The new, free, nationwide Culture Bank service is now opening in Northern Ostrobothnia and Oulu. Culture Bank is an online platform that brings together professionals in art and culture and their services in one place – making them easy to find and book for those who need cultural services. The goal of Culture Bank is to improve the earning opportunities of professional artists and cultural creators. For clients, it provides an easy way to find and purchase cultural services for their own purposes – such as performances, workshops, and expert services. Physical artworks, such as paintings, are not offered through…
The Council of Oulu Region has joined the European Semiconductor Regions Alliance, ESRA. ESRA is a collaboration of 36 European regions, which aims to identify and help remove obstacles to the strategic development of the sector by improving the legislative framework, promoting public and private investments, supporting knowledge sharing and the creation and maintenance of strong and sustainable value chains. The second General Assembly of ESRA was held in Brussels on 3 July. In this context, Council of Oulu Region’s membership was confirmed. The meeting was held at the premises of the EU Committee of the Regions, and the…
In the delegation picture from left Outi Rouru, Kari Aalto, Johanna Bluemink, Ari Alatossava, Anna-Sofia Heikkinen, Arto Maaninen, Anne Rännäli-Kontturi, Jussi Rämet, Claes Krüger and Markus Erkkilä. Picture Hanna Honkamäkilä. Preparations for the EU’s long-term budget for the years 2028–2034 are underway, and Oulu Region’s advocacy actors want to ensure that the needs of Northern Finland are taken into account from the very beginning. The current €1 200 billion multiannual financial framework is valid until 2027. This week, Region Mayor of the Oulu Region Jussi Rämet, Oulu Mayor Ari Alatossava and University of Oulu Rector Arto Maaninen visited Brussels for…
Council of Oulu Region joined the Living-in.EU initiative in an event organised during the European Week of Regions and Cities, #EWRC this week in Brussels. Living-in.EU 's goal is to promote sustainable digital change and give boost to digital transformation in EU regions and cities. Signing the commitment enables the Council of Oulu Region to participate in Living-in.eu's working groups. The Living-in.EU initiative was initiated in Oulu in 2019. Behind the initiative is the Eurocities cooperation network of the most significant European cities. The network was founded in 1986 and includes more than 200 cities. #EURegionsWeek
Region Norrbotten visited Council of Oulu Region on Monday and Tuesday. We hade joint meeting on current matters in Region Norrbotten and Oulu Region. We discussed especially about logistical cross-border connections, cohesion policy and industrial policy of the European Union. Starting international daily train traffic between Oulu and Haaparanta The electrification of the Laurila-Tornio-Haaparanta line will be completed at the turn of 2024–2025. The Council of Oulu region has proposed to the Finnish government that the 2025 budget should include funding to start international daily train traffic between Oulu and Haaparanta. 2.1 million euro should be allocated to the state…
The Maritime Working Group of the Baltic Sea Commission of CPMR, the cooperation organization for the European peripheral maritime regions, met on June 3-4 in Oulu. The topic of the meeting was the role of ports in the Baltic Sea. At the event, a review of the security situation in the Baltic Sea was heard by the former intelligence chief of the Defense Forces, MP Pekka Toveri, as well as presentations from the ports of Oulu and Stockholm and the Raahe Region Development. In the new TEN-T regulation, the port of Oulu has been promoted from the comprehensive network to…
The Council of Oulu Region is involved in a large project submitted to the EU's Horizon Europe program, the purpose of which is to develop the hydrogen economy on the west coast of Finland and create a functioning ecosystem for it. Energy production and consumption are in a transition phase when moving from combustion-based energy to emission-free energy. The need for clean electricity is growing all over Europe. A significant part of renewable energy investments has been realized and is planned in the BotH2nia hydrogen valley area. In this way, energy-using industry can also be created and attracted to the…
Towards a carbon neutral Northern Ostrobothnia Northern Ostrobothnia is contributing to reaching Finland’s 2035 carbon neutrality target inline with the EU targets. Northern Ostrobothnia Climate Roadmap lines seven themes and 130 measures from different sectors.
Public hearing concerning the Interreg Aurora programme draft, and the draft of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is open now. You will have the possibility to share your opinions in an online survey and in information events. The public hearing process takes 30 days and its open due to May 20, 2021. Feedback will be passed on to the Joint Programming Committee and the programme will be finalized based on this. Interreg Aurora-programme invites you also to Information events (online) in each programme country.
The RDI actors of the Oulu Region are continuously preparing regional, national and international RDI project applications and looking for opportunities to join project consortiums with the aim of advancing digitalisation and automation of the agri-food value chains. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to traceability and food safety in food value chains, collection and utilisation of data throughout food value chains, and digitalisation and automation of food production processes. Our region is currently a member of the following Partnerships of the EU's Smart Specialisation Platform for Agri-Food: Traceability and Big Data High Tech Farming Our project…
