Could less be more?

Ehompi is a story series in which the mayor Jouni Eho talks about his everyday life, work and Riihimäki.

The city of Riihimäki withdraws from the housing fair.
The city of Riihimäki is not building an Eastern school and a daycare center.
The city of Riihimäki takes a step back in the digitalization of schools and returns to traditional books.

Here are news headlines from the city of Riihimäki from the last few months.

When we returned to work after the summer holidays, I asked our staff what kind of image the city of Riihimäki sends out with these decisions? Is the message that we curl up inward, into a hedgehog defense? Or is there perhaps a message behind the decisions about a city that thinks strategically, is capable of making decisions, and moves forward with goals?

I myself believe in the latter. I firmly believe that the decisions in question show mature judgment, recognition of economic realities and prioritization. Deciding to withdraw or not to do something is often better than not deciding at all.

The housing fair would have been too expensive for the city

Abandoning housing fairs was based on the rational thinking that the price tag and risks of the fairs would have become too expensive for the city. It is clear that the fair is at best an impetus for the start of a new residential area, which the planned Kokonharju would have deserved at best. On the other side of the coin, the additional operating expenses have swelled to nearly four million, which would have fallen on top of the infrastructure construction costs from the fair.

So this is at the same time that the city is running a stable economic adjustment program, where we have to have a value discussion about, for example, teaching resources. Now we have a leisurely time to think about the development of housing and also the timing of investments without the schedule pressure of trade fairs and additional operating costs.

Eastern school and kindergarten were divided by the city council

The decision not to build the eastern school and kindergarten divided the city council roughly down the middle. During the spring, the discussion about the school and daycare network brought up feelings and old wounds among the townspeople. Not unreasonably.

School online discussions are the most painful in every municipality and city. In July, the CEO of the Municipal Association, Minna Karhunen, asked Finnish municipalities to re-evaluate every school investment. In the 2030s, there will be 80 fewer students in basic schools in our country than now. I take my hat off to the city council for making a decision on the matter. Not every municipality can do this.

The return of middle schools to books made our city headlines around the world

Helsingin Sanomat story Returning to the books of Riihimäki middle schools put our town on the map of Finland. This week we got on the world map when the same issue was reported by the international news agency Reuters. I myself received a lot of direct contacts and thanks from the people involved. Thanks go to the fields of culture and administration, whose timing to offer an article for the week of the start of schools was perfect.

Riihimäki has profiled itself as the capital of robotics education for years. Robotics is mainly taught face-to-face, and insights are gained during teamwork. The teaching of robotics has not increased the use of digital learning materials in our schools.

We can recognize that we are a pioneer in the teaching of robotics and at the same time return books as learning materials.

This case also showed our decision-making ability and genuine respect for the feedback received from the citizens.

Giving up on plans is also making a decision

When you think about these decisions, the question inevitably arises - could less be more? What if giving up on things or reassessing projects are rather signs of decision-making ability than giving up?

In society, we are used to the pursuit of absolute growth. Whether it's population, jobs, private investment or profit maximization - more has meant more.

I do not deny that growth is also Riihimäki's goal. According to our strategy, it should be pursued sustainably.

I will end my blog this time with a philosophical idea about growth, which is related to the depth dimension of growth. I once heard a great saying that trees grow first in height, then in width, and lastly in depth. Growth also happens unnoticed, in the depth direction.

City manager Jouni Eho

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This is how the world talks about Riihimäki

Global News, Canada, 10.9.2024/XNUMX/XNUMX: Some Finnish students ditch tech, go back to books
The Business Times, Singapore, 10.9.2024/XNUMX/XNUMX: Books in, screens out, some Finnish pupils go back to paper after tech push