Hämeenlinna Elderly Citizens Council’s activities 2026-2029

The composition of the Elderly Citizens Council was almost entirely renewed. It now includes members from a wide range of associations representing older people. The council’s members are resourceful and active. I believe the council will become well known and that its work will remain active throughout the four-year term. Hämeenlinna’s Elderly Citizens Council is represented on the Elderly Citizens Council of the Well-being services county of Kanta-Häme, ensuring good communication between the two bodies.

In Hämeenlinna, the Elderly Citizens Council’s role is to act as a link for civic engagement between the city and its residents. The council provides ideas for developing services and feedback on service quality. It may issue statements, initiatives, and proposals to the city, as well as provide opinions, upon request, on matters relevant to the lives and daily functioning of older people.

The Elderly Citizens Council must also be given the opportunity to influence the planning, preparation, and monitoring of activities across the city’s various sectors, in matters relevant to the well-being, health, participation, living environment, housing, mobility, or ability of older residents to manage daily activities, as well as the services they need.

In addition to issuing statements and opinions, the Elderly Citizens Council set communication development as one of its goals. So far, we have, among other things, provided requested statements on ongoing zoning projects, taken part in updating the city’s well-being and health plan, and participated in public events organized by Ikäraati. In October 2025, we presented the Kanta-Häme Memory Association (Kanta-Hämeen Muistiyhdistys ry) with the Act of the Year for Older People award for its Park Coffee (Puistokahvit) activities. Last week, on 29 April, we held a stakeholder briefing at Kumppanuustalo on the upcoming Safe Hämeenlinna program and the zoning review. Nearly 30 people attended. The discussion was lively, and many issues important to residents were raised. A proposal was presented to include age-friendly Hämeenlinna initiatives either as a separate program or as part of an existing city program. The city responded positively to this proposal.

Messages are conveyed most effectively through various events. Plans are therefore underway to set up a stand at the market square on a market day in spring or summer, to take part in the Rollaattori March (Rollaattori-marssi) on 8 May, and to work closely together in organizing events for Older People’s Week, 5-11 October 2026. A brochure introducing the Elderly Citizens Council’s members and activities is also being planned.

Work for the benefit of older people and other residents succeeds best through cooperation. So please get in touch with the members of the Elderly Citizens Council, submit proposals for initiatives, and come up with ideas for activities. Together, we will surely succeed!

Kirsti Suoranta, Chair of the Elderly Citizens Council