Heli Kauppinen 

I am Heli Kauppinen, a Green member of the city council in Mikkeli. I am also a member of the city executive board.

I want to improve the conditions for children & the youth, and for all other groups that have difficulties in defending their own rights. My main themes are education and wellbeing.

In the local decision-making, I want to promote the openness and involvement of all residents in Mikkeli. Therefore, I also want to promote communication in different languages. It is very difficult to use the public services or tell your opinions if you don’t get all the necessary information in a language you can understand. 

Of course, also stopping climate change through local action is a key issue for me. 

Here you can read my answers in English in the Election compass of Yle. 

About me

This is my second term in the Mikkeli City Council. During my first term I was the Vice-Chair of the Municipal Audit Committee*, Vice-Chair of the Greens in the City Council, and member of the South Savo County Council.

 I work as a communication coordinator in the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk). I am responsible for student and alumni communication which means that I work also in English every day. I am also familiar with the life of our international students and I have seen how important it is to build contacts in Mikkeli to pursue a career and feel like home. 

I am a single mother of two teenagers (twins). My hobbies are reading, geocaching, postcrossing, crocheting and singing in a choir. 

I have two master’s degrees. I have graduated as MA. in Organizational Communication from University of Jyväskylä and as MH in NGOs and Youth Work from Xamk. If you wish to read more about my CV in English, you can find it on LinkedIn.

Please feel free to contact me on Facebook – I’ll be glad to hear your ideas and answer your questions. I can speak English, Swedish, Estonian and some German. I’m sure we can find a way to communicate with each other!

The Greens 

The Greens are working on behalf of an equal, safe and fair future. We give a voice to those who would not otherwise be heard – nature, future generations, the vulnerable.

Here you can read more about the goals and themes of the Greens in Finland.

In Mikkeli, the Greens have a group of five members in the City Council at the moment. Here you can see the whole group (the page is in Finnish).

 *It is a local authority committee that conducts preparatory work for the local council on matters concerning audit of the municipality’s administration and finances, and assesses the extent to which the operating and financial targets set by the council have been met.  (Source: https://termipankki.fi/tepa/fi/haku/tarkastuslautakunta)