This year, Porvoo’s participatory budgeting focuses on the youth living in the city. Everyone was able to submit ideas, but young people in particular took an active role in the ideation process in schools and in specially organized workshops. Voting begins on 13 April.
The event calendar on the City of Porvoo’s website will soon be migrated to a new technical platform. Last year the event pages attracted over half a million visits and are among the most popular content on the website. The goal now is to provide a clearer and more user-friendly service for both city residents and event organisers.
The 2026 round of participatory budgeting is starting again. Participatory budgeting has been carried out in Porvoo three times, and in previous years the target group has included all residents of Porvoo. This year, the target group is young people living in Porvoo.
As part of the Gammelbacka community project, Porvoo Youth Services launches a new form of participation in which a citizens’ assembly will be experimented. The assembly’s task is to make recommendations for the development of Gammelbacka and to highlight residents’ views on the future of the area.
In August 2026, a pilot for bilingual English-Finnish education will be launched at Peipon koulu in Gammelbacka, Porvoo. The pilot will start with a group in the first grade. An info event will be held for interested guardians on 19.11.2025.
The support for learning in pre-primary, basic and general upper secondary education will be renewed throughout the country from 1 August 2025. The aim of the major reform is to support students at an early stage, in their own teaching group and primarily group-specifically.
A private daycare centre with a single group has decided to close following a water damage incident over the weekend.
Porvoo City Cultural Services is seeking residency artists to stay at the Art Factory residency. The residency periods or 1–3 months open for application are granted for the period 19.1.2026–10.1.2027. The residency includes a working space and an apartment. Rent is 400 euros per month.
Integration Services in Porvoo work closely with Porvoo Adult Education Centre and other actors.
Porvoo has long had the status of the foremost Christmas City of Southern Finland. The city has been the official goodwill city of Santa Claus since 2019 and even has its own Christmas elf, Fredrik Flodbåt.