Aloitteessa pyritään tunnistamaan ne tekijät jotka mahdollistavat tulevaisuudessa ihmisten rakentamisen, asumisen ja tulevaisuuden rakentamisten pienemmille paikkakunnille, maaseudulle, harvaa asutuille alueilla ja saaristoon. Ja miten nämä tekijät tulisi huomioida EU-politiikassa ja rahoituksessa.
Taustalla on EU:ssa koettu vahva keskittäminen ja muutoliike monelta alueelta. Komission haluaa nyt kerätä konkreettisia kokemuksia ja näkemyksiä siitä mitkä tekijät mahdollistavat tai vaikeuttavat elämää kasvukeskuksien ulkopuolella.
FÖSS jätti seuraavan kommentin Have your say alustalle.
FÖSS / Finlands Öar – Suomen saaret ry
Comment to the European Commission consultation on the “Right to Stay” Strategy
People want to stay — but current systems often make it difficult.
In many Finnish island and archipelago communities, the problem is not lack of attractiveness, quality of life or attachment to place. The challenge is that the structures surrounding housing, services, mobility and development often work against permanent living.
Our work with island communities shows a clear pattern: island areas are often far more vibrant than official statistics suggest, but also more vulnerable than many policymakers understand.
Many island areas already have a large population of part-time residents with strong emotional, cultural and family ties to the community. Many could imagine living permanently in these areas. The potential for renewal already exists locally.
However, young families and permanent residents increasingly compete for the same housing stock as wealthier second-home buyers. Housing prices rise beyond local income levels, while obtaining mortgages or financing in sparsely populated and island areas is often more difficult. Rental housing is limited, planning processes are slow, and uncertainty around future services discourages long-term settlement.
In many island communities, policies and market mechanisms often favor seasonal use over permanent settlement. While second-home owners, visitors and tourism bring important benefits, the long-term viability of communities ultimately depends on year-round residents who maintain local services, schools, associations, businesses and emergency preparedness.
At the same time, one school, ferry route, digital connection or healthcare point can determine whether year-round life remains possible in a small island community. Everyday life in island areas depends on functioning connections, accessibility and predictability.
The key issue is therefore not whether people value island life. They do. The issue is whether current systems allow people to build sustainable futures there.
This is particularly important in countries like Finland, where island and water-connected communities are geographically dispersed and often statistically invisible inside larger regional averages. Many European and national frameworks continue to approach territorial development mainly from a mainland perspective.
Official population figures alone also fail to describe the reality of island communities. In many areas, part-time residents, seasonal workers and visitors multiply the actual population and create significant demands on infrastructure, transport systems, waste management and local services. Current statistical models often fail to capture this reality.
Island communities also contribute significantly to resilience, preparedness and social cohesion. Local knowledge, volunteerism, distributed infrastructure and strong community networks strengthen long-term societal resilience and security.
The ability to remain in island communities is also linked to the possibility of using, managing and deriving a livelihood from local land and water areas.
Many island communities have been shaped by generations of small-scale farming, fisheries, forestry, hunting and other nature-based livelihoods. These activities contribute not only to local economies, but also to cultural landscapes, biodiversity, food security and community resilience.
Environmental protection and biodiversity conservation are important objectives that enjoy broad support in island communities. However, conservation policies should be developed in dialogue with local communities and consider their cumulative impacts on permanent living, livelihoods and local development. Long-term conservation outcomes are often strongest when local communities, landowners and resource users are recognized as active partners in stewardship and sustainable management.
The “Right to Stay” should therefore include the possibility for local people to continue living, working and managing their land and waters in a sustainable way.
We encourage the European Commission to ensure that the “Right to Stay” Strategy recognizes the realities of island, rural and peripheral communities and the very different conditions they face across Europe. Children and young people should also have a genuine opportunity to remain living at home while accessing education and other essential services. In many island and rural areas, the challenge is not necessarily distance itself, but how transport, school connections and public services are organised. A child should not be forced to leave their home community simply because suitable transport solutions are lacking. The Right to Stay should therefore include equal access to education and everyday mobility regardless of geographical location, allowing young people and families to build their future in island and rural communities.
The strategy should support place-based approaches that allow Member States, regions and local communities to develop solutions adapted to their own geographical and social realities.
It is especially important that future European policies and funding frameworks better recognize:
- the challenges of maintaining permanent living in areas with seasonal population fluctuations
- the importance of accessible housing, services, transport and digital connections for everyday life
- the role of local communities in strengthening resilience, security and social cohesion
- the need for flexible approaches in geographically fragmented and water-connected regions
- the limitations of current statistical models in describing the real use and population dynamics of island and rural areas
At the same time, island communities contribute significantly to territorial cohesion, resilience, cultural diversity and local sustainability across Europe. They maintain local knowledge, social networks, services and infrastructure that are essential for long-term resilience and preparedness. Strengthening the conditions for permanent island living should therefore be understood not only as a regional policy objective, but also as part of Europe’s broader social, economic and territorial resilience.
The future of Europe cannot be built only around growing metropolitan centres. Smaller communities, islands and rural regions are also part of Europe’s resilience, culture, sustainability and security.
The “Right to Stay” should not only mean the right to remain where you already live. It should also mean the real possibility to build a future in island and rural communities without being structurally disadvantaged because of geography.
