In Finland, municipalities are responsible for providing equal education from early childhood education to basic and upper secondary level education until the end of the compulsory education age of 18! And, for the most part, completely free of charge.

Each one of us uses municipal services every day without, perhaps, even thinking about it.

There is no functional society without municipalities
The central role of municipalities in our everyday life cannot be emphasised enough. It is precisely municipalities that will decide how to develop, for example, basic education, early childhood education, street maintenance, culture, vitality in the form of sports and cultural services in the coming years. They will also be responsible for making the necessary adaptations to combat climate change.

Municipalities organise education and early childhood education
1. Early childhood education
2. Preschool education
3. Basic education, grades 1–9
4. Special needs education
5. Morning and after-school activities
6. School transport for children in preschool and basic education
7. General upper secondary education
8. Vocational education
9. Adult education centres

Municipalities organise cultural and leisure services
1. Libraries
2. Cultural services, such as theatres, art museums and orchestras
3. Basic art education, such as music institutes, circus and theatre schools, visual art schools
4. Sports services, such as nature trails, sports halls, swimming pools
5. Youth services

Municipalities develop their local surroundings and housing
1. Municipal housing supply
2. Municipal plot supply
3. Building supervision, i.e., building licences and planning
4. Land use planning
5. Public transport
6. Road and street management
7. Pedestrian routes and bikeways and outdoor routes
8. Green areas, tidiness of environment
9. Environmental protection, including air quality, noise notifications, property-specific wastewater treatment
10. Waste management
11. Water supply management
12. Supply of energy and heat

In addition to these, municipalities have other important functions, such as
- Promotion of local vitality
- Employment, economic development and integration services
- Increasing the residents’ opportunities to participate and organising elections
- Municipalities have hundreds of duties. The majority of them are defined by law. Furthermore, municipalities can take over various voluntary tasks.
The next local election will be held in April 2025
The actual election day is 13 April 2025, but advance voting is possible from 2 to 8 April 2025. Local elections are held to elect local councillors. As members of the local council, the councillors decide on the finances, services and strategy of the municipality and widely influence other decision-making structures within the municipality.
The central role of municipalities in our everyday life cannot be emphasised enough. It is precisely municipalities that will decide how to develop, for example, basic education, early childhood education, street maintenance, culture, vitality in the form of sports and cultural services in the coming years. They will also be responsible for making the necessary adaptations to combat climate change.
When you vote in local elections, your vote helps promote a good everyday life and ensure a good future for children and adolescents
This is your chance to have a say in who makes decisions in your municipality – decisions concerning daily services, education and the environment as well as culture and climate actions. Municipal decision-makers are closest in proximity to our everyday life and their decisions influence each of us.
292 different elections
Each municipality is different, which means that, actually, we will have 292 separate local elections – one in each municipality of mainland Finland! The diversity of municipalities is a resource: each municipality can influence its own future with the decisions it makes.
Now, if ever, we need bold, co-operative decision-makers who can look towards the future and possess the motivation and skills to steer municipal affairs in the right direction.