Preparedness work in villages continues and deepens
Long-term work has been done in villages to improve safety and preparedness. In autumn 2026, we will continue to strengthen villages for disruptions by providing assistance, for example, in developing community houses as preparedness centers. We will also implement a provincial village radio network. The work is made possible by the Smart Preparedness for Villages project, which is co-funded by the South Ostrobothnia Vitality Center and the European Union. For the past 1.5 years, preparedness has been improved under the theme 4K – Capable and Sustainable Partner Villages. The project […]
The Village Calls evening in Seinäjoki lifted our spirits and spirits!
Teppo Ylitalo, executive director of the Finnish Home Regions Association, captured the atmosphere by stating: “There is no future – we will make it!” Ylitalo gave a lot to think about in a positive light about the future of villages. Another important takeaway for this time was to see villages as communities of trust and security. In villages, people meet each other and because they are at home in the villages, the encounters are genuine. Village communities also have the ability to catch up with individuals, if necessary […]
The village strategy serves as a compass towards the Honkakylä of the future.
Over the past couple of years, Honkakylä has been considering and writing down the future of Honkakylä. The question of what Honkakylä will be like in 2030 was addressed using the village’s values, characteristics and goals. A plan to achieve the goals, or village strategy, was written down. “At first, it may have seemed that the village association needed to write a strategy, which in words does not sound very attractive to village actors who are used to practical matters. However, when working on the village strategy, it was noticed that […]
Munakka is the South Ostrobothnian village of the year 2026
The people of Munakka celebrated their title of South Ostrobothnia Village of the Year 2026 with a communal fish soup and cake coffee on June 5. It was already clear in the yard that the celebration was like their village: about half of the partygoers were primary and secondary school age and the other half were of an age group for whom spending the occasion sitting at a table was more natural. There was no “push-and-pull” at the celebration, people chatted and enjoyed the food. The soup was reserved for the first 150 people, […]
Study trip to Sweden Jönköping 14-17.9.
Trip program 15-16 September 2025 Nordic preparedness Nordic Preparedness is an international Leader cooperation project involving 10 partners from Finland and Sweden. The project aims to increase knowledge and awareness of citizens' resilience and share best practices between rural areas. The project is implemented in Finland in the areas of six Leader groups: Development Association Liiveri, Suupohja Development Association, Kantri, Active North Satakunta and Ravakka, and in Åland in the Leader Åland areas. […]
Participate in the village house survey and build a safer everyday life for your village!
Where will your village gather if, for example, the electricity goes out for a long time or there is a disruption in the water supply? The village house survey collects information about the communal spaces in the villages that can be used for gatherings in case of disruption. With the village house survey, you will strengthen your village's preparedness. At the same time, you will ensure that the authorities also have the necessary information to act effectively if something happens. Every village's response is important! The village house survey proceeds as follows: Discuss together in the village and […]
Safety and preparedness got the villages of Ilmajoki moving
How does information flow within the village and between the village and the authorities during a long-lasting power outage? How and by whom do the villagers get drinking water quickly during a water outage? Who coordinates the village’s own security measures? These questions, among others, were discussed in a discussion between the villages of Ilmajoki and various security actors at the Pojanluoman Society on April 23. Representatives of the rescue service, the protection block, the municipality, the parish and Vapepa participated in the village evening. Almost all of the Ilmajoki […]
Neighborly help from a study trip to Central Finland
Exemplary work is being done in Ylä-Muuratjärvi to improve the safety of the village. Neighborhood assistance activities are highly organized and the village has, for example, implemented a 24-hour evacuation drill. Organized neighborhood assistance ensures that every villager is in the circle of help when they need it, and no one is left behind. Confidentiality and working as a team are important in the activities. The affairs of the person seeking help must not be disclosed to outsiders, and when working as a group, the help is not personalized for anyone. Ylä-Muuratjärvi residents […]
Prepared villages as part of societal security
We interviewed the fire chief responsible for preparedness at the EP rescue service, Juha Turkulainen, about the preparedness and safety work of villages. Why is the villages’ own work on safety and preparedness so important today? – A nearby safety net can even be vital. In exceptional situations, the public sector’s operations are overloaded because, for financial reasons, they are not designed for daily tasks under normal conditions. In exceptional situations, the number of alarms and the chain of disturbances […]
Preparedness requires concrete cooperation with villages, authorities and various security actors.
The Villages, preparedness and overall security seminar organized by the Finnish Villages Association and the Parliament's Village Action Network was held in Parliament on 13 February 2025. The seminar discussed the current state of overall security in villages and development needs. Antti Kangas, Chairman of the Parliament's Village Action Network, stated in his opening speech that when security is shaken, the value of the rural cousin of city dwellers is emphasized. However, in Kangas' opinion, the decisive factor is not whether people live in the country or in the city, but how residents of different areas are made to act in a crisis […]