Päijät-Häme (Finland)
Project Overview
Wellbeing services county of Päijät-Häme is located in Southern Finland with Lahti at its centre. The county is committed to planetary health with a Nature Step to Health initiative (2022-2032) with the City of Lahti and University Campus of Lahti. In 2023, City of Lahti joined the EU mission on adaptation to climate change to support regions, cities and local authorities to build resilience against the impact of climate change in which the county is a partner. The work is supported by the University of Helsinki at the Campus, with whom there is a long tradition of collaboration. In Lahti, we will test pocket parks which will become permanent within the city.
Birgit Pobatschnig
Finland
Carbon Neutral 2030, Rising Temperatures, Resilient Infrastructure
Ambition
Wellbeing services county of Päijät-Häme is committed to ambitious goals for mitigating climate change. The aim is to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. This requires significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions particularly in the health, social and rescue services. The Päijät-Häme region’s capital, Lahti, was awarded Europe’s Green Capital in 2021.
Population & Climate
There are 200,629 people living in the Päijät-Häme region with 119,098 people living in the region’s capital Lahti. 11,552 immigrants currently live in Lahti. 85% of the population live in urban areas.
The Päijät-Häme region lies in the south of Finland with Lahti at it’s centre. Päijät-Häme temperature is rising with a prediction that by 2100 the average temperature will rise by 1-30C. Due to this, there are now changes in their biodiversity and a loss of nature which are a serious threat to human life.
Outcomes of Pilot
Development of an Inclusive Space
The natural environment offers many possibilities for citizens in the region, however embedding nature as a tool to foster social cohesion and inclusiveness is the key objective. This is why GoGreen Next aims to develop inclusive space that has a major climate impact with resilient infrastructure and is connected to citizens.
