Green Activities Certificate

We will be updating our website over the coming weeks.

Green Activities is a sustainability programme and certification operating in Finland for companies providing tourism activity services.

The programme is suitable for companies offering outdoor activities or workshops that use natural materials and follow the principles of sustainable development. Green Activities is also the only sustainability certification in the Nordic countries that includes welfare criteria for animals used in tourism activities.

The certification is based on sustainability criteria designed for the activity services sector. Participants commit to meeting these criteria and reporting on their monitoring activities.

To obtain certification, companies commit to, among other things, raising environmental awareness among staff and customers, improving energy and water efficiency, minimising the environmental impact of their operations, and ensuring the welfare of animals used in tourism activities.

The Green Activities certification scheme meets the requirements of EmpCo, the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive.

Green Activities certified activity providers can use the Green Activities logo in their communications. The label enhances their credibility as responsible businesses.

Green Activities certification was developed in Finland. The current criteria were developed by Going Green Oy in collaboration with working groups comprising experts from various fields.

The Green Activities certificate is recognised by the Sustainable Travel Finland program.

Green Activities Establishments

The number of Green Activities certified companies continues to grow. You can find all currently certified companies on our Certified Establishments page.

The Green Activities operators offer outdoor activity programs or workshops based on the use of sustainable materials and methods all around Finland. They include businesses specialising in winter activities, such as sled dog and reindeer tourism, as well as summer activity providers offering mountain biking tours, climbing adventures and equipment rental.

Many Green Activities operators have also achieved the Green Key certificate for their offered accommodation and catering services as well.

The Criteria

To be awarded the Green Activities certificate, an establishment must meet the Green Activities requirements, known as the criteria. The criteria are divided into three (3) chapters: 1. Governance and Reporting, 2. Activitiy programs, and 3. Tourism Animal welfare (Sled Dogs & Reindeer). The criteria are updated every one to five years. The latest version entered into force on 27 September 2026.

GOVERNANCE AND REPORTING

ACTIVITY PROGRAMS

TOURISM ANIMAL WELFARE

The Green Activities criteria are divided into 2 types:

IMPERATIVE CRITERIA

The imperative criteria define the basic level of requirements that the applicant must meet already when first applying for the certificate. If the establishment does not offer some activities or functions referred to in the imperative criteria, those requirements are excluded.

GUIDELINE CRITERIA

From first re-application onwards, the applicant must meet all the imperative criteria, as well as an annually growing number of guideline criteria.

Scope of certification

Green Activities certification cannot be awarded to activity providers offering:

  • sightseeing flights,
  • jet ski rides,
  • activities based on feeding wild animals, such as wildlife photography from hides,
  • hunting or fishing activities,
  • paintball,
  • motorised activities on land outside designated routes,
  • animal-based activities for which no specific criteria have been developed.

Description of the certification process

Going Green Oy represents Green Activities and is responsible for administering the certification and guiding applicants through the application process. External auditors conduct an on-site audit for each application. Certification is awarded by the Green Activities Jury, which is independent of Going Green Oy. The Green Activities certification scheme, its auditors and the quality of certification decisions are overseen by SYKLI Environmental School of Finland.

Going Green Oy is a social enterprise owned by FEE Finland.

The auditing and certification processes meet the requirements of the national legislation implementing the EU Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (2024/825), which entered into force on 27 September 2026.

Certification is granted for two years at a time. During the certification period, surveillance activities are carried out to verify that certain information reported annually is up to date. In addition, companies offering animal-based activities receive an unannounced surveillance visit during the certification period to verify conformity with the criteria concerning animal housing, exercise and enrichment activities.

Application process described

1. Submission of application documents

Complete the registration form to apply to join the Green Activities sustainability programme.

Going Green assesses the establishment’s eligibility for the programme by reviewing the following:

  • Location of the establishment
  • A suitable contact person for the Green Activities programme
  • Applicable category or categories

Eligible establishments receive:

  • Information on the criteria and certification process
  • Instructions on the required documents
  • Access to the online application tool
  • General guidance on the application process

The establishment must:

  • Complete the online application form
  • Submit the required supporting documents
  • Pay the Green Activities programme participation fees.

Further information on fees.

Restrictions:

  • Activities involving motorised vehicles may account for no more than 50% of the activities offered in a given season. The calculation is based on the total number of activities listed for the different seasons on the company’s website. However, the assessment must also consider the volume of these activities and how the company positions itself in the market.
  • If a Green Activities certified activity provider resells activities offered by companies that do not hold their own Green Activities certification, these activities must be clearly identified in communications as falling outside the scope of certification.

Requirements for companies offering animal-based activities that use subcontractors:

  • Certificate holders must require their subcontractors to commit to the imperative criteria concerning animals. This requirement must be included in subcontracting agreements.

2. On-site audit

An audit is conducted every other year, starting with the first application year. In the intervening years, the company completes a simplified surveillance year application (see section 4).

The establishment seeking certification selects an auditor from among the qualified auditors and agrees on an audit date with them. SYKLI Environmental School of Finland trains auditors and maintains the auditor register.

