The Child Friendly Cities Initiative

Here’s how we have progressed:

• Awareness of the rights of the child has been created in the city’s divisions, various working groups, forums, management discussions, training and internal communications.
• The measures have also aimed at impacting structures and strengthening the perspective of the rights of the child, for example, by promoting the Child Friendly Cities initiative as part of financial and operational planning and implementation. The Child Friendly Cities work has been recorded as part of the city’s financial and operational plans or as part of the annual plans.
• The education working group has met regularly, and the training package on the rights of the child has been introduced (eOppiva). Online training is constantly available. Efforts have been made to increase the number of participants in training sessions, for example, by means of communication and management. The number of training sessions is increasing. A total of 3,895 people had participated in training by 31 August 2024.
• With the permission of the supervisor, it is possible to participate in the training sessions in the training calendar during working hours. The training package for professionals aims to ensure that professionals working with children and young people receive continuing education on the rights of the child so that they are acknowledged better as part of professionals’ work.
• Feedback on the training has been collected since spring 2024.
• Training on the rights of the child has been regularly communicated to professionals, elected officials and organisers of recreational activities. The training package has been widely communicated in various divisions and the City Executive Office, as well as through city-wide channels.
• A children’s rights information package has been produced for elected officials as part of the elected official portal. The elected officials have been informed of the trainings and they have been offered the opportunity to participate as part of the quarterly communication on the rights of the child.
• An event on child-friendly urban planning was organised for the personnel of the Urban Environment Division and other divisions’ facility services. Twice, the urban environment division’s planning schools discussed themes related to the Child Friendly Cities work, such as the inclusion of children and child impact assessments. The divisions have organised training events, for example, for teaching assistants. On child-friendly Valentine’s Day, a Child Friendly Cities initiative information event was organised for the Culture and Leisure Division.
• Educational events on the rights of the child have been organised for those organising recreational activities. In the same connection, they were informed of the training materials in eOppiva.
• The online training materials of the National Child Strategy were created together with children and young people.
• Organised a discussion session on the right of children and young people to have a safe life. Children and young people participated in the session as well. The event was streamed on the Helsinki channel. Before the event, the content and themes of the event, as well as the rights of the child, were discussed with the children.
• The Child Friendly Cities work and the measures taken have been presented to the Youth Council. Young people were asked for perspectives and feedback on the measures that have been taken.
• The city’s various services have been widely encouraged to celebrate Children’s Day and Week together with children and young people.
• Children’s and young people’s thoughts about knowing the rights of the child and celebrating Children’s Day were examined as part of a podcast series.
• The promotion of the rights of the child was been added to the Culture and Leisure Division’s grant principles in addition to the key principles of equality and inclusion.

Here’s how we have progressed:

• The Helsinki model for child impact assessments (LAVA) has been completed. The model has been incorporated into Helsinki’s decision-making guidelines.
• The model has already been tested in several decision-making processes.
• Training is available for the LAVA model and a peer-to-peer learning event was organised with 222 participants.
• The implementation of the model continues. The developer working group established for the work supports the implementation and arranges the necessary training and peer-to-peer learning opportunities. The Teams group for peer-to-peer learning shares experiences, examples and training material.
• The LAVA model has been presented and discussed with the Youth Council. The Child Friendly Cities coordination group has reviewed the model several times during the preparation. The group also includes representatives of the Youth Council.
• All divisions and the City Executive Office are involved in the LAVA work. The implementation has been decided by the Helsinki administrative procedure steering group in March 2024. Deployment plans are in preparation in all divisions.
• As the introduction of the LAVA model progresses, decision-making and child impacts become more transparent. The child impact assessment model strengthens the assessment of the rights of the child as part of decision-making and makes the rights of the child even more visible.

Here’s how we have progressed:

• In the collection of feedback and experiential knowledge from children and young people, attention has been paid to child-friendly ways of collecting information, information recovery, interaction as well as being systematic.
• All divisions and the City Executive Office implemented an experiment related to child-friendly feedback collection.
• Information was compiled on the repeated ways of collecting feedback and experiential knowledge from the divisions and the City Executive Office. The collection of feedback and experiential knowledge took into account various age groups and the various kinds of information needs. During the work, understanding of child-friendly feedback collection methods and feedback already collected from children and young people has strengthened, so the information can be better utilised across division and service boundaries. The ‘lessons learned and experiences’ work of the pilots has supported and contributed to the sharing of information in organisations.
• The importance of children’s and young people’s experiential knowledge has emerged in the city’s morning coffee sessions organised under the themes of inclusion feedback, knowledge management and human rights as well as in other similar contexts.
• A follow-up plan was drawn up, the implementation of which is the responsibility of the divisions and the steering group for the inclusion of children and young people. It is essential to continue listening to the feedback and experiences of children and young people in the everyday life, but also to ensure that the voice of children and young people is heard in planning and decision-making.
• Children and young people have participated in the planning, operation and evaluation of the Education Division’s sensitive metrics pilot and the sports club parliament model, tested the 5 x 2 feedback collection tool to develop it and used the tool to provide feedback.
• The children and young people who participated in the boulevard street design and Omastadi workshop gave feedback on both the workshop and the feedback collection.
• Participants in the pilots have included individual children, children groups, youth group activities, as well as larger groups of children and young people in dialogue.
• All divisions and the City Executive Office have carried out their own pilot, and the divisions have carried out deputy mayors’ Hearing the voice of children and young people events. Feedback was collected regarding the events to develop them.
• On Children’s Day 2023, a joint Hearing the voice of children and young people dialogue was held for the city’s deputy mayors, management and children and young people to discuss the results of the School Health Promotion study.
• Highlights and experiences from the pilots have been communicated to the service and senior management.
• The work continues – the aim is to highlight children’s experiences more systematically in different contexts, strengthen methodological skills and pay attention to small children.
• During the work, a Did I remember children and young people design tool was created to ensure that children’s voice is heard. The tool is available to everyone on the city’s intranet and has been introduced in conjunction with the LAVA training. The intranet also has a wider range of tools and tips for listening to and engaging with children and young people.

