MIKAELA SUNDQVIST

I am a 39-year old City Council and City Board member of the Greens in Turku. Mum to a son who studies at the university. Wife to my husband, who runs a record store. The owner of a rescue dog, who moved to Turku from Spain. A Swedish-speaking Finn and proud of it! A Master of Science in Environmental Biology who gets to use her education in her work as an Environmental Advisor. The first 18 yeas of my life I lived on Satava, after this in central Turku.

I’ve had the privilege to act as a member of the City Council during three periods. During this time, I have been able to influence among others as a member of the City Board, a member of the Urban Planning and Environmental Committee as well as a member of the Board if the Foundation for Commercial Education in Turku. During two periods as a City Council I have worked towards making Turku a greener city that listens to its citizens. I am eager to continue this work, as there are still many things I would like to evoke a change in! The environment, jobs and building are still pinned against each other. Attitudes need to be changed, so that there would be an understanding for the fact that the key to a successful city is to combine these three. Citizen participation is not widely used and work needs to be done in order to give the residents of Turku better possibilities to participate in the development of our city.

I think we could improve Turku by creating more public spaces and by improving both the cycle network and the public transportation system. Turku should offer a safe environment for children to grow up in, an environment with lots of different, interesting activities. And we should also keep in mind that Turku is a lively student city with about 40 000 students of higher education.