Touko Aalto

I’m a 28 year-old green politician, currently working as an assistant to MP.  At the moment I’m a member of a county parliament in Keski-Suomi and a member of Jyväskylä city council. I’m also a member of the social and health committee of Jyväskylä.

I have studied political science, East and South-East Asian studies, European integration, development studies  and the French language and culture at THE University of Jyväskylä.

I strongly believe in sustainable development, gender equality, social justice and transparent decision-making, and this is why I’m running  to the city council from the Green list.

My themes in municipal elections 2012 are:

1. All people should have the right to health care.

a) Health centres should not be privatized. Public tax money shouldn’ t be channeled to private healthcare businesses
b) Health care services should be close to people. Jyväskylä could organize at least part of the healthcare services for example by using a so-called healthcare bus. Healthservices could also be organized next to shopping centers.


2. Revitalizing the city economy

a) Jyväskylä has to get the increasing debt under control, before it causes even bigger problems.
b) The municipal tax rate could be increased by 0.5 per cent from the current 19.5 per cent.
c) We need new income sources and this can only be done by supporting small businesses.



3. Reducing the inequality of people

a) Social, health and educational services should be accessible by foot, bicycle or public transport .

b) In particular, cultural and leisure facilities, as well as a low threshold social and health services should be concentrated on those living areas  residential areas, where the demand is higher and the social and economic problems are greater.

c) We have to stop the division between “good” and “bad” living areas. I support the mixing housing policy, which aims to get a great variety of people living on same living areas.  I support the mixing housing policy, which means mixing great variety forms of dwelling into same areas.

4. Combating climate change

All of Finland's climate emissions occur in municipalities. Therefore, the local government actions have actually matter. Most climate change can be influenced by the choice of municipalities for example in energy efficiency, energy saving and choises in transportation.

a) Jyväskylä has to reduce its dependence on peat in energy production and replace it as much as possible by bio and wood-based fuels.

b) We have to do cooperation with Oulu, Lahti and Kuopio to get better and cheaper public transport.

c) We can make Jyväskylä Finland's number one cycling city with a comprehensive and detailed cycling strategy and its implementation. I have made an initiative for this and now it has to be implemented.

c) The more we are able to reduce energy consumption, the greater the savings we get. Savings in costs can be targeted conducted for example to social services, healthcare services and education services.