In May 2002, the Swedish Assembly of Finland launched an extensive campaign for the purpose of encouraging Swedish-speaking Finns to use their mother tongue not only when dealing with public authorities, but also in stores, cafés, cinemas, shopping centres and day-to-day conversation. The aim was to make the Swedish language visible and audible in, as the slogan states, all of Helsinki. In connection with the campaign, Folktinget wanted to stress that any efforts to converse in Swedish, Finnish or both at the same time were to be encouraged and, as such, highly appreciated. The key word is tolerance.

At the time of the campaign launch, such an effort was particularly topical because of the negotiations regarding the new Language Act, which was passed 11 February 2003. The campaign also drew support from an extensive survey of attitudes towards the Swedish language and bilingualism in Finland, commissioned by the Swedish Assembly. The study revealed that most Finns would gladly put their Swedish skills to use if given the opportunity, and Folktinget initiated its multifaceted campaign to get Swedish-speaking population to do exactly that.

Since Svenska på stan, Folktinget has continued its work to promote the bilingual image of the city of Helsinki, and has further expanded the campaign to cities such as Loviisa and Kokkola and other parts of the country. The campaign has been renamed to Päivää God dag, which means Hello in Finnish and in Swedish.

The initial campaign included efforts to reach all of the population in many spheres of life:

- Banners and posters with the campaign slogans were visible all around Helsinki
- Breakfast sessions were organised for politicians, prominent personalities and representatives of Folktinget with discussions, entertainment and socialising
- Folders with information were distributed to companies and authorities on how to develop bilingual services
- Campaign pins, pens, balloons and other material were distributed during events in Helsinki such as Swedish Day, the Night of the Arts and the Baltic Herring Fair
- A short play was written by Bengt Ahlfors especially for the campaign, and was rehearsed by several different ensembles of upper secondary school students, each consisting of two Swedish-speaking girls and two Finnish-speaking boys. The play was performed in over 20 Swedish and Finnish schools in the Helsinki area and beyond
- Language courses were arranged in Kokkola at the request of local inhabitants
- The Svenska på stan Diploma is awarded to persons, companies or organisations who have made significant effort to promote favourable attitudes towards bilingualism, or provided extraordinary services or information in Swedish. The diploma has been awarded seven times to date, most recently to famous stand-up comedian André Wickström and Helsinki City Transport, among others.