24.9.2026 News

Parmaco at Kuntamarkkinat 2026: flexibility moves higher on the public-sector agenda

Parmaco participated in Kuntamarkkinat 2026, Finland’s largest annual public-sector forum, bringing together municipal and public-sector decision-makers, experts and solution providers. For Parmaco, the event reinforced a trend that is becoming increasingly important across our markets: communities need high-quality buildings today, while the long-term demand for those buildings is becoming more difficult to predict.

This year’s Kuntamarkkinat attracted approximately 7,000 visitors over two days, the highest attendance in recent years. The event brings together municipal leaders, technical and facilities management, elected decision-makers, public-sector experts and companies serving municipalities and wellbeing services counties. The programme included more than 260 sessions and around 150 partner organisations.

Demographic change is reshaping demand for public buildings

One topic appeared repeatedly in our discussions: how should municipalities make long-term property decisions when future demand is increasingly uncertain?

The challenge is structural. According to a recent population forecast reported by Yle, only 39 Finnish municipalities are expected to grow by 2050, while the majority are projected to lose population. At the same time, another national study estimates that Finland could have almost 100,000 fewer elementary-school pupils by 2040. The impact will not be uniform: some regions will contract significantly while others continue to grow.

This creates a fundamental question for public-sector property portfolios. A school, daycare centre or healthcare building may be needed urgently today, but its required size, location or even use may look very different ten or twenty years from now.

For Parmaco, this is precisely where dynamic architecture creates value. Our buildings combine the quality and functionality expected from permanent construction with the ability to adapt: buildings can be expanded, reduced, repurposed or relocated as needs change.

Nurmijärvi: high-quality facilities without locking the future

Our main programme session at Kuntamarkkinat was organised together with the Municipality of Nurmijärvi. Municipal Director Outi Mäkelä and Director of Administration Katja Vuorinen joined Parmaco Sales Director Jaakko Vihola to discuss how municipalities can manage long-term uncertainty while still providing excellent facilities for residents today.

The discussion was built around the Kaikumetsä school and daycare centre in Nurmijärvi.

The 4,753-square-metre, two-storey building was completed in 2025 to replace facilities affected by indoor-air problems. It brings daycare, preschool and primary education together with a sports hall in one modern building. From signing the agreement to completion on site, the solution was delivered in approximately six months.

More importantly, the project demonstrates a broader decision-making principle: municipalities do not need to choose between quality today and flexibility tomorrow. A building can provide healthy, safe and purpose-designed facilities for users while leaving room to respond when demographics, service networks or local needs change.

That message resonated strongly throughout the event.

Strong commercial engagement and new conversations

Parmaco’s sales and business development teams were active throughout both days, meeting existing customers as well as new municipal and public-sector stakeholders.

We left Kuntamarkkinat with a substantial number of new conversations to continue in the coming weeks. While public-sector sales cycles are naturally long, events such as Kuntamarkkinat provide an important platform for understanding emerging customer needs, strengthening relationships and creating new opportunities across schools, daycare centres, healthcare, housing and other public infrastructure.

For Parmaco Group, these conversations also provide valuable market insight. The common denominator is increasingly clear: customers are looking for ways to reduce long-term property risk without compromising on architectural quality or user experience.

From municipalities to wellbeing services counties

The strategic relevance of the event will increase further in 2027.

Next year, the event will move to Messukeskus Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre and expand into Kuntamarkkinat ja Hyvinvointialuemarkkinat, bringing municipalities and Finland’s wellbeing services counties together in one larger annual forum. The organisers estimate that the expanded format will create more room for public-sector decision-makers, experts and partners to meet.

Finland’s wellbeing services counties assumed responsibility for organising social welfare, healthcare and rescue services in January 2023. Their property portfolios and service networks represent a significant long-term opportunity for flexible infrastructure solutions.

Parmaco already provides dynamic healthcare buildings ranging from hospitals and health centres to smaller healthcare and social-service facilities. The same logic applies here as in education: capacity requirements can change, while the need for safe, high-quality environments remains constant.

Expanding our offering through partnerships

We were also joined at Kuntamarkkinat by representatives from Millog, with whom Parmaco has developed SAFECEL, a modular protected-space solution designed for organisations handling sensitive information.

SAFECEL combines Parmaco’s expertise in modular construction with Millog’s capabilities in electromagnetic protection. The solution is designed to meet TEMPEST requirements and offers a scalable way to create protected facilities for authorities, defence and security organisations, and critical industries.

The collaboration is a good example of how Parmaco can extend the application of dynamic buildings beyond our established segments and respond to new requirements in the built environment.