Inka Hopsu

I’m a 42-year-old member of parliament from Espoo, Finland. In the parliament I was elected to become a permanent member of the Committee of Foreign affairs, Committee of Environment and Finnish Delegation to the Council of Europe. I am also an active city councillor of Espoo, and for the last six years (2013-2019) I was honored to be the chair of the Espoo Green Party. For the period 2018-2019, I acted also for one year as the chair of the Consultation Committee of the Espoo Council, leading the political negotiations, for example, regarding the budget and the programme of investments. On June 2019 I was elected as a chairperson of the city council of Espoo.

During this term (2017-), I am serving as the representative of Espoo and the Green Party in the Uusimaa County Government, and currently working on the new landscape plan, among other things. The County Government is preparing the possible social welfare and healthcare reform. We monitor and steer these preparations in the reform working group as we need to prepare in case the Parliament carries out the decisions of the reform.

I’m one of the two heads of our six-person blended family. Our children are 8, 11, 12 and 14 years of age. There’s never a dull moment, especially now that we have a puppy in the house.

We live in my childhood home in Kaupunginkallio, Espoo. When we moved there, my parents relocated to my house in Laaksolahti. The generational change in living arrangements was time-consuming, but has appeared to work out well.

My educational background is Master of Education and teacher. I’ve worked as a teacher for more than ten years, mainly as a special education teacher or with children with immigrant backgrounds.

Before the parliamentary elections, I worked for Finn Church Aid as the  manager for the Teachers without Borders Finland network and as a representative of the UNESCO Teacher Task Force. Development cooperation and my different international communities are very important to me.

I have acted in several positions both in The Guides and Scouts of Finland and in the international scout movement. One of my international positions was the chairmanship of the Lutheran Scouts. I was able to strengthen dialogue between the different religions in the scout organisations. In addition, I have been a member of the Board of The Guides and Scouts of Finland and the chair of its international working group.

I’ve been able to influence political decision-making in the Board of Kepa (now the Finnish Development NGOs – Fingo). I also participated in the planning of the national strategy for sustainable development, and I’m following with great interest the Agenda 2030 process and the implementation of the new sustainable development goals in Finland and globally.

I served as a member of the Joint Parish Council of Espoo for 12 years to help create a tolerant and accessible church. I decided not to run in the previous church elections, however, as my work with the Greens in council and national politics takes a lot of time.

My leisure time activities include hiking, dancing, sailing, spending time at our summer cottage and enjoying arts and culture together with my family.