An initiative submitted to the City of Lahti was passed. Zaporoženpuisto will become Zaporižžjan Park.
The City of Lahti is transforming the Zaporoženpuisto near the Paavola campus into Zaporižžjan Park.
In September, the city received an initiative calling for the name of the park to be changed to its Ukrainian spelling.
Zaporizhia in Ukraine is a twin city of Lahti. In Paavola, along Church Street, there is a park divided into six sections and named after Lahti’s twin towns.
The name change of the park will be implemented when the decision has gained legal force.
Zaporizhia and Lahti have been twin cities since 1953. Kirkkopuisto and part of Kirkkokatu were changed to Akureyri, Randers, Ålesund, Västerås, Pécs and Zaporozhe parks in the late 1970s, according to Lahti’s twin cities.
Lahti city administration has been actively in contact with the city of Zaporizhia since the Russian invasion. The goal is to get up-to-date information about the situation and needs, and to plan longer-term cooperation, for example in reconstruction.