The ministerial working group on physically active lifestyles has made a remarkable effort in identifying the three key themes that have the biggest impact on increasing the physical activity of Finns. The work began back in autumn 2022 when the Ministry of Education and Culture established the working group Yhdessä 2022 (Together 2022). The process has been extensive and inclusive: 80 different parties suggested a total of 45 themes for discussion, and almost 200 organizations eventually took part in the advisory vote. The collective choices include promoting physical activity and physically active lifestyles in families, reforming club activities so that they would encourage even more people to stay active and keeping clubs vital in the future, and influencing the future role of municipal sports and physical activity services and supporting their continuation.
These common themes offer us all a chance to do our part in promoting physically active lifestyles.
80 different parties produced 45 suggestions for themes, and almost 200 organizations took part in the advisory vote.
Common journey towards a more physically active Finland
The process has been extensive and inclusive. The pool of voters participating in the advisory vote consisted of a diverse group, including sports organizations, public health organizations, youth organizations, research institutes, educational institutions, municipalities and companies.
The selected themes were determined on the basis of predetermined criteria, taking into account factors such as societal impact, the accessibility of the activities and the opportunities to influence matters. Other factors included the costs to society and the cost effectiveness when considering the investment and maintenance costs. Other key criteria were the long-term impact, such as the life-long impact of a physical active lifestyle as a child, life transitions, inclusion, equality and the possibility to make changes to structures that promote physically active lifestyles.
The selected themes promote family exercise, reform club activities and strengthen the role of municipalities in promoting physical activity. The common themes were selected through an inclusive process and they offer us all a chance to do our part in promoting physically active lifestyles. The members of the Finnish Olympic Committee proved to be particularly dedicated to promoting the collective choices.
Join us on this journey – creating the future together
This process is not an end, but a beginning for us all. The idea is to incorporate the selected themes into the structures of each party without adding any new, overlapping systems.
We want to continue this journey together and invite you to join our workshops where the selected themes will be developed further. Join us and be a part of a future where physical activity is an even bigger part of life!
Selected themes and contact persons:
- Promoting physical activity and physically active lifestyles in families
johanna.pekkanen@suomenlatu.fi and satu-maria.ruotsalainen@suomenlatu.fi
Family exercise meetings and participation links can be found at liikkuvaperhe.fi. - Reforming club activities so that they would encourage even more people to stay active and keeping clubs vital in the future
jaana.tulla@olympiakomitea.fi - Influencing the future role of municipal sports and physical activity services and supporting their continuation
jukka.laara@liiku.fi and anu.oittinen@liiku.fi
Join the advocacy clinic where we discuss the municipal and regional election campaign of the sports community on 31 October, 3–4 pm via Teams.
We wish to warmly thank everyone who participated in our webinars and shared their valuable input. Our webinars have shown that promoting physical activity is a versatile effort and covers a wide range of different environments and areas of life. Thank you to all the participants and to the organizers for their meaningful work with far-reaching impact.