Tallinn program 2017 (EN)

Your City needs You

We are glad that you have decided to get acquainted with the vision of the Greens of Estonia for Tallinn.
In this programme we brought together at first glance, perhaps unusually daring, but feasible ideas.

Conscious people who, before choosing, familiarize themselves with the positions of the candidates, will give impetus to the creation of a modern and truly human-friendly city. Managing a modern city can be made much more efficient, transparent and more economical by today’s technological capabilities.

City life does not need to be in contrast with the idyllic rural life with distress and noisiness and cause stress. We create a modern, spacious and human-friendly city space in Tallinn, in which it is convenient to live and navigate for all of the inhabitants.

The Greens of Estonia are representatives of various fields who are facing the needs of the entire population of the city, including those whose voice often does not respond sufficiently loudly – the elderly, children, people with low income and people with special needs, as well as animals and plants. We also have responsibility for future generations who have to live in a world that we and ourselves are shaping by our decisions – or by failing to do so.

Living city

Although the city offers different possibilities for residents, and residents of the city generally have a higher standard of living, it often is not expressed in their happiness: the inhabitants of rural and small towns are generally more satisfied with their lives and are more optimistic about the future. We will make Tallinn a human-friendly living environment. It is not possible to plant whole horizons of forrest in between apartment buildings, but we can keep and extend green areas, support the decoration of the yards, keep the city clean, reduce greenhouse gases, fight against noise pollution, and plan the city so that everyone can live here as well as possible.

To do this:

We stop using toxic pesticides on children’s playgrounds and street care
We bring Tallinn to the map of Pesticide Free Towns
We embody the principles of permaculture and create green spaces in Piet Odolf’s seasonal style
We map and plan areas suitable for contemporary urban agriculture
We apply green areas for a new type of recreational and social use, such as communes and rent gardens
We will develop the city’s food independence by creating new jobs at urban and sub-urban smallfarms
When cultivating local food, we use vertical agriculture and aeroponics techniques
We set up a comfortable community garden with a recreation area behind the superministry and the overpass through Tuvi park
We value green areas by mapping and protecting old trees
We support the renovation of the Linnahall as a conference center
We support the decoration of yards
We are launching the Patarei Creative Center Project
During the Christmas season, we only decorate living trees

The Future is Renewable

Energy production must be as close as possible to consumption in order to reduce transmission costs and dependence on oil shale energy. Solar panels, cogeneration plants and smart energy storage devices will be supported by the city in terms of consultation and project management. By planning the future, we proceed from long-term goals rather than quick profits.

To do this:

We map the production potential of renewable energy for residential and commercial buildings throughout the city and share it with the residents so that they can make forward-looking decisions.
We support the use of solar panels.
We will switch all public authorities and public buildings to 100% renewable energy.
We allow loading of electric cars from street lighting and shopping centers and Park&Ride car parks
We arrange a competition for the European Green Capital Metropolitan Project Leader to meet the Green City Principles and Best Practices

Mobility as a Service

By designing Tallinn’s transport network, the keywords of the Estonian Greens are comfort, security, reduction of environmental damage and noise pollution and improvement of human health.

To do this:

We make the whole city comfortable for both pedestrian and wheelchair riders.
We will create a secure transitnetwork connecting pedestrians and cyclists across the city and between districts, we take into account the advanced bicycle strategy (2017).
We ensure that safe and comfortable bicycle storage facilities and parking spaces are found throughout the city.
We extend bicycle rental points in order to make the lending system more comfortable.
We are developing a car-sharing service as a real alternative to owning a car.
We are restoring night traffic – we extend some of the public transport’s driving times on weekends so that different districts can be connected at night too.
We are losing serious traffic accidents in Tallinn on the basis of the Vision Zero.
We extend the tram network to connect Tallinn with neighboring areas such as Viimsi, Maardu and Rae. This will significantly reduce traffic congestion, noise pollution and air pollution.
We arrange public transport routes so that the trajectories of the routes are as comfortable and reasonable as possible and also cover places that are currently difficult to access.
We will expand the possibilities of Pargi & Reis system for convenience in cooperation with shopping centers located at the city border.
We bring environmentally friendly public transport to the city streets.
We make parking discounts for cars with tires w/o spikes.
We build secure and comfortable parking garages with sufficient loading stations for cars and other motorists, including delivery robots.
We create strategies for achieving gasoline and diesel engines free city.

