Finland

Basic information

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Mechanisms of Vertical Integration

National — sub-national linkages

The new NSDS was developed by the Finnish National Commission on SD (FNCSD). Sub-national levels (regional authorities and municipalities) participated in several workshops, were informed about certain issues and also asked for advice in specific cases. Moreover, they gave comments on the draft NSDS. The local and regional authorities were represented in the SD Strategy group responsible for drafting the NSDS. However, no formal and structured way of their broader contribution was established in the preparation phase.

In order to improve the coordination of SD policies between the national and sub-national levels, the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development (FNCSD) established a new sub-committee on regionally and locally sustainable development in June 2007. The sub-committee is mandated to promote SD in regional and local administrations as well as in their cooperation with each other and with the national government. As a special task, the sub-committee is designed to contribute to the implementation of the NSDS and take initiatives on the national SD policy process. Other tasks of the sub-committee are to promote SD as part of the strategy work and planning system of the local authority, to create preconditions for the implementation of SD in the everyday activities and decision-making of local authorities and to promote the implementation of the Aalborg Commitments.

The sub-committee is chaired by the Director from the newly established Ministry of Employment and Industries. The vice-chairs come from a Regional Environment Centre and from a municipality. Members of the sub-committee comprise representatives of national, regional and local authorise, civil society actors and other key experts of SD on the sub-national levels. The term of the sub-committee will end in 2012.

Generally, there will be 4 meetings of the sub-committee every year. Moreover, several working groups have been established on different subjects (e.g. best practice examples, competition, etc): The main topics of concern are (i) climate change and energy policy (main topic in 2008); (ii) eco-efficient land-use; (iii) sustainable transport system; and (iv) sustainable community structures.  

Local Agenda 21 has always been important in Finland. The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities has adopted an SD strategy already in 1997, one year before the Government Programme on SD was endorsed. Approximately 80 % of Finns live in municipalities that either have established or are in the process of establishing their own LA 21. The link between the NSDS and sub-national activities is well-coordinated. However, LA 21 is not as successful any more for SD as it previously has been. The main reason for this is that LA 21 is understood and concerned mainly with environmental issues and not with the whole spectrum of SD. The on local and regional level the LA21 process has changed into a focus on more sustainability processes such as integrated management, Aalborg Commitments, sustainability indicator development and work instead of previous work with Agenda 21.

EU linkages

The renewed EU Strategy for Sustainable Development (EU SDS) that was adopted in June 2006 foresees that Member States bi-annually report about how they address the priorities of the EU SDS. Finland has published its first national report on implementing the EU SDS in June 2007.

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Mechanisms of Horizontal Integration

The work of the Finnish Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development (FNCSD) is outlined and prepared by an Inter-ministerial Secretariat, which operates as a network and convenes 8-10 times a year. The Secretariat comprises of about 20 members from different ministries, each taking the lead in preparing themes within their area of expertise. The FNCSD’s Secretary General and Debuty Secretary General come from the Ministry of the Environment, which also looks after practical arrangements and provides funding for the Commission’s work. For a detailed portrait of the Commission, please click here.

All relevant Government ministries were involved in the preparation of the NSDS 2006. The presiding officers of the preparatory strategy group were composed of senior administrators from the Ministries of Finance, Environment, and Social Affairs and Health.

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Evaluation and Review

The Finnish Governmental Program for Sustainable Development (1998) was evaluated in 2000-02 by a sub-committee of the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development (FNCSD), thus involving various stakeholders. The evaluation report was published by the Ministry of the Environment in June 2003 and describes the progress made towards SD during the previous two decades. The English summary of the report was published in August 2003. The report also served as a basis for a five year work plan of the FNCSD (2003-2007).

Finland has decided to link the NSDS progress report with the implementation report of the renewed EU SDS. As a result, a progress report about the implementation of NSDS objectives was drawn up in autumn 2007, and the FNCSD was informed of the progress in December 2007. The FNCSD then reported the results of the assessment to the Government. In accordance with the EU schedule, the next national progress report will be drawn up in 2009.

Finland was one of the peer countries in the Dutch peer review process in 2007.

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Indicators and Monitoring

Together with the NSDS, a set of 35 'follow-up indicators' was adopted in June 2006. These indicators are used to monitor and assess the implementation of SD objectives in Finland. The indicators are the result of cooperation between several administrative sectors, and are intended to reflect the various areas of SD in a diverse and comprehensive manner. The current set of indicators is built to monitor and follow-up the policy objectives of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development (2006).

