Through the partnership between the City of Vaasa and associations, wellbeing challenges and the city’s strategic objectives are addressed. The partnership is intended for associations that have a supportive and complementary role in activities and service production that fall under the municipality’s organisational responsibility in promoting wellbeing and health.
Partnership model
The partnership is a co-development grant model in which the association provides impact indicator data to the city twice a year, and the city monitors the development of the indicators. The partnership is based on an agreement between both parties. Partnerships are often multi-year, but the amount is decided separately each year.
The partnership is intended for associations that have a supportive and complementary role in promoting wellbeing and health in activities and service production that fall under the municipality’s organisational responsibility. The municipality’s key tasks include, for example, promoting residents’ wellbeing, health, skills, integration and employment, and creating the conditions for a good and functioning everyday life. The role of municipalities focuses on preventive measures.
The partnership model is based on the objectives of the current welfare plan. Each partnership is founded on identified challenges that the association aims to influence through the partnership. Examples of wellbeing challenges may include:
Resilience
- strengthening mental wellbeing and coping
- managing daily life
- emotional skills
- youth distress
Changing public opinion climate
- attitudes towards diversity, lack of compassion
- negative impacts of social media and digitalisation, e.g. a distorted perception of everyday life, bullying, scams
Physical fitness
- lack of everyday physical activity
Exclusion
- lack of meaningful activities
- loneliness
- promoting the inclusion of disadvantaged groups
Increasing inequality
- segregation
- accumulation of challenges on the same people
- an accessible and barrier-free living environment
Other wellbeing challenges
- can be justified, for example, with local statistical data.
Calls for partnership grants are not automatically held every year. The previous supplementary call was held in December 2024. New application rounds will be announced well in advance. For more information, contact coordinator Mira Pihlaja.
In the application process for partnership grants, the same criteria and scoring are followed as in the Welfare Section’s annual operating grants, taking into account which challenges the partnership addresses. Criteria and scoring (link)
After the application period ends, applications are processed by the Welfare Services partnership working group, which makes a proposal to the City Board’s Welfare Section. The Welfare Section approves the partner associations, the purposes of the activities and the grant amounts for the target year. After the decision, a partnership agreement is signed, which specifies the impact indicators and other details.
Annual development discussions are held with partner associations, based on which the Welfare Services partnership working group makes a proposal to the City Board’s Welfare Section on partnerships to be continued the following year and the possibility of a supplementary call. The Welfare Section decides annually on the partner associations, purposes of activities and grant amounts for the following year.
More information and instructions
Also consult the general principles of grants: the City of Vaasa’s general principles for grants (link: https://www.vaasa.fi/app/uploads/2026/02/Vaasan-kaupungin-avustusten-yleiset-periaatteet.pdf). If necessary, you can ask for more information from the contact person.