Developing the international dimension of smart specialisation in Northern Ostrobothnia - Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia

This ERDF-funded project updated: Smart Specialisation Strategy for Northern Ostrobothnia from the perspective of an internationalising operating environment, as well as reviewing the smart specialisation S3 platforms and partnerships offered by the European Union, where joining will bring benefits to the region and its operators and help to further develop the region's innovation activities. The indirect objective is to have a direct impact on the amount of funding requested from the EU in the province. The project will also explore how EU-level networks can be linked to the development of business and industry in the region. Successful partnerships identified in the project and their contact persons have been presented HERE.

The EU Commission selected the regions of Eastern and Northern Finland to participate in the Industrial Transition pilot in early 2018. In total, 10 different regions and two countries participated in the pilot. The pilot is part of a package of measures proposed by the Commission in 2017 to strengthen innovation in European regions and boost growth and jobs. The authorities of the selected regions will develop their regional development strategies on the basis of their own smart specialisation priorities. The aim is to renew the region's livelihoods in a sustainable way and to make smart use of the region's natural resources to support economic growth. Linking to EU-level value networks and objectives is key. The joint Smart Specialisation Strategy for Eastern and Northern Finland was completed in the framework of the pilot in 2019 and the strategy will be implemented by the coordination project of the Regional Council of Lapland. The activities of the coordination project for Northern Ostrobothnia will be implemented in this project.