City of Tampere - www.tampere.fi

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Tampere residents influence city's decision-making

The City Council and the Municipal Council are the highest decision-making authorities in Finnish cities and municipalities. The Tampere City Council consists of 67 members from different parties. The executive power belongs to the City Board. The City of Tampere has six committees that prepare issues within their own fields of expertise. A new Council is elected every four years. Residents can influence the city’s decision-making in many ways even in between elections.

Regional working groups take a stand on prepared issues and share their insights with decision-makers. The members obtain information on local issues through these groups. Everyone interested in their own residential area who wants to make a difference can become a member. Members of various associations and organisations are also involved. The members are nominated by the City Council for two-year terms.

In the residential events organised by the Mayor, Timo P. Nieminen, residents of the municipality meet leading officials and discuss matters with them. You can also meet decision-makers in residential events organised by the Chair of the Council, Irene Roivainen. The residential events are held a couple of times a year and they are announced beforehand in newspapers and on the city’s web pages.

The Valma preparation forum available on the Internet is a tool designed for the residents of Tampere, enabling them to influence the city’s issues. Through this forum, residents can present their opinions on the issues being prepared. On the writers’ permission, the opinions are published on the Valma forum for everyone to see.

The Tampere Children’s Parliament is an influencing tool designed for Tampere residents aged 7–12 years. The aim of the Children’s Parliament is to inspire children in Tampere to actively and enthusiastically contribute to common issues. The Tampere Youth Forum is a group for young people, which improves the position of young people in Tampere and their possibilities to influence the city's issues.

A resident of the municipality can make official initiatives to the city concerning the city’s actions. This can also be done via the Internet. The initiatives made by the residents of the municipality and the resulting measures are reported to the City Council at least once a year.

General feedback can be given to city officials via a feedback sheet on the city's web pages.

Listen to the meetings of the City Council on site, on the radio or online

The meetings of the City Council are open to the public and you can come and watch them at the Tampere City Central Office Building's Council Hall’s public gallery. The address is Aleksis Kiven katu 14–16 C. Furthermore, you can listen to the meetings live on Radio Moreeni (98.4 MHz or 101.5 MHz) or on the Internet.

The Tampere City Council convenes as follows in autumn 2010: 11.8., 15.9., 13.10., 15.11. (discussing the city budget), 24.11. and 15.12.

The recordings of the previous Council meetings are also accessible online:

The meeting times and agendas as well as the minutes of all the meetings of the decision-making bodies of the City of Tampere are available in Finnish on the city's web pages:

The operational model and organisation, City of Tampere (pdf, 1 MB)