The United Nations has designated 2026 as the International Year of Volunteering to highlight the importance of volunteering for sustainable development.

In Finland, we will celebrate the International Volunteer Day on Thursday, 3 December 2026, with a national celebratory seminar under the theme “Volunteering Brings People Together to Build the Common Good.” The seminar will be held in Finnish.

The event is organised jointly by public sector and civil society organisations. We want to express our sincere gratitude to every volunteer for their contributions over the past year and encourage even more people to get involved in volunteering. At the same time, we wish to highlight the importance of volunteering for sustainable development and foster a better understanding of the future.

We also encourage people to take part in the discussion on a sustainable Finland through the National Dialogues (kansallisetdialogit.fi) taking place this autumn.