{"id":36740,"date":"2026-09-25T14:52:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T12:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/?p=36740"},"modified":"2026-09-25T14:55:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T12:55:24","slug":"public-sauna-charter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/public-sauna-charter\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Sauna Charter \u2013 11 countries unite around the future of sauna culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Public Sauna Charter is a new international initiative attempting to answer an important question at a time of rapidly growing global interest in sauna: who is a public sauna really for? Published ahead of the International Sauna Congress in Oslo, the document proposes ten principles for the development and operation of public saunas, emphasising accessibility, community interests, cultural traditions and long-term responsibility. The charter has already attracted 27 signatories from 11 countries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new Public Sauna-Bathing Charter<\/em> has emerged at a time when public saunas are expanding rapidly in many parts of the world. They are appearing on urban waterfronts, beaches, in parks and other publicly accessible spaces, while sauna itself is increasingly becoming not only a wellness service but also a place where people meet.<\/p>\n

The initiative argues that this growth should not be measured only by the number of new saunas being built. Equally important questions concern who can access them, how they affect local communities and how the essential qualities of sauna culture can be preserved as sauna develops into an international business and wellness trend.<\/p>\n

Public Sauna Charter establishes ten principles<\/h2>\n

The charter was developed by the international Sauna for All<\/strong> initiative led by researcher and sauna-culture advocate Becky Pelkonen. Version 1.0 of the document is dated 19 August 2026, while the initiative was presented internationally ahead of the XIX International Sauna Congress in Oslo.<\/p>\n

The charter contains ten principles divided into four broader areas. They address public sauna practice, stewardship, care for people and long-term responsibility for sauna’s place within society.<\/p>\n

It is not a technical standard defining correct temperatures, heater output or ventilation requirements. Instead, the document attempts to establish values that public saunas can follow as their numbers increase around the world.<\/p>\n

What actually makes a sauna public?<\/h2>\n

One of the charter’s most interesting questions concerns the definition of a public sauna itself. The document emphasises that public status is not determined by ownership.<\/p>\n

A public sauna can be owned by a municipality, non-profit organisation, cooperative or private company. The main criterion is accessibility to the public<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A sauna is considered public when it has publicly advertised opening or bathing times and allows individuals to attend without having to stay at a hotel, belong to a private club or purchase another service.<\/p>\n

This means a commercially operated sauna can still be public. At the same time, a sauna available exclusively to hotel guests or members of a closed club would not qualify as public under the charter’s definition.<\/p>\n

Accessibility matters more than ownership<\/h2>\n

This definition changes the way public sauna can be understood. It does not necessarily have to be a building constructed and maintained by a municipality. A private business can create a genuinely public sauna if it is meaningfully accessible to the wider community.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the charter argues that public benefit should not be completely displaced by private profit.<\/p>\n

This does not mean that a public sauna must be free or that its operator should not make a profit. On the contrary, a financially sustainable model is necessary if a sauna is to survive in the long term. However, pricing and operating models should not make regular sauna use accessible only to a narrow group of people.<\/p>\n

27 signatories already represent 11 countries<\/h2>\n

By 24 September, the Public Sauna Charter had been signed by 27 participants from 11 countries<\/strong>. They include public sauna operators, sauna-culture organisations, researchers and people working with community sauna projects.<\/p>\n

The signatories include Oslo Badstuforening, whose floating saunas have become one of the most visible examples of Oslo’s rapidly developing public sauna culture.<\/p>\n

Different signatories intend to implement the principles in different ways. Some focus on affordable pricing and making regular sauna visits possible for people with different income levels. Others concentrate on physical accessibility, inclusive environments or programmes for people who might otherwise have limited access to conventional spa services.<\/p>\n

Sauna as social infrastructure<\/h2>\n

One of the charter’s central ideas is that public sauna should be considered part of social infrastructure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When we think about infrastructure, roads, bridges, schools, libraries and sports centres usually come to mind. Social infrastructure, however, also includes places that allow people to meet, interact and build communities.<\/p>\n

From this perspective, a public sauna is not simply a room where someone pays for an opportunity to get hot. It can become a regular meeting place for people who might otherwise never encounter one another in everyday life.<\/p>\n

This function becomes particularly interesting in modern cities, where increasing numbers of people live alone and everyday social interaction can often be limited to workplaces and digital environments.<\/p>\n

Municipalities are encouraged to think differently about sauna<\/h2>\n

The charter’s tenth principle is directed particularly towards municipalities, regional institutions and investors. The initiative encourages them to consider public saunas within urban planning, regulation and funding policies.<\/p>\n

This does not mean that every municipality should build and operate its own sauna. Rather, the idea is to create an environment in which public sauna is not automatically treated only as a private spa business.<\/p>\n

