Vote Verna to Finnish Parliament 2011!

I am Verna Castrén, 21-year-old young politician and a sociology student in the University of Helsinki. I am the Spokesperson for Young Greens in Helsinki in 2010-2012 and a member of the Helsinki Youth Affairs Committee. I started being involved in politics when I was 18, when I participated as a candidate in the 2008 Municipal elections. In spring 2011 I'm a candidate for the Green party in the Finnish Parliamentary elections. You can vote for me in the Electoral district of Helsinki.

I want to run for the Parliament because I think we need to address climate change and other environmental problems more vigorously and bring humanity and compassion back to today's hardening value discussions.

"Let's demand for a more open Finland, active cultural life and free space for people in the city. Let's talk about equality and how to address it, and ask for more far-reaching climate policies. Join my support group! E-mail my campaign manager Sarianna Mankki (sarianna.mankki@helsinki.fi)"

My agenda for a better society:

To me it is important that people are allowed to be different, debate and disagree. You have to be able to be yourself, develop yourself and strive for your own goals that no one else can define. A good society is one that cares about individuals and groups as well as the global world.

I want education in Finland to be truly free for everyone also in the future. Our education system needs a reform that guarantees everyone a place to study after comprehensive school and provides school subjects that are more diverse and modern. In the future, I want us to have a possibility to arrange our work and free time more flexibly. Society also needs to take active measures to encourage entrepreneurship. What is the most important, however, is that everyone is treated equally before the law, at work and at school. People should have the same opportunities and possibilities to live in Finland, regardless of their nationality, race, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.

Getting around should always be easy. People have to have the chance to travel both inside and outside the country's borders. Finland has to be linked to the European train network. Private motoring in the city area needs to be restricted by introducing congestion charges in the Helsinki region and by building more and better bike paths. Green transportation choices should be encouraged with tax reforms and making polluting options more expensive.

Culture is an integral part of city life. By supporting all kinds of cultural phenomena from underground to high culture we can make life more fun and pleasant for everyone. Cutting expenditure on art and culture is a blow against our own historical background. We need to support urban culture by generating non-commercial places for people to meet and by making out parks cleaner and more comfortable.

Addressing climate change has become high politics, and there is an urgent need for much more ambitious policies. Finland has to agree to cut its emissions by 30 % by 2020 together with the other EU-countries, regardless of weather other countries of the world will join the new International Climate Convention. Finland has to pass a climate change law with annual and binding cuts in green house gas emissions. Stopping climate change needs to start right now, or the costs will be much higher in the future. In addition to taking care of our climate, we need to address other pressing environmental issues such as protection of the Baltic Sea and forest conservation.
 
If you want to ask anything, just talk or join my support group, please contact me.
Tel. 040 8257674 E-mail: verna.castren@helsinki.fi