Dare to be a citizen! Dare to be local!

Greens trust the local community. By giving more opportunities for urban residents to speak in local matters, leverage civil society and turn our back on the policy of alienation. We believe that the activation of the citizens is a key factor in improving local life. Just a courageous and enterprising person is one who can think beyond the usual policies and offer exciting, innovative and smart ideas. That is why we want to complement representative democracy with the mechanisms of participatory and direct democracy.

To do this:

We create a public initiative system for Tallinn and a platform for this.
We apply the principle that the people approve or reject the budget drawn up by the municipality.
Let’s give the Tallinn people the opportunity to initiate a binding referendum on local politics.

How to lead? Without corruption!

There is no need to accept corruption, this is not inevitable – and no, ALL parties are not corrupt. The members of the Greens have volunteered they’re time and energy without pay, always staying ethical and determined. We have proven that we put the interests of the public over our personal and party’s interests. We are non-tolerant of all forms of corruption and we will stay true to that principle in the future.

To do this:

We make the city’s transactions completely transparent.
We make Tallinn Television a high-quality, informative local contemporary channel and we will ask the participation of the local young people.
Let’s look at all of the city’s contracts and end the ones that are too expensive and of conflicting interests.

The capital of the e-state, the cloud of Tallinn!

The city’s day-to-day business needs to be fast, comfortable, non-bureaucratic and fully transparent.

To achieve these goals:

We will update our digital solutions for managing Tallinn
We will make the work of city officials digitally traceable. So you can see at any time what phase of your application your city is currently in.
The speed and transparency of decision-making is rising, corruption is reduced and information exchange is simplified.
We will reduce the number of city officials. By adopting smarter ICT solutions, any duplication and “generating” of work will disappear, increasing overall work efficiency.
We improve the possibilities of long-distance work of city officials so that people can work at home, in a café or on a painting, if they wish.

Caring education and smart science

Educational institutions can not be oriented only towards achieving good academic achievement. The purpose of kindergardens and schools is to support children in such a way as to develop themselves, people who care about others and the environment. In this regard, an educational institution must have a pleasant and playful environment where the child feels safe and secure.

Research institutions are our key partners in the development of the city. Close cooperation with local universities brings the latest knowledge and solutions to our everyday lives.

To do this:

We bring organic food to schools and kindergardens
In addition to Estonian-Russian study, we apply immersion methods for teaching other foreign languages.
To make language learning more effective than before, we want to implement immersion programs already in kindergardens.
We increase the salary of the assistants – the current salary does not correspond to the value and responsibility of their work.
We will create more outreach opportunities.
We create vegetable gardens for kindergardens and schools.
We create secure bicycle parks for schools.
We bring the kindergarden and a school nearer to home.
We improve the possibilities for children to participate in sports and interests circles.
With the University of Tallinn, private schools and civil society organizations, we will create a Joint Education Innovation Center that will provide teachers, school leaders and school communities with opportunities to share, learn and apply at school in the most up-to-date practices, school arrangements, etc.
We see private schools enriching partners in Tallinn’s educational landscape. Most of the private schools are based on the desire of parents to provide their children with a world-class and pedagogically appropriate learning environment, on a civic initiative. Therefore, we also pay for operating grants to private schools.
We support universities and research institutions in developing renewable energy and other wasteful technologies.
We set up an expert group for universities and research institutes with whom we are developing economically viable green energy transition strategies.
We develop a well-designed application that will teach new fans of Estonia our official language.

Youth full of opportunities

A lack of experience can make it difficult for young people to enter and stay in the labor market. All young people must have the opportunity to gain experience, to supplement themselves and receive professional counseling. We want young people to be able to plan their careers and they wouldn’t be uncertain about their abilities and skills.

