02.06.2026
Regional Cooperation Group meeting press release 28.5.2026
The Northern Ostrobothnia Regional Cooperation Group heard a presentation of the Northern Finland Vitality Centre and topical issues related to EU rural funding
The North Ostrobothnia Regional Cooperation Group met on Thursday 28 May 2026 at the premises of the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia. 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.
Positive opinion for two projects
The provincial cooperation group gave its positive opinion on two JTF-funded projects.
New Door to Work project (Oulu Deaconess Institute Foundation sr, Joint Municipal Authority for Education Brahe)
The project aims to help jobseekers in the region with various concrete, coaching and educational means, as well as to serve employers in the region in meeting different labour market needs. The project has four main objectives: strengthening the employment capacity and opportunities of jobseekers, developing skills and promoting training, supporting employers' capacity for change and developing and embedding new operating models. The project develops operational models for work coaching, training and employer cooperation, supports the transition of people who have become unemployed from peat production and young people to working life, and strengthens participation in working life and prevents long-term unemployment.
The target group of the project is unemployed jobseekers in the Raahe employment area, especially young people in the area who have challenges in accessing or attaching to employment, education or training. In particular, the project will target young people who do not have any upper secondary education or who are in a weak position on the labour market for some other reason. The measures implemented in the project may also target persons who have worked directly or indirectly in the peat sector and who have lost their jobs as a result of the reduction in peat production. The target group of the project also includes employers operating in the Raahe employment area.
The new value of the project is to combine the strong know-how of three different industries and activities in which development work is carried out by professionals in public employment services, vocational training and social rehabilitation.
The total cost of the project is estimated at EUR 791 885, of which EUR 633 599 is accounted for by JTF and state funding. The duration of the project is approximately 2.5 years. The project is co-financed by the Northern Finland Vitality Centre.
YRITTÄMÖ project of the future (Jokilaaksot Educational Consortium, City of Kalajoki, City of Ylivieska, City of Nivala and City of Haapavesi)
YRITTÄMÖ is a project in the southern part of Northern Ostrobothnia that aims to strengthen entrepreneurial skills, support business continuity and create new pathways to employment. The project builds a unified entrepreneurship path that provides participants with a clear path from getting to know entrepreneurship to starting a business. The path includes modern, time- and place-independent online coaching, face-to-face coaching, sparring and mentoring. Participants can test business ideas, find new career options, and get support to start or continue a business through an acquisition.
The key objectives of the project are to create new entrepreneurship and strengthen entrepreneurial capacity, promote the realisation of transfers of ownership and business continuity, create a reproducible digital entrepreneurship coaching model, strengthen the entrepreneurship education skills of secondary school teaching staff and promote an equal and equal entrepreneurship culture.
The project will provide the region with a comprehensive and reproducible YRITTÄMÖ operating model that combines education, entrepreneurship coaching, support for transfers of ownership, utilization of subcontracting opportunities and entrepreneurship guidance in employment services into one clear path.
The total cost of the project is estimated at EUR 1,159,564, of which JTF and state funding account for EUR 925,571. The duration of the project is less than three years. The project is co-financed by the Northern Finland Vitality Centre.
Next meeting
The next meeting of the regional cooperation group will be held on Wednesday 9 September 2026 from 10:00 to 12:00.
Meeting materials
The meeting materials will be updated in the Dynasty information service after signing the minutes: Dynasty Information Service : Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia
Additional information:
Laura Kelhä, Development Manager, Regional Assembly of Oulu Region, tel. 050 385 4016
