SEPARATE SHOWER AND CHANGING CABINS IN THE SWIMMING AND SPORTS HALLS

Proposal

The absence of a separate shower cabin and changing room was not considered a problem in Finland until recently. Because Finland started immigration later than other European countries. In the early 1990s, the number of refugees and immigrants has increased and also Finnish society commenced to interest the new refugee and immigrant communities after their number became visible with new arrivals.

According to statistics, another fact is that groups coming from outside Finland generally prefer Uusimaa and especially Helsinki. For this reason, Helsinki municipality needs to make some changes in order to better integrate these minority groups into Finnish society. Considering that sports is a culture in Finland, it is necessary to change the swimming and sports centers owned by the municipality in order to encourage immigrant and refugee groups to swim and do sports, especially for women and children who came from more conservative traditions. When a workshop was held on this subject, it was stated that especially the children do not want to go to halls because there is no separate shower and changing cabin.

The purpose of this proposal is not to eliminate a value belonging to the Finnish culture, but to diversify it with small arrangements to be made. In some halls, this problem will be solved by using only one shower curtain. Although the first purpose of this proposal is swimming halls, it is aimed to make changes in other sports halls if the budget is sufficient.

Swimming halls run by the City of Helsinki:
Jakomäki swimming hall
Pirkkola swimming hall
Yrjönkatu swimming hall

Sports halls run by the City of Helsinki:
Herttoniemenranta sports hall
Kamppi sports centre
Katajanokka sports hall
Latokartano sports hall
Maunula sports hall
Töölö sports hall
Puistola sports hall

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