|
Kirsti Partanen, Bodil Mickels, Tuula Haatainen, Marcus Rantala
Kirsti Partanen, Bodil Mickels, Maria Laakso, Hannu Tolonen, Saila Machere, Päivi Tamminen, Kirsi Erofejeff-Engman
|
Press release, November 2nd 2009
Read more: www.helsinkibidwg2015.com
Application for the 15th World Gymnaestrada Helsinki 2015 was realised through a novel partnership approach. The Finnish Gymnastics Federation Svoli has applied for the right to organise the World Gymnaestrada 2015, the international general gymnastics event, in Helsinki. The Gymnastics Federation is applying for the event together with the City of Helsinki and the Ministry of Education. The city that will host the event will be decided in the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique FIG’s Council meeting during May 13th – 14th, 2010. In addition to Finland, the gymnastic federations of Spain (Las Palomas, Gran Canaria), Norway (Lilleström) and Sweden (Gothenburg) have applied for hosting the event. Novel Partnership Together with the City and the State The Gymnastics Federation, the City of Helsinki and the Ministry of Education are building a novel partnership together. The cooperation started already during the application phase for the event. All parties emphasise the value of good cooperation, which is considered a prerequisite for a successful application process and the event itself. “The Gymnaestrada superbly meets the government’s agenda to actively pursue obtaining major events to Finland,” notes Marcus Rantala, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education is building an active partnership together with the City of Helsinki already during the application phase. The cooperation will continue with the preparation work for organising the event after the final decision on the event location is made in May. “From the perspective of the City of Helsinki, the general gymnastics event is an interesting addition to major professional sports events,” describes Tuula Haatainen, Deputy Mayor for the City of Helsinki. The city considers it important that the Gymnastics Federation has been building the partnerships already during the application process. ”I am looking forward to the final decision on the location and I hope that the decision is to have the 2015 event in Helsinki,” concludes Haatainen. The cooperation with the Gymnastics Federation, the City of Helsinki and the Ministry of Education was started already almost two years ago, at the time when the Gymnastics Federation was investigating the possibility of hosting the event. Starting the cooperation that early enabled a true partnership with the Ministry of Education from an early phase. Representatives from the Ministry of Education and the City of Helsinki were also included in the application committee. This is the first time the Gymnastics Federation applies for hosting the world’s largest gymnastics event in Finland. “Hosting the Gymnaestrada would be a dream come true for us. We have more than a century of experience in gymnastics events, we have always participated in the Gymnaestradas with large delegations, and now we want to show our hospitality in return. Having the Gymnaestrada in Helsinki would be an amazing opportunity to the Finnish gymnastics,” emphasises Kirsti Partanen, the President of the Gymnastics Federation Svoli. ”The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique FIG Council has 44 members from 36 different countries. They represent the finest in gymnastics and the different varieties of gymnastics, and are not oriented strictly in general gymnastics as such. I am sure that the race for hosting the event will be tough and it is impossible to speculate on the outcome. We have strong faith in our own application! We stand out from the competition with, for example, our new methods, our creativity and our personal touch,” states Bodil Mickels, the Chair of the Gymnaestrada Bidding Committee.
|
