Grant for Municipal- and Organisation-Helmi programme

This grant can not be applied for in English. You will be prompted to choose a different language.

The next call for Grant for Municipal- and Organisation-Helmi programme opens in January 2024. The call is open from 2.1.-31.1.2024. Projects must be completed by 31.10.2025 at the latest.

Submit your application online (Grant application for an environment education project). In consortia, the application is made by the lead applicant in charge of the project.

Fill out the application carefully. An incomplete application prolongs the case.

Prepare and attach the required annexes to the application:

• Project plan, ie an explanation of the project background, how the measures will be implemented, schedule, objectives, significance and sustainability.
• Project cost estimate, financing plan and cost breakdown.
• Permits and consents required for the project, such as landowner and water area owner and holder consents.
• A map of the measures (if possible, in spatial data format) and an excerpt from the current formula and a description of the zoning situation.
• Possible association register extract.
• In the case of consortia, cooperation agreements with the other participants in the project.

If the Uusimaa ELY Center requests to supplement the application, submit the requested additions by the set deadline or negotiate an additional time with the authority.

The Uusimaa ELY Center makes a decision on the matter, which is submitted to the e-service.

Applying for payment

Apply for payment from the KEHA Centre in the e-service in accordance with the decision.

Log in to the e‑services using your personal banking ID, mobile certificate or certificate card.

Fill in the application carefully under the Payments tab and attach the necessary attachments.

The grant is discretionary, and the amount and scope of funding are defined in the application announcements. Application announcements are published on the ELY centres’ website. Information on groundwater area protection plans is available on the environmental administration’s website.

The grant is available for municipal authorities, organisations, foundations and water cooperatives. Projects must focus on the valuable habitats of the themes under the Helmi Programme. Costs may be incurred during the implementation of the project only after the ELY Center has made a state grant decision for the project. The award of the grant is based on an overall assessment and assessment of the expected effectiveness of the projects in improving the state of biodiversity.

If the projects are aimed at private countries, the application must take into account the state aid regulations and confirm the landowner's consent to the project in writing. ELY does not award grants to projects that directly generate financial benefits.

Eligible costs are the acquisition costs directly related to the implementation of the project and the costs of staff employed for the project.

Grants may also be awarded for other costs, such as communication and information management costs related to the project, structures for the protection of significant natural assets, training or VAT costs, should VAT remain definitively payable by the beneficiary.

Unpaid work cannot be included in the eligible costs. A significant amount of unpaid work in the implementation of the project may justify a higher grant percentage. In this case, the unpaid work performed must be kept in the hourly records and attached to the payment application in accordance with the instructions of the decision.

The grant does not support the rehabilitation or creation of constructed stormwater wetlands, nor semi-natural grasslands established or to be established in such a way that their vegetation is created by sowing or planting seeds. The grant must not overlap with the obligations of the agri-environmental agreement or that the need for action is due to non-compliance. In wooded habitats, support is granted only to protected areas.