Press releases

The Centre for Vitality in Northern Finland will not open the call for applications for business environment development grants in autumn 2026. Also, the call for applications for TL 3 infrastructure will not be opened on 1 September due to the lack of fundings, but only in the first half of 2027. Enterprise development grants (ERDF) have been applied for in Northern Ostrobothnia for a total of EUR 12 442 800. 45 applications have been received by June. On the other hand, 16 applications were received by 7 May 2026 for the continuous JTF application process related to employment and skills. A total of EUR 3 765 098 was requested. In addition, 10 cross-regional applications were received for Northern Ostrobothnia and a total of EUR 2 070 573 was applied for. The ESF+ project call for Northern Finland (et 4.3) closed on 1 June 2026 and received 26 applications for support 7 594…

The Regional Board of Northern Ostrobothnia held its first meeting of the autumn season in Oulu on Monday, 17 August. The the Board of the Regional Assembly approved the strategic targets and indicators for 2027 and decided to increase the municipal contributions to the budget by one percentage point. The draft budget 2027 and the economic plan 2028-2029 will be discussed by the the Board of the Regional Assembly on 21 September 2026. The Regional Assembly of Oulu Region in cooperation in cooperation withdraws from the Barents cooperation The Regional Assembly of Oulu Region in cooperation in cooperation withdraws from the Barents Regional Assembly and thus from the Barents cooperation. At the end of 2025, the Barents Regional Assembly launched an evaluation process on the future of Barents regional cooperation. The geographical scope of the cooperation has been significantly reduced, especially since Finland in cooperation in cooperation withdrew from the Barents Euro-Arctic Regional Assembly, and as a result, the regions of Lapland, Kainuu and North Karelia in cooperation in cooperation withdrew from membership of the Regional Assembly. According to the study, there is a consensus among member regions that maintaining the current structure does not …

By May, a total of 16 JTF (tyos) project applications and a total of nine project packages were received by the Northern Ostrobothnia Centre for Vitality. A total of EUR 3.765 million was requested. Ten project applications were submitted to the Regional Assemblys, a total of four project packages. A total of EUR 2.070 million was requested. By 1 June, a total of 26 and 16 projects were submitted under the cross-regional ESF+, specific objective 4.3.  A total of EUR 7 594 226 was applied for.  In addition, there were two transnational applications for which a total of EUR 849 844 was applied for funding. The Secretariat of the regional Cooperation Group supported seven projects for funding The Secretariat of the regional Cooperation Group discussed ten projects at its meeting. Seven of them received a favourable opinion. The applications have been presented by the regional Cooperation Group…

The Regional Board of Northern Ostrobothnia met on Monday 8 June for its last meeting of the spring season to discuss, among other things, next year's budget planning and the current situation of the maritime spatial plan. The implementation plan for security of supply and comprehensive security was approved by the the Board of the Regional Assembly, which approved the implementation plan for security of supply and comprehensive security in Northern Ostrobothnia for 2026-2027. Changes in the geopolitical environment and the security situation highlight the need to examine security of supply and overall security as part of regional development. The priorities of the Regional Programme for Northern Ostrobothnia are broadly linked to these themes and provide a strong basis for strengthening preparedness in the region. The implementation plan ensures that the measures support the region's RDI activities, businesses, people's daily lives, as well as safety and security of supply. The Regional Board took note of the planning situation of the maritime spatial plan, discussed the preliminary draft of the maritime spatial plan and authorised the Regional Assembly of Southwest Finland to request comments from stakeholders as part of the joint preparation of maritime spatial planning. The maritime spatial plan describes…

The Northern Ostrobothnia Regional Cooperation Group heard the presentation of the Northern Finland Vitality Centre and the topical cooperation group of the Northern Ostrobothnia Region on EU rural funding met on Thursday 28 May 2026 at the premises of the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region. The meeting included a presentation of the Northern Finland Centre for Vitality, which started operations at the beginning of the year, and a topical review of EU rural funding. In addition, a topical project presentation was heard on the joint project of the Jokilaaksot Educational Consortium and the cities of Kalajoki, Ylivieska, Nivala and Haapavesi. The meeting also decided on the meeting schedule for autumn 2026. The regional cooperation group gave its positive opinion on two JTF-funded projects. The new Ovi Työhön project (Oulu Deaconess Institute Foundation sr, Joint Municipal Authority for Education Brahe) aims to help jobseekers in the region in cooperation in cooperation with various concrete, coaching and educational means and to serve employers in the region in meeting different labour market needs. The project has four main objectives:…