Other sets of indicators do also exist, such as European Common Indicators with involved Finnish cities and Local and regional authorities. Indicators for 6-pack cities in Finland (the largest 6 cities in Finland, Helsinki, Tampere, Vantaa, Espoo, Oulu and Turku).

The full list(s) of indicators as identified by a study commissioned by Eurostat can be downloaded here:

• NSDS indicators (2006)

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Participation

The main forum that involves a variety of stakeholders in the Finnish NSDS process is the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development (FNCSD). The Commission was chaired by the Finnish Prime Minister until April 2007. Currently, it is now chaired by the Minister of Labour.

In November 2001, the FNCSD and the parliamentary environmental and future committees jointly set up a national SD partnership process, consisting of a series of partnerships based on voluntary measures. Partners from various sectors were invited to make specific commitments for the future.

For a detailed documentation of all advisory and participatory councils (for SD and/or the environment) in this country, please go to the EEAC website at http://www.eeac-net.org/bodies/finland/fi_frame.htm and click on one of the listed institutions.

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Sub-national activities

Regional SD strategies:

There are several regional Agenda 21 initiatives in Finland:

• Varsinais-Suomen (South-Western Finland regional) Agenda 21,
• Pori regional Agenda 21,
• Mikkeli regional Agenda 21,
• Lahti regional Agenda 21,
• Kouvola regional Agenda 21

LA 21 initiatives:

The traditional LA21 processes are more or less vanished, but there are new developments like broader stakeholder involvement in concrete development projects. There are new forms of regional cooperation on SD.

There are subsidies and support from national and/or regional level, Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC), a 107 city network, where 12 Finnish cities are members. Within the UBC, several sustainability projects have been undertaken. Most of these projects have been implemented in cooperation with national authorities and in particularly with the Finnish Ministry of the Environment. Examples of sustainability projects are;

• Sustainability indicators (European Common Indicators project, STATUS project, TiSSUE project, ACTOR projects)
• Environmental management project (EMAS Peer Review project)
• Sustainable Ports and cities projects (New Hansa project)
• Sustainability and Integrated Management projects (Managing Urban Europe – 25 project and SUSTAIMENT project)

UBC has also carried out several sustainability surveys, such as the ‘Agenda 21 surveys’ in 1998 and 2001. Since 2004, the surveys have been called ‘UBC Baltic Cities Sustainable Development surveys’. These surveys have been done in 2004 and 2006. UBC has also promoted Europe wide sustainability process involving local authorities: In particular the European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign and Aalborg Charter and Aalborg Commitment processes, including approx. 550 signatory cities and regional authorities. In Finland, 5 cities have signed and started to implement the Aalborg Commitments.

The link of LA21 initiatives to the NSDS and/or regional SD strategies/plans is generally weak.

Participation:

There is a broad stakeholder participation in the Regional Environmental Policy Programmes (Regional Environment Centers, Labour and Economy Centers, State Provinces, Regional Planning Centers).

Evaluation:

Evaluation takes place in some cities, e.g. Tampere. The City of Hämeenlinna has made a CSR report.

Indicators:

The six largest cities in Finland (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku and Oulu) have developed a local SD indicator sets as a joint project ("Kuutoskaupunkien kestävän kehityksen indikaattorit" which can be found from the websites of the cities. There is a link to the national SD indicators.

Contacts: For Helsinki – Markus Lukin (markus.lukin@hel.fi); for Espoo – Sari Soini (sari.soini@espoo.fi); for Oulu – Marketta Karhu (marketta.karhu@oulu.fi); for Tampere – Kirsi Hamalainen (Kirsi.hamalainen@tampere.fi); for Vantaa – Tina Kristiansson (tina.kristiansson@vantaa.fi) and for Turku – Pekka Salminen (Pekka.salminen@turku.fi).

Contact details:

FNCSD, sub-committee on Regional and Local SD: Secretary General Ulla-Maija Laiho, Ministry of Labour and Economy (ulla-maija.laiho@tem.fi)

Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, Director of the Environment, Dr Maija Hakanen (Maija.hakanen@kuntaliitto.fi).

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This Country Profile has been last updated on: Friday, 05 December 2008

For the sources used in the country profiles, please click here.