From agenda to action 2021

Summary of the sustainable development report

On a global scale, Helsinki is at a relatively good level when it comes to sustainable development, and the implementation of many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is already well underway. However, this does not mean that additional effort is no longer required for us to reach these goals.

Targets of sustainable development reporting

The cross-cutting themes for Helsinki’s report have been identified to be fairness and openness, digitalisation, recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and cooperation and partnerships. The purpose of the report is to describe how Helsinki can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs through its own actions and specify which SDGs we have weaknesses in relation to.

Strategy period 2017–2021

During the strategy period, good progress has been made in securing sustainable growth in the development of the urban structure and housing in line with the objective. Development targets include the development of the vitality of the city centre and residential areas as well as larger entities in the emission reduction programme.

Promoting sustainable development in the city organisation

Currently, various sustainability themes are managed through sub-programmes coordinated at the city level, strategies or key projects under the city strategy. There are also various networks, committees and working groups operating in the city that promote sustainability themes, such as the SDG working group, human rights network and climate network.

Openness, fairness and cooperation

Openness and fairness are important principles in the city’s activities. Open decision-making and different opportunities for citizens to participate are the foundations of good governance.

Impact of the COVID-19 crisis and sustainable recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a massive global health, social and economic crisis. In response to the uncertainty of the environment, Helsinki is building and implementing recovery planning, the key content of which is to ensure the implementation of the city’s strategy such that the measures particularly serve recovery from the crisis.

Digitalisation

In 2019, Helsinki launched an ambitious digitalisation programme, which enables the city to improve its services and modernise its activities in many ways. The changes relate not only to new technologies but also to the culture of development, organisation, leadership and staff competence.

Report assessment by the UN Youth of Helsinki

As part of the From Agenda to Action 2021 sustainable development reporting efforts, we asked the UN Youth of Helsinki association to provide comments and views on the report content. The comments are an element of Helsinki’s efforts around continuous sustainable development.