The largest target for participatory budgeting is the mountain bike trail and bike park area in Riutta

The City of Riihimäki will implement nine resident ideas in 2025 based on a participatory budgeting vote. The number of people who voted in participatory budgeting has increased further. 984 Riihimäki residents participated in the vote this year.

The most popular projects are residents' perennial favorites that have been implemented for several years in a row: painting electrical cabinets and controlling the Spanish snail. Both proposals received over 300 votes. Other projects to be implemented are mainly aimed at children, young people and families with children.

40 euros for a mountain bike trail and bike park

The largest project to be implemented through participatory budgeting in 2025 in terms of euro is the implementation of a mountain bike trail and bike park area in Riihimäki. The project received 232 votes from city residents. The project budget is 40 euros.

"It's great that we can implement a project that the city's residents have been hoping for for a long time. A mountain bike trail and bike park are being built in the Riutta area. They will increase the area's year-round use and diversify the range of sports facilities in Riihimäki," says Sports Manager Markus Rantsi.

100 euros allocated annually

The budget allocated for the participating budget is 100 euros annually. The cost estimates of the plans now selected for implementation exceeded that amount, as the last proposal for textbook purchases selected for implementation by vote partially exceeds the participating budget. In order to keep the implementation within the budget allocated by the council, the last selected proposal will be implemented in part. 000 euros can be allocated for the purchase of textbooks, which will enable printed physics textbooks for many middle school students.

Ideas voted for implementation in order of number of votes:

• Painting of electrical cabinets (2 euros)
• Distribution of Ferramol to households to eradicate Spanish hornet (6 euros)
• First aid equipment for all primary schools (8 euros)
• Sewing machine and hem for the library (1 euros)
• Three open children's events for Ö-talo (2 euros)
• Park dining for children and young people (12 euros)
• Implementation of a mountain bike trail and bike park area in Riihimäki (40 euros)
• Coffee break for parents at Aapeli Open daycare (500 euros)
• Investment in printed textbooks (36 euros -> 500 euros).

Children from 6th grade can vote

984 Riihimäki residents voted in participatory budgeting, which is 6 percent more than the previous year. The amount is about 4 percent of all residents of the city aged 12 or older.

The participatory budgeting vote was held from 7 to 31 January 2025 osallistu.riihimaki.fiwebsite. All 6th graders or older registered in the city of Riihimäki had the right to vote.

There were 71 proposals, of which 40 were put to a vote

A total of 71 proposals came from the residents for participatory budgeting, of which 43 advanced to the January vote. A few of these proposals concerned the same issue, so they were combined and there were 40 plans for the Riihimäki residents to vote on.

“Participatory budgeting gives city residents the opportunity to improve the comfort of the urban environment and everyday life. Participatory budgeting offers the opportunity to directly influence the use of city funds. This year's winning proposals are a good example of how diverse ideas can be found among city residents. Children and young people were the target group of several plans and close to the hearts of voters,” says Mira Ahjoniemi, project manager for participatory budgeting.

All voting results are visible on the participation platform osallistu.riihimaki.fi.