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Participatory Budgeting in Lahti

Propose ideas, develop, vote – join us in developing Lahti!

Do you want to have a say in the future of Lahti and your neighbourhood? Participatory Budgeting (PB) is your chance to submit ideas and influence how the city budget is spent.

“Brainstorm, Develop, Vote” campaign was held for the fourth time in 2025. We received a total of 909 fantastic ideas from Lahti residents during the brainstorming period. All resident ideas were evaluated, and 162 ideas were put to a vote. A total of 3,019 Lahti residents voted on the participatory budgeting ideas, about a third of whom were children and young people. The city will implement a total of 41 resident ideas during 2026. A big thank you to everyone who submitted an idea and cast a vote!

Lahti’s participatory budgeting is carried out on the OmaLahti website. OmaLahti is the City of Lahti’s new platform for digital participation, where you can comment on the city’s plans, respond to surveys, and participate in the participatory budgeting process.

Check out all the ideas on OmaLahti.fi
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Schedule

  • The ideas that attract the most votes will be implemented. In total 41 ideas will be implemented during 2026. Check out the winning ideas on Omalahti.fi.

    The total budget for implementing ideas is 200,000 euros. The money will be split into five equal budgets between the southern, northern, eastern and central areas of the city as well as city-wide projects.

    Check out the ideas on OmaLahti.fi

Participatory budgeting 2023-2024

171 ideas went to the vote. 5098 residents voted between May and June 2023, which is 8% more than last round.

A total of 41 ideas, selected based on the votes, will be implemented in the year 2024. The well-being and leisure board of Lahti has approved the results of the voting process on August 16, 2023. If the budget for the idea that succeeded in the voting exceeds the remaining regional budget (up to 40,000 euros), the next most voted idea that can be implemented within the allocated funds will be chosen. Please see all the implemented ideas and their votes under the regional headings.

Participatory budgeting ideas in 2021/2022

A total of 4,691 members of the public – almost 4% of Lahti’s population – voted in the last round of participatory budgeting. Children and adolescents were particularly active, and the number of voters aged under 18 years doubled compared to the previous round of participatory budgeting in 2020.

A total of 33 ideas submitted by the public were implemented based on the votes. The total budget was EUR 200,000.

The most popular idea with 1,358 votes was ‘Enlisting youth to clean up the city’ (EUR 8,000). The implementation phase will be coordinated by City of Lahti Youth Services, which will mobilise a team of young people aged between 17 and 29 years to pick litter, weed invasive species and clear woodland of forestry waste. The PB funds will pay for, among other things, travel expenses incurred from scouting out areas in need of tidying up and training events designed to promote the well-being and social empowerment of young people in Lahti.

The most popular idea relating to the south of the city was ‘Opening a hobby horse track in Laune Family Park’ (EUR 1,000). The hobby horse track received a total of 918 votes, and the idea will be implemented by the City of Lahti Public Works Department in collaboration with a partner.

The winning idea for the east of the city was ‘Extending the Linnaistensuo nature trail’ (EUR 4,000), which attracted 1,048 votes. The City of Lahti Urban Environment Division has taken charge of the project, which involves investigating the potential of turning the Linnaistensuo nature trail into a circular route.

The winner in the north of the city with 945 votes was an idea to start providing ‘Fishing-rod hire in Ankkuri’ (EUR 2,000). The idea will be implemented by the City of Lahti Urban Environment Division and the City of Lahti Public Works Department in collaboration with the Ankkuri Residents’ Association.

The most popular idea in the city centre was ‘Guarded bicycle parking in the Market Square’ (EUR 5,000), which was also among the ideas submitted in the previous year’s round of participatory budgeting. This time around, the idea received 1,066 votes. The new bicycle parking facility will be managed by the City of Lahti Public Works Department and the City of Lahti Urban Planning Department, and it will be built in collaboration with the youth action group Inspis ry.

Participatory budgeting coordinators in Lahti