Residents of Oulu have chosen 12 proposals that the city will implement in 2027 with its €500,000 participatory budget. In a September vote, 5,119 residents picked the winners from 94 proposals on the ballot. The results show the city which needs residents rank highest, with the environment, exercise and preventative work among the popular topics.
How the vote worked
All residents of Oulu from middle-school age had the right to vote, and each person could cast up to eight votes. The city reports that the results were very close until the last minute. Most of the chosen projects cover several areas or the whole city. Residents spread the money across many smaller projects: no proposal with a budget above €100,000 went through.
The winning proposals
Seven of the 12 winners are aimed especially at children, young people and families with children. “The everyday lives of children and youth are clearly visible in the results,” said Senior Specialist Anne Kippola-Rinne. The top five by votes were:
| Proposal | Budget | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Recess equipment for schools | €90,000 | 1,236 |
| New flower meadows in the city | €40,000 | 1,063 |
| Ice hockey goals, football goal nets and basketball baskets at schools | €45,000 | 880 |
| Renovating dressing rooms at beaches | €50,000 | 873 |
| Free meals for young people aged 18–29 in summer 2027 | €9,000 | 852 |
The recess equipment will go to all basic education schools, including private schools, with 67 schools equipped according to facility size and student numbers. The sports package includes 30 ice hockey goals, 30 football goal nets and 30 metal basketball baskets, which residents can also use outside school hours. The largest single item is €100,000 for the Outo-Car mobile youth work unit, which will rent another car that will circle the Oulu region every week for about ten months. Other winners include cleaning and adding sand at Nallikari Beach, and one hundred 100-litre waste bins to replace the current 30-litre ones. For free events for children in libraries, the last of the 12 winners, only €3,000 remained, so it will be carried out on a reduced scale.
Background and next steps
In the previous round, the participatory budget broke the voting record again and nine ideas were chosen. The 2026 round started on 26 January, and residents submitted nearly 450 ideas for the €500,000 budget. The city will implement the winning proposals during 2027, and progress can be followed on the Osallistu Oulu website.