The auditor accepts the assignment and informs Going Green of the agreed audit.

Going Green checks that the application and supporting documents are complete and forwards them to the selected auditor for review.

The auditor invoices the applicant for the audit and travel expenses.

The audit is carried out within 6 months of submitting the application, or within 8 months for companies offering animal-based activities. It is conducted either entirely remotely (for certain activity providers only) or through a combination of remote and on-site auditing (for all companies offering animal-based activities).

The company prepares for the audit and ensures that the necessary staff are present on site.

The on-site audit generally includes the following stages:

  1. Opening meeting (held remotely unless otherwise agreed)
  2. Document review (the auditor reviews the application documents before the on-site audit)
  3. Site inspection (approximately 1 hour)
  4. Audit summary and closing discussion

The audit usually takes 4–6 hours, depending on the establishment.

Following the audit, the auditor prepares an audit report detailing their findings.

The establishment seeking certification reviews the auditor’s report and pays the audit costs.

The Green Activities Jury may grant certification under the following conditions:

A – All requirements (criteria) are met

  • The audit report is submitted to the Green Activities Jury for final review and a certification decision.

B – Minor non-conformities

  • The establishment must submit additional evidence demonstrating that the non-conformities have been corrected.
  • The documents must be submitted within two months.
  • The auditor assesses the additional evidence remotely and submits the audit report to the Green Activities Jury for final review and a certification decision.

C – Major non-conformities

  • The establishment must submit additional evidence and undergo an on-site follow-up audit.
  • The documents must be submitted within two months.
  • The auditor assesses the additional evidence, conducts the follow-up audit and submits the audit report to the Green Activities Jury for final review and a certification decision.
  • Please note that the establishment is responsible for the additional costs of the follow-up audit and associated travel expenses.

3. Certification decision

The Green Activities Jury makes a decision on awarding certification within 4 months of the audit. The decision is based on the audit report.

Going Green notifies the applicant within two working days of the jury’s decision.

If certification is granted, Going Green sends the establishment a certificate valid for two years.

Going Green updates its website with information on awarded and currently valid certificates.

4. Vaatimusten täyttäminen sertifikaatin voimassaoloaikana

Green Activities -sertifikaatti on voimassa 24 kuukautta.

Kohteen on täytettävä Green Activities -vaatimukset jatkuvasti koko sertifioinnin voimassaoloajan.

Jos kohde ei pysty enää täyttämään vaatimuksia, sen on ilmoitettava siitä välittömästi Going Greenille, jotta sertifiointi voidaan keskeyttää tilapäisesti.

Jos sertifioinnin voimassaoloaikana saadaan valituksia:

  • Kohteen on vastattava selvityspyyntöihin.
  • Jos valitus todetaan aiheelliseksi, kohteen on korjattava havaitut poikkeamat.
  • Sertifiointi voidaan pitää keskeytettynä, kunnes kohde jälleen täyttää vaatimukset.
  • Valitukset käsittelee Going Green, joka toimittaa tiedon poikkeamista Green Activities -tuomaristolle.
  • Green Activities -tuomaristo, esittää sertifikaatin haltijalle vaadittavat korjaavat toimenpiteet 30 työpäivän kuluessa valituksesta.

Kohteelle suoritetaan sertifioinnin valvontatoimenpiteitä 9–12 kuukauden kuluttua sertifioinnista.

Tämä tarkoittaa, että sertifikaatin haltija täyttää Green Activities -hakualustalla kevennetyn valvontavuoden hakemuksen. Hakemuksessa yritys osoittaa edelleen täyttävänsä Green Activities -ohjelman kriteerit.

Jos valvonnassa havaitaan poikkeamia:

  • Kohteen on korjattava ne.
  • Sertifiointi voidaan pitää keskeytettynä, kunnes kohde jälleen täyttää vaatimukset.

Eläinohjelmapalveluyrityksissä suoritetaan yksi ennalta ilmoittamaton tarkastuskäynti sertifiointikauden aikana. Tarkistuskäynnissä varmistutaan siitä, että eläimiä koskevien kriteerien toteutuminen täyttyy niinäkin vuosina, jolloin paikan päällä tehtävää auditointia ei suoriteta.

Sertifioinnin voimassaolon ylläpitämiseksi kohteen on lisäksi maksettava vuosittain Green Activities -ohjelman osallistumismaksu ja eläinkohteissa tarkastuskäyntimaksu.

Lisätietoa maksuista.

5. Sertifikaatin uusiminen

Going Green ottaa yhteyttä kohteeseen noin 4 kuukautta ennen sertifikaatin voimassaolon päättymistä ja muistuttaa sertifioinnin uusimisesta.

Sertifioinnin uusimiseksi kohteen on käytävä uudelleen läpi seuraavat vaiheet:

  1. Hakemus
  2. Auditointi
  3. Sertifiointipäätös

Kohteen tulee edelleen täyttää kaikki sitä koskevat pakolliset peruskriteerit. Lisäksi täytettävien pistekriteerien vähimmäisosuus kasvaa ohjelmaan osallistumisen jatkuessa.