Totally wierd absolutely unique Old but happy Pori

Totally wierd, absolutely unique.

Old, but happy! Pori was established in 1558 by Duke John who become later John III of Sweden. Pori is one of the oldest cities in Finland. Pori is the 10 th biggest city in Finland with a population of ca 85 500 people. The City id located som 10 kilometers from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki river.

Forerunner The first Finnish language theatre started in Pori 1872 The first Finnish sport club is Björneborgs Segelförbund ( Pori Sailing Club). It was established year 1856 and it’s still going strog. We had the first kebab bar and drive-in grill in Finland. Also the first selfservice foodstore started in Pori year 1949. Not to talk about the first pedesterian street and first escalator in a department store. Colour Bath for Babies –method was invented in Pori. The first woman with a degree on arcitecture, Signe Hornborg comes from a Porian family (degree 1890) and the Newnader house (1892) by her is still in Pori.

Ladies run the City Krista Kiuru (sd. ) Chairperson of the City Council (Former Minister of Education) Diana Bergroth-Lampinen (sd. ) Chairperson of the City Board Aino-Maija Luukkonen The Mayor (City Manager)

Working. . There about 5 000 functioning enterprises in Pori area is the 8 th biggest in Finland in the number of work places. Satakunta region is one of the most industrialised and exporting regions in Finland. Pori is also a student city with the Pori University Center with 4 Finnish Universities on one campus, Satakunta University of Applied Sciences. There are some 7 000 students in all.

… and relaxing Yyteri is one of the best Europan family friendly beaches if one belives The Guardian, that rated the beaches just last year. There is 116 parks in Pori. One of the is the Pori Urban National Park, one of the nine in Finland. There are some 5 200 summer cottages in Pori and with this number we are the 11 th in Finland. Pori City Library with local librarys, Pori Sinfonietta, Pori Art museum, Satakunta Museum, Pori Center for Childrens’s Culture and super lot of cultural and art NGOs and 4 th sector

Swing it! Pori Jazz –festival in June – 60 000 concert visitors in the Kirjurinluoto arena, total of visitors during the jazz week is close to 400 000. The Suomi. Areena public debate forum withi 74 000 visitors and 170 events (v. 2017). Rest of the year we do what we please and we love it! Human size festivals in all possible art forms and lots of underground & odds. Art and culture with out bounds.

…easy access.

Pori strategy 1. Pori for work and entrepeneurship - competitive and agile city - better connected city 2. Pori is for children and youth - good childhood - safe place to grow up 3. Good life in Pori - right services at the right time - smoothing out the welfare differences - the discussing and listening city 4. Pori with fame - it’s about happenings and doing - limitles co-operation, no prejudice

We have some issues! - Agening city – are we a declining city for that reason Areal differences – do we have gethos City centre getting empty Riverbanks - the potential is not yet used to benefit the citizens We don’t have a long term plan for art and citizens involment conserning the cityscape Pori tries now focus on how the inhabitants experience the meaningfulness of the city

Case: The New Pori Model of Participation • • In Pori, residents, companies and communities have long been involved, for example, in the development of services and residential areas. Often, this has been the case for a statutory task, such as city planning. The city also has separate councils for the elderly, disabled and veterans involved in the design and development of services. In the education of children and youngsters there has been an advanced approach in which pupils learn to influence schools, education and their own living environment. School classes have chairpersons and schools have school boards for students. The participation system is complemented by regional parliaments and online democracy. In addition, the Youth Council has been operating in Pori since 2000. Both regional parliaments and Youth Council have budgets for which they themselves decide to use. During 2017 and 2018 new actions and new ways of involving residents and communities are to be launched. The first experiments have been made during 2017 while implementing city brand work. Service design has also been tried as part of the development of Kirjurinluoto Park Area. The model of participation and interaction has been described and the follow-up measures will be decided during the autumn of 2017. In a research project led by the University of Oxford, Pori focuses on how the inhabitants experience the meaningfulness of the city. Developing the participation of residents and communities is to increase the communality of the city, which is believed to have an impact on the sense of the city's meaningfulness. In the study, attention is paid in particular to how the meaningfulness of the city changes during 2018 -2019. What role and meaning do Pori have for people as a city, place of residence and living environment? How does the new approach improve residents' well-being and democracy and increase the city's competitiveness and growth?

We have ideas! - Strategy of public art, the art plan Exploring the full potential of the green-blue and the city centre (pedestrian street, Urban National Park… We have worked with different projects, cultular and city planning trying to make sense what we really should do We have done Place. Making 4 Cities, Culturability 2, Pori City Cultural Action Plan for Accessability and inclusion We do work horisontally more and more - the trust between the departments is growing day by day We have help from our friends in academia and this is totally vital for us!

Jaana Simula Head of the Cultural Unit jaana. simula@pori. fi www. pori. fi