ABOUT FOLKETS HUS OCH PARKER
People want to meet and experience things together. Folkets Hus och Parker is a popular movement with close to 500 member associations that operate Folkets Hus and folk parks throughout the country – all of them important and appreciated meeting places and cultural assets.
Thousands of enthusiasts, work horses and enthusiastic professionals – both volunteers and employees – are the driving forces behind these meeting places.
The National Association Folkets Hus och Parker was formed in the year 2000 as a result of a merger between Folkparkernas Centralorganisation (formed in 1905) and Folkets Husföreningarnas Riksorganisation (formed in 1932). Folkets Hus och Parker is a non-political and non-religious organisation. Our office is located in Stockholm where we work with, among other things, member service, opinion formation and popular movement development.
The national association is divided into seven regional districts and owns 150 cinemas across the country through its member organisations.
On April 1, 1893, Malmö opened its first self-built workers’ movement premises called Folkets Hus. A few weeks later, on April 30, the country’s first Folkets Park was inaugurated, also in Malmö.
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION INCLUDES Folkets Hus, folk parks, cinemas and similar local organisations that together attract millions of visitors every year. The national association is politically and religiously independent and has a value system based on the principles of equality, equal opportunities and everybody’s equal dignity.
THE ASSOCIATION’S GENERAL MEETING that is held every three years is the national association’s highest decision-making body, where all member organisations gather and, through their appointed representatives, take strategic decisions for the forthcoming term and elect the national association’s Board of Directors. The Chairman of the Board is also appointed by the general meeting, while the first and second vice-chairmen are appointed by the Board. At the general meeting, an identification committee, whose task it is to nominate members for the forthcoming Board, is also chosen.
THE BOARD is the national association’s supreme decision-making body between the general meetings. The Board’s assignment is to manage and develop the national association according to the general meeting’s plans and intentions. Within the Board, a working committee that prepares dossiers for decision-making at Board meetings, is appointed. The Board appoints the General Manager, who is responsible for the operational work through the national association’s office and its employees.
Through the national associations, the member organisations also own the companies Folkparkernas Programbolag (digital meetings, events, artist brokerage) and Framtidens mötesplats (cinema development).
Together we give dreams power!
Everybody has the right to their dreams. The family that comes to a new country, the singer on the opera stage, the child who discovers books, the couple that floats across the dance floor, the film-maker who learns to edit, the pensioners’ association that organises a trip, the hip hop group that practices before its first gig, the activist who works toward solidarity and fairness. We fight together for the right to happiness, life and dreams. For the right to influence and shape our common future. We create meeting places for culture, education and organisation.
Folkets Hus och Parker’s vision programme covers the period 2022-2025. The vision programme is divided into four areas: The Idea, Operations, the Organisation and Resources. The vision programme contains strategic objectives in each respective area, which will form the basis of Folkets Hus och Parker’s operational work until 2025.