How compatible is the Finnish soul with citizen participation?

In this episode, we speak with Suvi Holm from the Finnish city of Tampere. Suvi is CEO of the non-profit environmental company Ekofellows (Ekokumppanit Oy). Ekofellows is owned by the municipality and advises citizens and companies on energy efficient measures and renewable energy.

Tampere is dubbed the “Manchester of Finland” for its industrial past as the former center of Finnish industry. In this episode, Suvi will give us an insight into the Finnish soul and how that relates to the political culture in place. She will also talk about the city’s efforts to make the city carbon-neutral by 2030 and she tells us more about her own motivation to work in that field since she is 20 years old. I met and recorded Suvi during a study visit in Belgium, in the city of Ghent.

This episode of “City Stories” is brought to you by the EU project mPower. mPower explores how cities and citizens can manage the energy transition together – in a fair, clean and democratic way. Participation can happen at various stages: from involving citizens, local NGOs or businesses in the policy design to any stage of the energy value chain: for example as shareholders or even prosumers.
The mPower project gets funding from the European Horizon 2020 programme.