Here’s how we have progressed:

• At the end of 2023, each comprehensive school used at least one emotional and interaction programme, and a structure and an annual clock was created for systematic teaching of emotional and interaction skills in each comprehensive school (excluding special schools).
• Helsinki has selected five emotional and interaction skills programmes, from which schools were able to choose what they want to use. The implementation of the programmes has been supported since 2022. Schools have been offered training in a programme of their choice: Hyvää mieltä yhdessä and Hyvän mielen koulu, Mieli Mental Health Finland (2023: used at 68 schools), Friends, Children of the Station (2023: used at 5 schools), Yhteispeli, NMI (2023: used at 11 schools), Askeleittain, Hogrefe, KiVa Antibullying Programme, University of Turku. In addition, schools use other programmes, such as Huomaa hyvä (used at 13 schools). Other training related to the well-being and development of the school community has also been organised. In total, 54 external training providers have organised training for schools. Participation was voluntary (Resto, Nuorten Kompassi, peer support activities).
• Extensive six-month training has been arranged for teachers to develop their own emotional and interaction skills (Positive Education Oy). The training had 400 participants, including representation from each Finnish-language basic education school. In addition to strengthening teachers’ competence, schools have developed their own emotional and interaction skills structures with the help of an external expert.
• Helsinki has developed a division-level operating model for intervening in bullying, violence and harassment. The model gives schools and educational institutions steps for how to act in situations in which a learner has experienced inappropriate treatment. The operating model was completed in the spring of 2024 and will be established as part of the structures of schools and educational institutions. With regard to early childhood education, the model was developed and updated to be more suitable for young children in the development project of community-based student welfare. The operating model is included in plans supporting the well-being of students in general upper secondary schools and Stadin AO. 
• In order to ensure sufficient competence levels, employees from early childhood education to secondary education have been trained on the phenomenon of bullying, its prevention and intervention. Two events have been organised for providers of SHM recreational activities under the themes of becoming part of a group, inclusion, equality and the role of the instructor. In the autumn of 2024, sports services will organise training to discuss age-level issues related to the rights of the child, as well as the themes of equality and inclusion with club operators. More than 40 art and cultural operators in the Culture Kids service discussed the rights of the child and the observation and how to observe and acknowledge the experiences of small, under-school-age children in the development of activities.
• In one school, the student body commissioned a survey for the entire school. In the survey, pupils’ participation was implemented so that they were able to express whether they wanted to study emotional and interaction skills and how they would like to learn them. In total, 283 students responded to the survey. Data was collected on the basis of the survey, and students were allowed to share their thoughts on teaching emotional and interaction skills on video. The video has been shown to both teachers and principals at various trainings and webinars.
• Six workshops on teaching emotional and interaction skills were organised for the seventh graders at two lower secondary schools. A total of 100 students participated in the workshops. The aim of the workshops was to collect pupils’ feedback on teaching and its effects on the school climate. The feedback will be utilised in the development of operations in the future. In addition, feedback was collected from the members of the Youth Council through a survey. In total, 18 young people responded to the survey. The members of the Youth Council are also sharing the survey in their own networks. The number of respondents is 114 pupils.
• In pre-primary education, 40 anti-bullying workshops were organised for children. In total, 457 children and 83 early childhood educators participated. The results of the workshops were used in updating the anti-bullying programme for pre-primary education and early childhood education.
• In upper secondary education, rules for a safe space are regularly created during the academic year with student groups. Updating the anti-bullying operating model for upper secondary education has been part of the preparation of the student welfare plan. When preparing the student welfare plan, the student body boards and Youth Council were consulted with the help of survey. In total, 33 upper secondary education students responded to the survey. Students’ responses called for more systematic intervention in bullying, so the operating model explains various forms of bullying and clarifies responsibilities and roles in intervening in it. The operating model emphasises everyone’s obligation to intervene and the importance of monitoring. In addition, a draft of the anti-bullying plan was sent to the boards of the student bodies at general upper secondary schools and Stadin AO for comments.
• On 3 March 2023 and 20 November 2023, deputy mayor’s division evenings (Hearing the voice of young people!) were organised for basic education pupils and upper secondary level students so that children and young people could discuss the challenges of well-being and the results of the School Health Promotion study. A similar event was organised for children in early childhood education in the spring of 2024.
• Sports services launched the club parliament for children. In this connection, discussions will be organised on, for example, access to exercise groups.
• The prevention of bullying, emotional and interaction skills and a sense of community are promoted more systematically through existing management structures. Anti-bullying plans will be put into practice to make them part of the units’ operating culture. The units specify their activities in their action plans, and activities at the unit level are monitored and evaluated annually. Children are regularly consulted in connection with the development work to make sure the measures focus on the right issues. In addition, the development of the well-being of children and young people is monitored regularly, and knowledge-based management is developed.

