The Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council is a joint authority for Helsinki-Uusimaa with 26 member municipalities. We are one of the 18 regional councils in Finland that are mandated in law, receiving our funding mainly from our member municipalities.
Our main operational tasks at the Council are regional and land-use planning, as well as the promotion of local and regional interests. We articulate common regional needs, long term development goals and conditions for sustainable development.
Our main operational tasks at the Council are regional and land-use planning, as well as the promotion of local and regional interests.
To be successful in what we do, we work in close cooperation with member municipalities, the government, the business sector, universities and research institutions, as well as with civic organisations.
International cooperation is increasingly important to us. We focus on the Baltic Sea Region and our most important partners there. Our Council also supports EU programmes and develops various EU projects. For these activities, we have received regional development funds from both the Finnish Government and the European Union. Our Council shares a representative office in Brussels with several cooperation partners.
Our Decision-Making is based on Local Self-Government
Our decision-making processes are based on how the Finnish government operates on a local level.
Our highest decision-making body is the Regional Assembly, consisting of 86 officials who meet two or three times a year. The responsibility for the implementation of the decisions lies with the Regional Board and its 16 officials, meeting every month.
All officials in the Assembly and the Board are politicians elected by the member municipalities for a mandate period of four years, representing the political will of the region according to the local election results.
The political parties in our Assembly during 2025–2029 are The National Coalition Party (23), The Social Democratic Party (21), The Greens (14), The Left Alliance (10), The Swedish People’s Party (7),The Finns Party (5), The Centre Party (4), The Christian Democrats (2).
Presidents of Regional Assembly and Board
Pentti Arajärvi
President of the Assembly
Social Democratic Party, City of Helsinki
E-mail: pentti@arajarvi.fi
Jarno Limnell
President of the Board
National Coalition Party, City of Espoo
Email: jarno.limnell@eduskunta.fi
Contact Us
The Office of the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council is led by Regional Mayor Tuija Telén. Regional Development, Regional Land Use Planning, Helsinki EU Office, Public Affairs and Administration are also represented in our Management Team.
Read more
Helsinki-Uusimaa Region
The Helsinki-Uusimaa Region is at the heart of Northern Europe, on the south coast of Finland and at the Baltic Sea. Although only covering three percent of our national land area, our Region is home to around 1.8 million inhabitants, which is about a third of the country’s total population.
Current
News
6.2.2026
Helsinki-Uusimaa aims to become the happiest, most innovative and environmentally smartest region in Europe
The new regional programme is titled Helsinki-Uusimaa, a Region of Solutions – Pioneer in Finland, Forerunner in Europe. It sets out the region’s vision of becoming the happiest, most innovative and environmentally smartest region in Europe by 2050.
News
8.1.2026
The Helsinki-Uusimaa Cultural Market created over 200 events and thousands of cultural encounters
The Helsinki-Uusimaa Cultural Market project, which is now coming to an end, brought culture to new audiences and created work opportunities for artists. This included supporting cultural purchases by municipalities and launching the popular Cultural Market networking event. All 26 municipalities in the Helsinki-Uusimaa region took part in the project, which was led by the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council.
This page was last updated: 14.1.2026