The Regional Assembly of Oulu Region met in Oulu for its spring meeting. The meeting discussed, among other things, the financial statements of the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region, the report of the Board of Directors and the evaluation report of the Audit Committee. The Regional Assembly was briefed on the state of play of the preparation of the national and regional partnership plan for the new EU programming period 2028-2034. In addition, it was decided to accept from the Regional Assembly of Lapland the authority task and related competence for the follow-up of national counterpart funding for the Interreg Aurora, Interreg Europe and Interreg NPA programmes to a limited extent. The Regional Assembly approved the financial statements of the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region for 2025 and discharged those responsible from liability. The result for 2025 was a surplus of approximately EUR 41,000. The realised operating costs in 2025 amounted to EUR 5 333 958. The biggest item of expenditure was personnel costs, which amounted to approximately EUR 3.4 million, and were below the budget by just under EUR 83 000. Another large item of expenditure was purchases of services 1.2 million…

The Centre for Vitality in Northern Finland continues to apply for the ERDF programme in Northern Ostrobothnia and Lapland. The call for applications will be open on 31.12.2026, whereas it was previously announced that it would end on 12.6.2026. The Northern Ostrobothnia job application period is open from 31 August to 23 October 2026. An amount of EUR 1.3 million is available for projects implementing specific objectives 1.1 and 2.3. The ESF project application period for the specific objective 4.2 of the Northern Finland Centre for Vitality opens for 5.6. - 15.9.2026. The fourth, Environment ERDF project application is underway on 18 May. - 21.9.2026. The Growth Runway call for companies in Northern Ostrobothnia, which was open from 30 March to 8 May 2026, received 11 applications. A total of EUR 357 039 was requested for funding. The Secretariat of the regional Cooperation Group supported two projects for funding The Secretariat of the regional Cooperation Group discussed three projects at its meeting. Assent …

The Regional Board of Northern Ostrobothnia met on Monday 11 May in Oulu. The personnel and training plan was approved by the the Board of the Regional Assembly for 2026. The need to develop age management has been identified in the personnel plan. The average age of the personnel is 53.8 years, which is higher than the average age of the municipal sector (46.2 years). In the coming years, there may be a need for adjustments to work tasks or flexible working hours. Fulfillment of vacant posts will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In the future, the number of staff will have stabilised at 35-40. The contents of the training plan are partly based on the strategy of the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region, but it also includes several training needs identified by the personnel. Participating in the joint procurement of financial and human resources management Monetra Oy is launching conditional joint procurement for its financial and human resources management customers, if the Parliament approves the planned amendment to the Act on Public Contracts. Change would cause a 10% ownership requirement in house…

Hanna Honkamäkilä gave an update on the current state of preparation of the new programming period 2028-2034, such as the preparation of the partnership plan, regional events and an event for regional cooperation groups on 4 June 2026. The EU's EAFRD search results Tiina Suutari told that 10 applications for support amounting to approximately EUR 1.3 million were received in the closed application process for business support. 123 applications were received for the farm support investment application, in which a total of approximately EUR 10 million was applied for support. The renewed and competent application results, reports and deadlines of the Finland 2021-2027 programme were received by 22 applications for support of EUR 6 386 990 in the Northern Finland ESF+ project call (Specific Objective 4.1) that ended on 26 March 2026 at the Northern Finland Vitality Centre. In addition, one application per region for Northern Ostrobothnia was received and a grant of EUR 570 753 was applied for. In the 11 project applications of the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region in the period…

The Northern Ostrobothnia Regional Cooperation Group supported the financing of two projects The Northern Ostrobothnia Regional Cooperation Group met on Thursday 9 April 2026 at the premises of the Regional Assembly of Northern Ostrobothnia. The meeting discussed topical regional development themes, such as the preparation of the new programming period 2028-2034, the update of the implementation plan for security of supply and comprehensive security, and the ESF+ and JTF funding situation. In addition, the Young Friends Regional Assembly's current project presentation was heard at the meeting. The regional Cooperation Group gave its opinion on four ESF+-funded projects, two of which were in favour of funding. The project, implemented by the Youth Friends Regional Assembly, is partly implemented by the cities of Kalajoki, Ylivieska and Nivala. The aim of the project is to develop employment services in the region, in particular to support the employment of the long-term unemployed and people in a weak position in the labour market. The project develops individual and group-based career coaching, strengthens job-seekers' job-search and digital skills…