Press releases

The North Ostrobothnia Regional Cooperation Group held a hybrid meeting on 25 August 2021. At the beginning of the meeting, Mikko Finnilä from the University of Oulu presented the project Agility for research and development with digitalised micro- and nanotomography and Sanna Savolainen from BusinessOulu presented the project Go global – invest and export Oulu. Starting the Oulu Innovation Alliance 2021-2027 Ecosystem agreements will be signed with the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and other university cities and city centres, mainly with the resources of sustainable urban development for the EU programme period 2021-2027. Included are Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Vaasa, Joensuu, Kuopio, Jyväskylä, Lappeenranta (incl. Imatra), Lahti, Pori, Seinäjoki, Mikkeli, Kajaani (incl. Sotkamo) and Kokkola. Funding of 500,000 euros has been granted for the start-up of the Oulu innovation ecosystem. The total cost of the project is EUR 835 000. The agreements will develop cooperation networks, strengthen know-how tips and increase the number of RDI activities…

The secretariat of the Regional Cooperation Group for Northern Ostrobothnia held a hybrid meeting on Tuesday 17 August 2021. At the beginning of the meeting, the topical issues of the 2021-2027 EU regional and structural policy programming period and the CAP27 plan were heard. In March 2021, the Provincial Cooperation Group approved the implementation plan for the Provincial Programme and the related financing plan for the Structural Funds Programme for Sustainable Growth and Work 2014-2020 for 2021-2022. The financial plan was prepared for REACT-EU funding under the Recovery Package. The Regional Council of Northern Pojamaa received EUR 6.62 million in ERDF funding and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment received EUR 12.217 million in ERDF funding and EUR 8.074 million in ESF funding. In June 2021, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment submitted a second authorisation decision granting the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Northern Ostrobothnia a new authorisation of EUR 3.5 million for business subsidies to be used in Northern Finland. In the REACT-EU call, which was open in spring 2021, Northern Ostrobothnia…

The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia held its first meeting of the autumn period on Monday 16 August 2021. Decisions on the meetings were taken in accordance with the agenda.  The provincial government was dismayed by the draft investment programme for the state fairway network The provincial government held a referral discussion on the draft investment programme for the state fairway network for 2022-2029. The investment programme is part of the implementation of the national transport system plan. The programme defines the investments to be made in rail, road and waterway projects to be launched over the next eight years. The draft is very worrying for the province. The vision of the programme does not implement the Transport 12 plan and there are no major development projects in Northern Ostrobothnia. The main track, which has not been taken into account in its entirety, for example, the double track between Ylivieska and Oulu is missing, was strongly highlighted in the discussion. Significant investments on highway 4 are also lacking and the limited funding for basic road maintenance is problematic. A strategic long-term … was also discussed.

The secretariat of the Regional Cooperation Group for Northern Ostrobothnia held a Teams meeting on Wednesday 23 June 2021. At the beginning of the meeting, Päivi Keisanen gave an update on the state of preparation of the EU's regional and structural policy for the 2021-2027 programming period. The regional allocation of structural funds has been postponed to August. Tiina Suutari told the North Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment about current issues related to the CAP27 plan and the EAFRD.  The Secretariat of the Provincial Cooperation Group supports the following projects to be funded under the Finnish Structural Funds Programme for Sustainable Growth and Jobs 2014-2020:    Haapavesi - a biocluster for the southern part of Oulu / ERDF Responsible authority: Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia Applicant: City of Haapavesi Total costs: 312 500 € ERDF and state funding requested: 250,000 € LAKU - From valleys to hills: visibility for rural tourism through digitalisation and productisation / ERDF Responsible Authority: Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia Applicant: University of Oulu Sub-applicants: Development of the Raahe region, Nivala-Haapajärvi region NIHAK ry and Kattilakoski Cultural Cooperative Costs…

The Regional Government of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia met remotely on Monday 14 June. Decisions on the meetings were taken in accordance with the agenda.  The decisions of the provincial council are implemented The decisions of the provincial council are made in the prescribed order, the provincial council has not exceeded its powers of action and the decisions are not unlawful. Preparation of the budget of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia begins The Regional Government approved the guidelines for the preparation of the Economic and Operational Plan 2022-2024. In 2022, municipal invoicing will be kept at the previous year's level. The proposal for an economic and operational plan will be discussed in the Provincial Government on 13 September 2021 and after that the plan will be sent to the member municipalities for a statement. The budget and plan will be discussed at the meeting of the provincial council on 13 December 2021. Riitta Pitkänen, Director of Administration and Human Resources Riitta Pitkänen, Director of Administration and Human Resources, was reappointed as Director of Administration and Human Resources as of 1 August 2021. In order to implement the provisions of the new Administrative Regulation of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, it is appropriate to change the title of Administrative Director to Administrative and Human Resources Director.…

