Immobility and standing still cost society more than 4.7 billion euros annually.
Last week, the Olympic Committee, Finland Svenska Idrott, Regional Sports Associations and the Sports Federation of Finland published a joint proposal for a performance program as a flagship project for the upcoming government term. The goal of the project is to combat immobility. Annual investments of 200 million euros are needed to implement the program.
CEO of the Olympic Committee Taina Susiluoto hopes that the future government would understand the wide-ranging problems caused by immobility and its effects on various aspects of life. According to him, the situation requires the joint commitment of the entire government.
– No one can solve this alone. The matter should be included as part of the government program as its own entity, and all ministries must be involved in this, Susiluoto states.
Understanding the phenomenon as a whole is especially important when the future government is faced with balancing the economy.
– Immobility is a billion-dollar phenomenon that affects all industries, but no one is responsible for it at the moment. Because of the cuts, it is good to understand how big and significant a social phenomenon this is all about.
In Susiluoto’s opinion, it is necessary that the topic now comes up in the political discussion.
– The future government is in a unique position in that, for the first time, immobility and exercise and sports policy will be discussed from a social and political perspective.
Leadership and responsibility are needed
In Susiluoto’s opinion, the parties have good individual initiatives in their own programs to promote mobility. However, in his opinion, managing the matter requires leadership, taking responsibility and understanding that big things have to be set in motion in order to bring about changes.
– Politicians should be able to look further into the future and dare to make decisions that also have longer-lasting effects.
Immobility has crept into discussions in the same way as climate change.
– Factual information is available and statistics have shown a bleak future. Now is the moment to tackle this issue.
The crises of recent years have shown that the ability to function has an important meaning in everyday life. Susiluoto expects from the coming government that investments will be made in citizens’ well-being and ability to function, because it also has an impact on crisis resilience.
The same measures also apply to the local level
Director of UKK Institute Tommi Vasankari is in the same line with sports organizations in terms of measures. In his opinion, however, it would be necessary to talk about the ability to function instead of immobility, which covers not only the physical aspect, but also the psychological and spiritual dimension.
Vasankari also brought up the sharing of responsibility at the local level, i.e. municipalities and cities and welfare areas.
– Just as we need mobility promotion led by the Government Office, the management teams of municipalities and cities are also needed to coordinate the activities of the municipalities. The same thing also applies to welfare areas, Vasankari points out.
According to Vasankar, strengthening and increasing the ability to function in different age groups is a big goal. However, the work should start immediately so that the problems do not pile up.
– Many things can be fixed in the next four years, but the changes taking place at the population level will probably take a longer time before the strong effects start to be seen. No one’s fitness improves by accident. However, you have to start somewhere.
The requirement level is known, but concreteness is needed
In Vasankar’s opinion, it can be difficult to grasp the phenomenon, because it requires simultaneous and long-term work in different administrative sectors. The requirement level of the phenomenon is identified.
– This requires the same tackling as climate change. Change requires many kinds of measures and it is understandable that it is difficult to find a single solution. It is easy to think that these are too big things to handle.
In Vasankar’s opinion, it is also about a change in Finnish political culture.
– Maybe it would be worth considering if there are any other topics of discussion than these issues that are traditionally discussed in the election.
Operational capacity is crucially related to the sustainability of the national economy. In Vasankar’s opinion, the price tag caused by immobility is too high.
– All of our parties want the percentage of working-age Finns to be raised to almost 80 percent. The ability to function must therefore be at a level where people can handle and be able to work.
In his opinion, the willpower and understanding of the situation is at a better level than in the previous two election periods. However, the effects of the phenomenon on the national economy need to be fleshed out so that it is easier for decision-makers to take action.
After the elections, it should also be possible to offer feasible measures. In Vasankar’s opinion, decision-makers should be offered models that can be linked to other programs.
– Here, on the research and information production side, we can identify the challenges and assess what these issues are about. Next, you should focus on what needs to be done, who needs to do it and when it needs to be done. Whose measures are in the center and who should lead this process.