The Role of Cities in Fostering Climate Citizenship: Examining Public Participation in Eighteen Cities in Finland

Achieving climate goals and fostering democracy require active participation of citizens in cities. Citizens must be engaged not only in practical climate actions but also in planning and decision-making processes related to climate measures. To capture both of these aspects of public participation, we use the concepts of climate citizenship and environmental citizenship to understand how local government officials enable citizen agency in climate matters. Empirically, we focus on Finland, a country with ambitious climate targets and increased efforts from cities; however, the cities face challenges in mobilising citizens. More specifically, we explore how citizens are engaged in climate action and decision-making in Finnish cities, how these practices align with the legal requirements and how the citizens’ roles relate to environmental citizenship. We conducted semi-structured interviews with local government officials from eighteen Finnish cities and employed qualitative content analysis to discover the ways of public participation and the types of environmental citizenship produced. Cities differ in their approaches to public participation, their understanding of environmental citizenship, and their view of participation as a legal right. Legislation reflects citizenship emphasising rights, individualism and formal participation, and it does not guide all modes or shapes of citizenship and agency. Cities mainly offer opportunities for citizens to reduce emissions. Engagement in decision-making heavily relies on consultative approaches. Cities’ capacity to foster active climate citizenship and agency is limited. Cities should critically examine their engagement methods and move beyond the narrow roles assigned to citizens. Broadening the understanding of citizenship could enhance the effectiveness of climate policy and strengthen democracy.