The regional cooperation group held the last meeting of the first half of the year through Teams on 9 June 2021. At the beginning of the meeting, BusinessOulu's Finance Specialist Ari Saine told about the implementation of the 6Aika strategy. Between 2014 and 2022, Oulu actors participated in 32 projects. Nearly nine million euros of EU and state funding has been received for the Oulu region.   More information on the 6Aika website. Päivi Keisanen, Development Manager at the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, reviewed the state of preparation of the EU's regional and structural policy for the 2021-2027 programming period and the preparation of the CAP27 plan. Timo Lehtiniemi from the North Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment told about the current state of play of the CAP27 plan. Link to attachments. The regional cooperation group supported four ESF projects for funding Sustainable growth and work 2014-2020 from the Finnish Structural Funds programme The final decision on financing the project is made by the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of North Ostrobothnia. Supported projects: Culture Experience Guides - New Work for Culture…

The Regional Council of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia met for the last time on 7 June 2021 with its current composition. The meeting was held via Teams and the audience was able to follow the live stream on YouTube. The current council began its term in 2017. Pirjo Sirviö, chairman of the regional council, thanked the council and the regional government as well as the staff of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia for the past period. After the municipal elections in June, a new regional council will be elected based on the results of the elections. The election will be made at the municipal assembly of the county at the beginning of October. The financial statements and the report of the Board of Directors of the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia were approved by the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia. Despite the budget deficit, the result for the financial year ended in a plus. The surplus of EUR 320 348.95 is recorded in the balance sheet surplus/deficit account. The result was largely influenced by the coronavirus epidemic, which caused the Federation's personnel and elected officials to stop travelling…

The national funding legislation related to broadband projects must be amended so that the objectives are in line with EU requirements and municipal funding allocations are completely abolished in order to safeguard regional equality. It is impossible for several municipalities to participate in funding when the costs per taxpayer are unreasonable. The costs of regional specificities, such as long distances and sparsely populated areas, are not taken into account when determining municipal contributions. The definition of minimum speeds is also not in line with EU requirements. If the terms of the legislation are not changed, the objectives of the Act will not be achieved. Well-functioning connectivity is a key infrastructure. They are vital to the vitality of the regions. From the point of view of accessibility, this is also central. Well-functioning broadband connections play a crucial role in the provincial residents' access to public welfare and health and social services through the network. At present, in many places, we are only insecure and …

Finland must comply with the mechanism for calculating the EU's regional and structural policy funds as such, without any national changes. National allocation methods that deviate from the EU allocation criteria should not jeopardise the clear application of sparsely populated areas or other criteria and the continuity across programming periods. According to the country report issued by the European Commission on 27 February 2019, regional development disparities in Finland have not been eliminated. Regional disparities have slightly decreased, but regional inequality remains highest in Eastern and Northern Finland, which has the weakest situation in terms of GDP value. According to the country report, the situation in Eastern and Northern Finland was least satisfactory also in terms of productivity and unemployment. In addition, Eastern and Northern Finland had the weakest results in five major regions (Eastern and Northern Finland, Western Finland, Southern Finland, Helsinki-Uusimaa, Åland) …

Päivi Keisanen told about the state of preparation of the EU's regional and structural policy for the 2021-2027 programming period and the CAP27 plan. According to the current situation, the implementation of the ERDF and ESF funds will start on 1 September 2021 and the implementation of the Just Transition Fund (JTF) on 1 January 2022. The number of climate actions will increase in the new programming period. The focus is on circular economy, energy efficiency and renewable energy. It also includes adaptation to climate change. The programme is implemented on the basis of the Do no significant harm principle, i.e. projects that harm the environment cannot be financed. Timo Lehtiniemi from the North Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment told about the current state of play of the CAP27 plan. Finland's CAP programme will be sent for consultation on 17 June 2021. The plan will be revised and supplemented in September-October. The EAFRD project application period ended 16 development project applications were received for completed project applications with a requested amount of EUR 2.5…