To do this:

We support cooperation between educational institutions, businesses and youth work institutions in order to ensure the knowledge and skills necessary for entry into the labor market for young people.
We guarantee career counseling for all young people.
We encourage working in the summer and extend the possibilities of working practice.
We will fund our youth initiatives more extensively.
We guarantee each young person the opportunity to receive free professional psychological counseling

Equal opportunities for people with special needs

In addition to financial support, there are many other things that the local government can do to help people with special needs. We believe that the goal to be pursued collectively is to integrate people with special needs into society. In particular, it must create favorable conditions for physical accessibility throughout the city. At the same time, we need more people to help people with special needs and we must also raise awareness of the rest of society.

To do this:

We improve the availability of experienced advisers, social workers and psychologists.
We will motivate young specialists to work with children with special needs as well as adults.
We encourage parents of children with special needs to bring children to ordinary kindergartens and schools, and just to ordinary classes.
We make schools and kindergartens physically accessible.
We enable rehabilitation services in kindergartens and schools.
We apply teaching materials to meet specific needs.
We guarantee the possibility of continuing education even after completing basic school.
We create a comprehensive volunteer-based support system, involving, among other things, schoolchildren and the unemployed. This way we can help people with special needs to help them in their everyday activities such as shopping, transport, cleaning, etc.
We are improving the employment opportunities of people with special needs.
We combine information systems to save people time and avoid duplication of activities.
We will increase the funding of the necessary services.
We organize a convenient and secure transportation service.

Citizens’ Salary Pilot Program – Local Salary!

Citizenship or the unconditional basic income is an idea that has gained popularity in recent years around the world, and the main speakers of which is, in addition to economists, senior managers and specialists, the technology sector. Citizens’ salary means an unconditional monthly payment to all citizens, which in any case guarantees a person a “safety net” through which it is not possible to fall. A prerequisite for the introduction of a citizen’s salary is the elimination of a large part of the old social benefits and the radical reduction of the resulting bureaucracy. As with Finland and the Netherlands, the Greens of Estonia want a pilot program for citizens’ salaries in Tallinn.

The Citizen’s Wage Pilot Program covers 1,000 people whose registered place of residence is Tallinn.
Participants will be selected by lottery.
The civil welfare fee is 400 EUR per month; it is tax-free income.
The duration of the pilot program is 4 Years, or until the next local council elections.
The pilot program seeks to explore the impact of citizen’s wages on its recipients and society in general.

Dignified life for animals

Animals are able to feel pain and emotions and should not be subjected to ill treatment due to a person’s fun, greed or neglect.

To protect the rights of animals:

We prohibit animal circuses in Tallinn.
We will assure that the city of Tallinn fully complies with the Animal Protection Act, and will not use the lack of money as an excuse to not fulfill its obligations.
We provide funding for shelters so that animals can live there, not die.
We give volunteers the opportunity to take care of animals professionally and with decent tools.
We improve the financing of the Zoo in Tallinn in order to ensure maximum animal welfare and the changing of the zoo to a modern, well-functioning educational institution.

Human and environmentally friendly economy

One of the priorities of a sustainable city is the modern waste management and the growth of recycling of materials. We simplify the lives of people in keeping the city clean.

To do this:

We place waste collection points at a walking distance away from home.
We encourage local waste management.
We will ensure that disposal of sorted garbage will be cheaper for both residents and businesses.
We promote packaging-free trading in city shopping centers.
We make big events and concerts environmentally friendly and we ban the use of disposable plastics at big events.
We make picking up after dogs easier and place collection boxes in places where dog owners need them.
We build public water fountains across the city to reduce the negative environmental impact of bottled water.

Candidates who are supporting the program are listed here: Green Candidates. Give them Your vote and nature will win!

The Estonian Greens Program for Tallinn is open to good proposals. When something comes to mind wrong, write info@erakond.ee and we will reply as soon as possible.