The aim of the event was to make new Helsinki residents feel welcome, get them to meet new people and provide them with information about the City’s services for immigrants, fun recreational activities and hobbies. Held at Helsinki City Hall, this was the first event of its kind, and the hope is that it will become an annual tradition.
An event for the whole family with activities, speeches and exhibition stands
The event was aimed at the whole family and featured a number of activities for children and the young at heart, such as a wheel of fortune, crafts, Helsinki-themed colouring pages and a fabric bag customisation workshop.
The event also included speeches emphasising the hope that the new residents of Helsinki would find appealing things to do for themselves and their families and get to know their new home city and its various destinations, events and people. The aim is that the new city resident find their ‘own thing’ and like-minded company, which will make them more comfortable in the area and help them to settle in Helsinki on a long-term basis.
In addition to the speeches, the event featured approximately 25 exhibition stands, which provided information about the services offered by the City and various organisations, including sports and cultural services, social activities, volunteer work opportunities and opportunities for learning the Finnish language.
As is customary at Finnish parties and events, participants were also served coffee and sweet buns. The purpose of serving coffee was to encourage people living in the same areas to sit down at the same tables and thus get acquainted and establish social relations with their neighbours. To facilitate this, there was a map of Helsinki with different areas denoted by different colours, which participants could check to determine the colour of their residential area, and tables with the same colours. As a result, people living in the same areas were able to easily find their way to the same table.
Helsinki wants to be an attractive and appealing place to live for international talent
Helsinki's population growth is based especially on increasing immigration, which is fuelled by factors such as the labour shortage in Finland and the development of companies' recruitment networks. The immigrants coming to Helsinki also include those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
“We believe that by communicating to new arrivals that they are welcome here, we can increase their positive attitude towards their new home city and improve the likelihood that they will enjoy living in Helsinki. At the same time, we can alleviate the labour shortage, which is only projected to deepen in the coming years as natural population growth declines,” said the host of the event, Mayor of Helsinki Juhana Vartiainen.
In accordance with the Helsinki City Strategy, Helsinki wants to be an attractive and appealing place to live for international talent and their families. To this end, the City wants to play a more active role in attracting foreign companies, entrepreneurs and employees to Helsinki and supporting them in settling in.