As part of their official duties, the Director of Educational Services Tuija Willberg and City Secretary Juha Willberg have been involved in the preparation of the climate programme for the municipalities of South Karelia. Moreover, they both participated in the preparations before Lappeenranta joined the HINKU network of Finnish carbon neutral municipalities and the FISU network for resource-wise cities.
The first step in climate change mitigation in Lappeenranta was a huge long leap taken in district heat production in 2010: That was when the Mertaniemi natural gas power station was replaced with the Kaukas biopower plant, which runs on wood-based fuels. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions from district heating were more than halved in just a few years.
442 city residents responded to an online travel survey concerning modes of transport carried out by the city of Lappeenranta in May 2014. Â 85% of the respondents were working age, between 26 and 62. Based on the survey results, half of max 20-km trips that are made in Lappeenranta are done either on foot or by bike. The percentage share of cycling is exceptionally high and the percentage share of trips made by car relatively low compared to other cities of the same size.
The use of local public transport in Lappeenranta increased by 14.9 per cent in June and by 15.2 per cent in July. The number of trips made during each month exceeded the corresponding number for the previous year by more than 8,300 trips. The upward trend began in May, when the overall use of local public transport increased by 4.5 per cent.
Lappeenranta region’s cycling routes were acknowledged in the survey of Finland’s most beautiful cycling routes, conducted by Yle News in June. From among approximately 30 responses, Yle News listed the route known as the 'Round trip to Vehkataipale pumping station', which starts and ends in Lappeenranta, among the five most beautiful cycling routes in Finland.
The city of Lappeenranta has launched a goal-oriented programme for promoting cycling. The key goal of the programme is to develop a uniform, high-quality network of cycle paths inside the city’s area. The programme seeks to increase bike use in commuting to work and also make cycling a preferred mode of transport during leisure time. The vision is that Lappeenranta will be the Cycling City of the Year in 2015.
From the beginning of May, riding the bus in the Lappeenranta urban area will be less expensive and more flexible. The price of a single ticket will be reduced to € 3.00 for adults and € 1.50 for children. Single tickets and multi-tickets include the right to transfer to another bus within one hour from the start of the trip. Both students and older people are granted discounts for the multi-tickets.
The city of Lappeenranta will join the HINKU network of carbon neutral Finnish municipalities. The City Council made the decision to join the network on 31 March 2014. Joining the network is also a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Lappeenranta region by 80% from the 2007 level by 2030.Â
Lappeenranta was one of the 14 best cities in the international WWF Earth Hour City Challenge, participating as the only city from Finland. In all, more than 160 cities from 14 countries participated in the challenge, which rated measures taken to address climate change, in areas such as energy production and transport.
Lappeenranta has been nationally recognised as a developer of cycling. The 'Suomi Pyöräilee' (Finland cycles) working committee granted the Cycling City of the Year 2015 award to Lappeenranta at the GoExpo Bicycle Fair in Helsinki on the 6th of March.
The award criteria included the goal-oriented development of the network of main cycling routes between the city’s districts and the way active cyclists have been consulted in the improvement of cycling conditions over the years.