Sustainable urban development is implemented as part of the Renewable and Skilled Finland programme in cooperation in cooperation within the framework of innovation ecosystem agreements between separate cities and the state. Ecosystem agreements strengthen the construction of attractive competence clusters and innovation environments, as well as the connection of Finnish stakeholders to international networks and value chains. Ecosystem agreements are a long-term joint investment by the state, university and university centre cities in strengthening centres of expertise.
The content of the agreements is based on the local competence strengths of the urban areas. Innovation-driven growth is sought from the opportunities raised by current societal and global challenges such as low carbon, resource scarcity, digitalisation and other new technologies. The objectives and content of the agreements correspond well to the set key national innovation and urban policy guidelines.
The cities involved in the agreements are Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Vaasa, Lappeenranta-Imatra, Lahti, Joensuu, Kuopio, Pori, Kajaani-Sotkamo, Kokkola, Seinäjoki, Rovaniemi and Mikkeli.
Key focus areas of the City of Oulu-State Ecosystem Agreement
– Digitalisation in the changing urban environment
– OuluHealth – Digital solutions for well-being and health
– Sustainable circular economy and clean solutions
– Cross-cutting themes:
o Start-up entrepreneurship, skills and continuous learning and business ecosystems
o Major investments and acquisitions by the city and other public stakeholders
Link to the ecosystem agreement between the City of Oulu and the State can be found here.
The eighth application period for sustainable urban development has ended on 9 October 2026
The eighth application period for sustainable urban development of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia for the 2021-2027 programming period closed on 9 October 2026. During the application period, 12 new applications were received by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The applications applied for funding from the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia totalling approximately 1,685 M€. Decisions on applications for positive follow-up will be delivered in November 2026. According to the preliminary plan, the next application period will be opened in spring 2027.
Governance structure for sustainable urban development
Urban development projects are selected through open calls for applications using the EURA2021 system for the report of application rounds and the processing of applications. The City Executive Board will prepare a proposal on the contents of the open call based on the needs of the implementation of the ecosystem agreement. The Regional Assembly of Oulu Region confirms the opening of the search in cooperation in cooperation with a call for applications in the EURA2021 system and, at the same time, confirms the boundary conditions related to the lawfulness of the search. Among other things, the selection criteria are described in the call for applications published by the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region in the EURA 2021 system.
The selection of the projects to be funded is carried out by the steering group established by the City of Oulu. The key role of the Steering Group is to be responsible for assessing the relevance of projects, i.e. prioritising and selecting ERDF projects to be financed under the ecosystem agreement’s financial framework on the basis of selection criteria defined by the Monitoring Committee. Funding decisions and the assessment of legality and compliance in cooperation in cooperation with the programme are made by the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region. The Regional Assembly shall grant support from the European European European European European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (ERDF) (ERDF) (ERDF) for the implementation of sustainable urban development in accordance in cooperation in cooperation with the proposal of the City Executive Committee referred to in Section 30(1) of the Implementation Act, if the granting of the support is in accordance in cooperation in cooperation with the Act, the European Union Regional and Structural Policy Programme and the Ecosystems Agreement.
In the assessment of appropriateness, the management team scores and evaluates the applications on the basis of the selection criteria defined by the monitoring committee. The Executive Board makes a proposal on the projects to be funded to the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region, which initiates the preparation of financing decisions. Next, the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region ensures and confirms compliance in cooperation in cooperation with the general selection criteria as well as the legality of the projects to be selected, compliance in cooperation in cooperation with the programme and compliance in cooperation in cooperation with the technical requirements of the applications. Before making a funding decision, the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region may require the application to be completed in order to meet the funding conditions for the application.
Further information:
Tuula Lotvonen (Financial Specialist) BusinessOulu, tel. +358 40 359 4236 or tuula.lotvonen@businessoulu.com
Aki Lappalainen (regional development expert) Regional Assembly of Oulu Region, tel. +358 40 502 1851 or aki.lappalainen@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi
