Picture at the top: Visit Oulu
Success is built on opportunity. Therefore, opportunities must be built in Northern Ostrobothnia to study, practice and work in a multi-location and place-independent environment according to one's own life situation. Multi-location at its best is the natural reconciliation of leisure time and work, utilising digitalisation and increasing the region's attractiveness.
What is a multi-place and place-independent everyday life?
Multi-location means that different parts of the region can study and work according to the life situation. This requires the development of digital and location-based services. Northern Ostrobothnia has the opportunity to be a forerunner in this. Investing in well-being at work increases attractiveness. The choice of place of residence is easier than before, so efforts should be made to reduce the contrast between rural and urban areas. The profiling of regions and joint remote workstations are an important development area.
How do we improve the accessibility of education, services and hobbies?
Knowledge and civilization are the resources of the region. Their accessibility will be developed in cooperation with new models that combine physical service and digitalization.
- Diversifying and strengthening the skills of the population.
- Developing a multi-campus model, distance learning opportunities and flexible study paths, not forgetting securing contact teaching.
- Investing in continuous learning and attractive education.
- Investment and development projects focusing on the needs of future working life.
- By increasing the education and mobility of the workforce, exploiting the opportunities offered by digitalisation and supporting multi-place housing.
- Investing in the functionality of student well-being services.
- By increasing the opportunities for low-threshold leisure activities, securing local services and developing club activities in schools.
Digitalisation is a means of communication
Digitalisation is seen as a means of conveying regions’ distinctive identities, soft values and civilisation and know-how – it is precisely not an intrinsic value but a tool. Digital solutions can enable hierarchy and increase the fluency and well-being of everyday life, but they require sufficient digital skills from their users. Technological preliminarys unite municipalities, villages, hobby groups. We must ensure that everyone in the county has equal access to digital solutions. The aim is to provide a fibre-optic network open to all throughout the region, alongside which a comprehensive mobile network runs.
region of Northern Ostrobothnia
- More than 60 per cent of the region's 414 000 inhabitants live in the Oulu region, and the migration of the population to the urban area seems to continue.
- The development of the Oulu region is important, but the development of other urban areas and investments in strengths are needed.
- Northern Ostrobothnia has a natural regional cooperation and network structure.
- The areas are different in terms of profile and strength.
- The attractiveness and traction of municipalities and cities will be increased by paying special attention to the location decisions of companies and the fairness of services.
- In the whole region, the working-age population is male-dominated.
- Reducing gender balance in different fields and levels of education and in different sectors is an important area for development.
- The cooperation will strengthen the planning of land use and sustainable mobility.
- In Northern Ostrobothnia, the accessible service network of a diverse and geographically extensive region must be promoted.
- Northern Ostrobothnia and the Oulu region occupy an important position as the hub of northernmost Europe in the Baltic Sea region and the Barents region.
What do we do in practice to achieve our goals?
Key projects promoting opportunities and accessibility:
- Developing opportunities for teleworking and multi-place work
- Developing future campuses and learning environments, taking digital and hybrid models into account
- Digitally skilled Northern Ostrobothnia: supporting the digital transition of citizens, officials and businesses;
- Developing telecommunications connections and electronic services to meet future needs
- Developing and ensuring the condition of the public and private transport network
- Functionality of transport routes and services
