of environmental protection targets is promoted through thematic programmes, which include the Climate Programme, the Nature Reserve Programme, the LUMO Programme for safeguarding biodiversity, the Baltic Sea Action Plan and the Action Plan for the Circular and Sharing Economy. The Climate Programme combines emissions reduction, climate change preparedness and adaptation, and carbon sinks. Work on the circular economy, in turn, links ecological sustainability – as set out in SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – to a sustainable economy and new business opportunities.
The ‘Maritime Helsinki’ and ‘A More Beautiful Helsinki’ programme package demonstrates how a single programme can support several sustainable development goals. The same programme will also be employed to improve access to the archipelago, electrify water transport, strengthen maritime business activities and protect sensitive natural areas – as well as to promote the preservation of cultural heritage and the attractiveness of new areas.
The strategy’s focus on vitality is particularly aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth and SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. Helsinki is seeking to attract new businesses, jobs, skilled workers, investment and research-driven innovation. This holistic approach to growth, expertise and vitality focuses on the operating conditions for businesses, selected growth sectors, start-ups and growth companies, collaboration with higher education institutions, employment services and the ability to retain international talent.
The selected growth areas include sectors such as health and wellbeing, the maritime cluster, circular economy in construction, and food innovations. In the programme, the green transition, resource wisdom, low-carbon building materials, a sustainable food system and climate-related innovations connect the growth targets.
Promoting sustainable tourism is one of the key themes of Helsinki’s work on sustainable development. The new Tourism and Events Development Programme places strong emphasis on the role of sustainable tourism and its development.
The strategy will be implemented in the real world, not just on paper: it will be incorporated into the City’s budgets, action plans, basic public services, urban development projects and leadership objectives.
The strategy’s indicators of effectiveness monitor aspects such as regional segregation, quality of life, homelessness, learning outcomes, access to treatment, walking and cycling, the accessibility of green spaces, employment, business activity, safety and carbon dioxide emissions. Helsinki also employs a comprehensive set of SDG indicators, which are monitored in the Voluntary Local Reviews produced every two years. This makes the progress of sustainable development visible.
In Helsinki’s City Strategy, the sustainable development goals are most clearly reflected where the SDGs become part of the residents’ everyday lives: high-quality schools, accessible healthcare, safe neighbourhoods, employment opportunities, local green spaces, streamlined public transport or the chance to get involved in the development of the residents’ own neighbourhoods. Programme packages link these solutions to resourcing, responsibilities, indicators and annual monitoring.
However, there are also tensions between growth and ecological constraints. Strong growth and construction increase emissions and the impact on the environment. Therefore, the value of the sustainable development perspective lies not only in identifying positive links, but also in recognising negative and cross-effects: instances where one objective supports another, and where a solution requires a compensating measure.
Indeed, the strength of Helsinki’s work on sustainable development lies in its holistic approach. The strategy recognises the interconnections between wellbeing, equality, nature, the climate, the economy and growth. The next crucial step is to ensure that these links are not overlooked when decisions, investments, procurements and budgets are being prepared – and to assess openly not only the progress made but also any conflicts between objectives.
