Sister Cities: Lahti — a small city with world-class ambition

Lahti at a glance

Lahti is a city of 120,000 residents and a centre for a region of 200,000 people. City, founded in 1905, is Finland’s 9th largest city, covering 517 km² and serving as a regional hub for surrounding hromadas and just 100 km from Helsinki. It has the best of both worlds: the attractiveness, intimate cosiness and originality of a small town, yet the services, efficiency and logistics of a major city.

Residents appreciate their city’s wide range of amenities, convenience, and proximity to the great outdoors. Lahti is the most interesting center of industrial design in Finland offering a meeting place for companies, products, designers as well as training and education in design. Thanks to the close cooperation between industry and education the local companies are renowned for their skills in industrial design.

Top 10 facts about Lahti

• The Finnish city will host the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship for a record eighth time in 2029.
• For its green solutions, Lahti was recognized as the European Green Capital 2021.
• Salpausselkä ridges can be seen from space.
• In 2022, Salpausselkä Geopark in Finland was designated as a UNESCO Global Geopark.
• According to CNN Travel, Lahti was listed as one of the best destinations to visit in 2022.
• Lahti will be nature-positive by 2030.
• Lahti competes to be European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025.
• Lahti is one of the EU Mission’s 100 climate-neutral and smart cities.
• Sibelius Hall is rated as one of the best concert venues in the world and is home to the world-famous Lahti Symphony Orchestra.
• In December 2022, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dalia Stasevska—a Finnish conductor of Ukrainian origin—performed a charity concert in support of Ukraine and Zaporizhzhia.

Green Capital

Lahti is one of Europe’s pioneers of sustainable development. The city earned the honour of being named the European Green Capital in 2021. It is also a proud participant in the EU Cities Mission, joining the ranks of a hundred European climate-neutral and smart urban centers. Its ambition is to become the first major Finnish municipality to achieve full climate neutrality.

Visit Lahti, which is the tourism and regional development organization, hosts professional visits to present the city’s leading green solutions and sports innovations, offering a hands-on look at its sustainable development in action.

Looking ahead to 2030, the municipality envisions “enduring change” as a guiding principle. As Finland’s frontrunner in green innovation, it aims to foster well-being for residents and success for local businesses. The strategy outlines bold commitments—ranging from carbon neutrality to achieving nature positivity by 2030. At the same time, plans are in place to increase the higher education student population to 10,000.

In 2022, CNN Travel named the city one of the world’s top travel destinations for its unique blend of nature, design, and sustainability. As a leading tourism hub, Lahti offers innovative, accessible, and eco-friendly visitor experiences—and was even a contender for the title of EU Capital of Smart Tourism 2025.

City Hall

Paradise for sports enthusiasts

Lahti is known as a sports city, with over 200 annual sports and exercise events in the region. Lahti Ski Games has been taking place for a century, and 2025 sees Lahti hosting the Spartan European Championship, along with several other international sporting competitions

For residents, the city presents itself with a diverse range of sports facilities, and there are over 100 sports clubs in the area. From ski trails and public gyms to swimming halls and outdoor fitness parks, the infrastructure supports an active lifestyle year-round.

The city collaborates with the Pajulahti Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, offering opportunities for both grassroots development and high-performance training. Whether it’s winter sports, endurance events, or team athletics, Lahti provides an environment where sport is accessible, inclusive, and part of daily life.

Lahti 120

The year 2025 is a landmark moment for Lahti, celebrating 120 years since its founding and the 75th anniversary of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra—an important occasion that highlights the city’s rich legacy.

Lahti is a leading example of a city that has successfully transitioned from an industrial past to a sustainable, people-centered future. By moving away from heavy industry, it has embraced green innovation, earning the title of European Green Capital in 2021 and committing to becoming nature-positive by 2030.

These prominent achievements are driven by the city’s strategic vision, strong environmental education among residents, smart urban planning, and sustained investment in culture and tourism.

Lahti — Zaporizhzhia: Shared journey

The partnership between Zaporizhzhia and Lahti dates back to 1953, making Lahti our oldest twin city.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the authorities of Lahti and the Päijät-Häme region quickly launched a support campaign for Ukrainian citizens seeking refuge. In March 2022, the city of Lahti donated €65,000 to the Ukrainian government to aid its humanitarian response to the war. Additionally, Lahti suspended its cooperation with Russian cities.

At the same time, direct communication between the city councils of Lahti and Zaporizhzhia resumed, leading to active cultural and humanitarian cooperation between the sister cities. The first joint video conference was held in September. That same autumn, Lahti renamed a local park using the Ukrainian pronunciation—Zaporižžyanpuisto (Zaporizhzhia Park), replacing the previous name, Zaporoženpuisto. In December 2022, a charity symphony concert took place at the Sibelius Concert Hall, conducted by the world-renowned Dalia Stasevska. The event raised funds to support Ukrainian children and refugees.

In February 2023, a thematic photo exhibition titled War in Our Home: Zaporizhzhia was held, organized jointly by Ukrainian and Finnish partners. The initiative came from the charitable organization Humanitarian Information Center. The exhibition opening featured panel discussions with representatives from civil society, business, and local governments of sister cities.

In July 2023, a cooperation and solidarity project was launched: with support from the city of Lahti, a group of children from Zaporizhzhia visited the Pajulahti sports center for the first time. The initiative, aimed at vulnerable youth, received very positive feedback. Since then, such trips have been held every summer.

During an official visit by the Zaporizhzhia delegation to Finland in September 2023, leaders of the two cities signed a two-year Action Plan for Cooperation.

In November 2024, the Zaporizhzhia region signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Finnish region of Päijät-Häme, which includes Lahti. This document outlined key areas of cooperation: industrial development, urban mobility, environmental protection, culture, youth policy, and education.

Support from the Päijät-Häme regional authorities has enabled the sister cities to expand their cooperation and continue the summer program for children and youth. A new area of focus is direct cooperation between schools and universities, including academic exchanges, joint projects, and experience-sharing on inclusive education.

Throughout 2025, the cities are updating their Action Plan for Cooperation. Current priorities include youth programs, partnerships in educational, green development, and environmental transformation.

In February 2025, as part of the Ukrainian Bookshelf project under the patronage of Olena Zelenska, the Lahti library received a collection of modern Ukrainian books.

In June 2025, memorial plaques were installed in Lahti’s parks to commemorate the city’s friendly relations around the world. Among them is a plaque dedicated to Zaporizhzhia.

Publications and videos (click to show more)

City of Lahti: Summer Camps Bring Joy to Ukrainian Children from Zaporizhzhia (2025)

Zaporizhzhia City Council: Delegation from Zaporizhia visited the Finnish sister city of Lahti (2023)

City of Lahti: A group of Ukrainian children at a summer camp in Pajulahti and on a visit to Lahti (2023)

Municipal TV MTM: Zaporizhia and Lahti celebrate 70 years of cooperation (2023)

Touch Radio: Cooperation of sister cities, Lahti and Zaporizhzhia (2023)

Yle: Zaporizhzhia administration visited Lahti (2023)

City of Lahti: Proceeds from the Lahti Symphony concert will support children in Ukraine and the reconstruction of schools (2022)

Sources of information and photos: lahti.fi, visitlahti.fi