This approach is already visible in several European cities. Saunas are appearing beside water, at public swimming areas and on regenerated urban waterfronts, helping these places remain active during colder seasons as well as summer.<\/p>\n

Oslo provides a strong example of the charter’s ideas<\/h2>\n

It is no coincidence that the new initiative is receiving international attention in Oslo. Public sauna culture in the Norwegian capital has developed rapidly in recent years.<\/p>\n

Floating saunas in Oslo harbour allow people to combine sauna heat with swimming in the fjord, but their social function is equally important. Visitors can book an individual place in a shared sauna session rather than having to rent an entire sauna for a private group.<\/p>\n

This closely reflects the accessibility principle promoted by the charter \u2013 what makes a sauna public is the opportunity for individuals to participate, not who owns the building or business.<\/p>\n

The charter is not a certification scheme<\/h2>\n

An important distinction is that the Public Sauna Charter is not a certification system<\/strong>. A signatory cannot describe itself as a certified or officially accredited sauna simply because it has joined the initiative.<\/p>\n

There are no regular technical inspections or formal audits. Each signatory chooses the principles relevant to its activities and publicly states how it intends to implement them.<\/p>\n

Future follow-ups and discussions about commitments are planned. If an organisation’s activities cause serious harm to visitors, communities or cultural traditions, the charter’s organisers can remove its status as a signatory.<\/p>\n

At this stage, therefore, the charter is better understood as a public commitment than as a formal regulatory system.<\/p>\n

The sauna boom also creates new risks<\/h2>\n

The timing of the charter is significant. Sauna is currently experiencing rapid growth in popularity in many countries, bringing new businesses and investors into the sector.<\/p>\n

This creates opportunities, but it also brings a risk that sauna becomes primarily a fashionable and expensive wellness product. If the main purpose of a public sauna becomes maximising the price of each visit, one of sauna’s historic functions \u2013 serving as a regular meeting place \u2013 can begin to disappear.<\/p>\n

The charter therefore argues that economic sustainability and public benefit do not necessarily have to be opposing goals.<\/p>\n

The word \u201csauna\u201d should retain a specific meaning<\/h2>\n

Interestingly, the initiative also addresses the meaning of the word \u201csauna\u201d itself. As sauna expands internationally, the term is increasingly applied to many different forms of heat-based wellness.<\/p>\n

The charter connects sauna with l\u00f6yly<\/em> \u2013 the experience created by throwing water onto heated stones and producing heat and humidity, rooted in Finnish and wider northern sauna traditions.<\/p>\n

Hammam, banya, jjimjilbang and temazcal are recognised as distinct and valuable bathing and heat traditions with their own names and cultural histories.<\/p>\n

The underlying idea is straightforward: respect different cultures rather than renaming every hot room in the world a sauna.<\/p>\n

International Sauna Congress will continue the discussion<\/h2>\n

The Public Sauna Charter will also be discussed at the XIX International Sauna Congress in Oslo. Becky Pelkonen is scheduled to speak on 26 September about sauna as a shared public good and participate in discussions concerning public health and the sustainable development of the global sauna boom.<\/p>\n

This means the new charter is not an isolated document. It is becoming part of a much broader international conversation about what public sauna should become as sauna culture experiences rapid global growth.<\/p>\n

The question is no longer simply how many new saunas will be built. Increasingly, the important questions are who those saunas are for and what role they will play in society<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Public Sauna Charter tries to set a direction before the market does<\/h2>\n

Ten principles alone will not transform global sauna culture, and a voluntary charter without continuous auditing has obvious limitations. Nevertheless, its appearance is an interesting signal.<\/p>\n

Sauna’s popularity is growing so quickly in many countries that the industry is beginning to discuss more than new products, heaters and spectacular sauna buildings. Accessibility, communities, cultural heritage and responsibility are becoming part of the conversation as well.<\/p>\n

Public Sauna Charter proposes a simple idea: a public sauna is not merely a hot room for which someone buys a ticket. It can be a place where a city, a community and sauna culture meet in the same space. If new public saunas develop with this perspective in mind, today’s sauna boom may leave behind something considerably more valuable than another passing wellness trend.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sources<\/h3>\n

Sauna for All \u2013 Public Sauna-Bathing Charter.<\/p>\n

SaunaNews \u2013 Public Sauna Gets a Charter as the Oslo Sauna Congress Opens.<\/p>\n

International Sauna Congress 2026 \u2013 congress programme.<\/p>\n

Leisure Opportunities \u2013 Public Sauna-Bathing Charter launches ahead of International Sauna Congress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public Sauna Charter is a new international initiative attempting to answer an important question at a time of rapidly growing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":36731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3117,3120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sauna-news","category-world"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36740"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36743,"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36740\/revisions\/36743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/istaspirtslietas.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}