Here’s how we have progressed:

• Goal 5 is based on children’s and young people’s own experience of feeling safe in the urban space, which was strongly highlighted in our situational survey. Various interaction practices have been implemented in the work, and concrete measures to improve the safety and comfort of the urban space have been assessed and co-developed with the help of five pilots.
• The key conclusion from the goal set is that low-threshold inclusion and concrete ways to be involved in improving your local environment increase the sense of belonging and security. The sense of security is affected by the social atmosphere of the place, which is influenced not only by urban planning and placemaking, but also in various everyday interaction situations. These are influenced by the design and functionalities of the space as well as the ‘perceived sense of community’.
• Improving the safety experience of children and young people has been raised as a city-wide goal in the 2024 city budget, and the work will also be promoted with other actions than the pilots mentioned in this goal set. The fact that the city has prioritised improving the safety experience of children and young people in its financial and operational planning has advanced the work significantly in a large city and ensures the continuity of the goal.
• The urban renewal area work also focuses on the themes of security and the improvement of public spaces. Urban renewal is Helsinki’s way of preventing regional segregation.
• One of the starting points for our work was to develop the target set as part of the basic activities of the division and the City Executive Office. This way, the development work takes root better than as individual small projects.
• The developer group established at the beginning of the work brought together all the actors who worked on the safety of children and young people in the pilots, projects or their basic duties. The key result was a snapshot of how many thematic working groups and projects already existed. As part of the creation of the snapshot, existing research data on children’s and young people’s feeling of safety was also examined, for example, with regard to the School Health Promotion study. The completed work led to, for example, the Bloomberg Harvard Collaboration Track / Improving the safety experience of children and young people in Kannelmäki.
• Five pilots were selected for monitoring during the operating period. They were supported by participating, for example, in meetings with the operators. In all of the pilots, which differed in their activities, the children’s safety experience was improved by promoting encounters between adults and children and by being together in the space through various ways of interaction. The pilots made children and young people, as well as their wishes, needs and views, visible in the selected environments.

Pilots:

Bloomberg Harvard Collaboration Track / Improving the safety experience of children and young people in Kannelmäki

Placemaking projects in Kannelmäki and Mellunkylä

Improving the outdoor lighting at youth centres in Pukinmäki

Vuotalo front yard; Bloomberg Asphalt Art project

Forum Virium’s urban space experiments

• A large number of children and young people have participated in the pilots. During the work, a small child impact assessment exercise was carried out. This increased understanding of, for example, the needs of vulnerable children and young people, as well as the privacy and accessibility issues of digital games.
• The experiments have activated underused, previously unsafe urban spaces, supported the recreational opportunities of children and young people and responded to the wishes that, based on the studies, emerged as measures that children and young people themselves considered the most important for improving the feeling of safety.
• Children and young people were involved in various pilots at different stages. They were involved in the data collection and brainstorming phase, acted as experts and sources of information during the pilots (in particular, the Harvard-Bloomberg project), participated in the pilot activities (all pilots) and provided feedback on some of the pilots. The involved people included daycare centre groups, school classes, individual youth and youth groups from the areas. More than 600 children participated. In the background was also the youth budget data collection, in which 8,000 lower secondary school pupils participated in the spring of 2023.
• After the pilots, regional cooperation networks for children and young people have put safety experiences on their agendas, and several measures will be implemented in 2025.
• Urban Research and Statistics has published preliminary PowerBI regional snapshots of the safety experiences of children and young people. They include both statistical and research data as well as expert information. The reporting is under development. In addition, Helsinki monitors and analyses all available statistical and research data on the development of the safety experience of children and young people, for example, in the constantly updated operating environment analysis.
• The safety experience work that started in Kannelmäki will continue in 2024 as a city-wide budget target, which will be implemented in five urban reform areas as a city-wide activity of regional child and youth well-being networks. In 2024, the focus will be on phenomenon- and knowledge-based measures to improve the feeling of safety.
• Safety walks in the areas will continue, as will placemaking projects as a budgetary measure of the Urban Environment Division in 2024. Cooperation between the divisions to improve the lighting outside youth centres continues.
• The goal did not focus on, for example, the development of safe space principles or the safety of recreational activities, but attention has been paid to them in the divisions and service entities as part of our other work. The development of safe spaces is also part of the City Council’s welfare plan.