Earlier today the Kuopio Greens (site in Finnish) and Green Sisu held an event on local politics in English, in the hope of creating a low-threshold forum for immigrants to discuss and get involved with Green politics.
I came to Kuopio for the weekend to attend and give a quick speech about Green Sisu and the various channels for getting involved, after Sami Kumpulainen and Petra Kairinen had given incredible presentations on what municipal and wellbeing county councils do and don't decide and their own experiences and thoughts about local politics. A number of very important issues were also raised, including the (detrimental) effects of healthcare privatization and funding cuts to wellbeing counties, the challenges faced by immigrants educated in English finding work in industries that still speak Finnish more or less exclusively, and other relevant topics.
I and Green Sisu encourage all interested parties to follow Green Sisu on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and the Fediverse (Mastodon). We also have an open chat group on WhatsApp (tag us or talk to me or another board member if you'd like to be added!), and are organizing a book club currently focused on antiracism. And, of course, you can always join Green Sisu!
Also remember that parliamentary elections are coming up, and even if you aren't entitled to vote yet, many Green candidates would appreciate any help offered adding English (or other minority language) content to their campaigns. Additionally, the next round of municipal and county elections will occur in 2029, at which point all immigrants currently living in Finland (who don't move elsewhere in the mean time) will be eligible to both vote and run as a candidate.
Politics in English is happening in Finland, and Green Sisu wants you to make your voice heard! After all, that is the only thing that will ever lead to change.
(Photo credit — and great thanks for hard work — to Usman Rasheed, who organized this event and is also a board member of Green Sisu.)