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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 logisticsal 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…

Region Norrbotten visited the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region on Monday and Tuesday. We held a joint meeting on topical issues in Norrbotten and Northern Ostrobothnia. In particular, we discussed logistical cross-border links, cohesion policy and the industrial policy of the European Union. The start of international daily train traffic between Oulu and Haparanda The electrification of the Laurila-Tornio-Haaparanta line will be completed at the turn of 2024-2025. The Regional Assembly of Oulu Region has proposed to the Finnish Government that funding be included in the 2025 budget to enable international daily train traffic between Oulu and Haparanda. The purchase agreement of the Ministry of Transport and Communications should be allocated EUR 2.1 million to the state budget as of 2025. Opening up passenger traffic across the border would enable the development of tourism, and the rail connection would also serve the working area of the Bothnian Arc. The European Capital of Culture 2026 in Oulu and the region would also greatly benefit from a better train connection to Sweden.…

The update of the climate road map for Northern Ostrobothnia was approved by the Provincial Government on 19 August 2024. The goal of North Ostrobothnia's climate work remains the same: Towards carbon-neutral Northern Ostrobothnia! The work on updating the climate road map started in 2023.  In the update, the original policies and measures of the climate road map will not change. In order to maintain the message of Climate Roadmap 1.0 and the large amount of data, the updated 2.0 version contains the structure and content of the original Roadmap. The changes concern updates of data, such as greenhouse gas emissions; The latest figures are presented. Greenhouse gas emissions from the burden sharing sector in the county have decreased 11 % from 2018 to 2022.  New information on key themes, such as energy and land use, has been added to the road map. The cultural theme has been raised in the context of the top 7 theme. The views of young people, organisations and the Education and Research Cooperation Group have been consulted. Four Municipal Climate Plan workshops were organised for municipalities.  Multiple …

The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia proposes the repair of the Ylivieska southern overpass to the state budget for next year. The Regional Council sent a statement letter to the Ministry of Transport, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency and the representatives of the Oulu constituency on Thursday 15 August 2024. It is hoped that the statement will awaken decision-makers and officials to notice the importance of a small project to the north, which is central to rail traffic. The cost estimate for the bridge project over Highway 27 is EUR 13.7 million, and it has been involved in the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency's investment project for years. – Renovation of the overpass is a small project in terms of costs but has a significant impact. The current bridge is weight-restricted and cannot withstand heavy special transports," says Jussi Rämet, Regional Director of Northern Ostrobothnia. Renovation of the bridge is of great importance, especially for the business life in Northern Finland. It improves the prerequisites for business and the functionality of special transports, as well as …

The Regional Councils of Kainuu, Central Ostrobothnia, Lapland and Northern Ostrobothnia have launched an evaluation of the regional programmes for Northern Finland. The evaluation examines the effectiveness of the current provincial programmes, the success of their implementation and the need for reforms. This thesis assesses the realization and impact of the objectives and programmes of four regional programmes (Kainuu, Central Ostrobothnia, Lapland and Northern Ostrobothnia) as part of the regional development steering system. Based on this, development recommendations will be formulated on the priorities of the future provincial programme. The evaluation includes both joint and provincial development proposals for the new provincial programmes for 2026-2029. The regional programmes will be part of regional and provincial planning and development as a whole and will give concrete expression to the development needs and measures to respond to them in the coming years. The content and level of ambition of the provincial programmes 2022-2025 of the four counties under assessment emphasise, for example, the sustainable development, vitality, accessibility and green transition of the regions…

A grant of EUR 300,000 has been granted for the further development and expansion of the Pirkanmaa Cultural Bank online service launched at the beginning of 2023 from the Ministry of Education and Culture's structural support for the renewal of the cultural and creative sectors. As a result of the grant, the service will be extended to eight other regions in addition to Pirkanmaa. North Ostrobothnia is also included. Practical work in the area is carried out in cooperation between the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia and the City of Oulu. Pirkanmaa Cultural Bank is a free online service maintained by the City of Tampere that brings together cultural and artistic creators and their on-demand services. The aim of the online service is to increase the employment, visibility and networking of artists, as well as the availability and diverse use of culture. At the moment, the service has 500 cultural and artistic authors and more than 400 on-demand cultural and art services. User experiences…

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 dominant from the comprehensive network to…

The Baltic Sea Commission's maritime working group of CPMR met in Oulu on 3-4 June. The theme of the meeting was the role of ports in the Baltic Sea. The event included a review of the security situation in the Baltic Sea by Pekka Toveri, former Chief of Intelligence of the Finnish Defence Forces, as well as presentations on the ports of Oulu and Stockholm and the Raahe region. In the new TEN-T regulation, the Port of Oulu rose from a comprehensive network to a core network. “Ports have been an important topic on the agenda of the Maritime Working Group during this EU mandate period, and their importance will be further emphasised in the future due to the security policy situation in the Baltic Sea. It is also important to ensure an adequate level of CEF funding to support port investments. The participation of our key partner regions in the meeting of the Maritime Working Group in Oulu was particularly valuable," says Sari Nurro, Chairman of the Maritime Working Group and Member of the Regional Board of Northern Ostrobothnia. On Tuesday 4.6, the marine working group made a visit…

According to the current assessment of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, it is only possible to submit amendments to group projects in the EURA 2021 system in late autumn, October-November 2024. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is making every effort to ensure that the timetable is not further delayed. The managing authority has instructed the intermediate bodies (= funding authorities) on the exceptional procedure for applications for amendments. Under Section 20 of the Administrative Procedure Act, the beneficiary may submit an application for amendment to an intermediate body in a free-form manner, because it has not been possible to do so in accordance with the provisions of the Finance Act by means of the EURA2021 system. A free-form amendment application that accurately identifies the changes can be initiated by submitting it to the registry of the intermediate body before the start of the implementation of the desired amendment and the end of the implementation period in accordance with the current aid decision. In the case of a free-form amendment application, it is good to contact the financier before submitting the amendment application…

The application period for sustainable urban development under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for projects under the Oulu Innovation Agreement ended on 31 May 2024 in the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. By the deadline, 13 applications were received by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. All applications were under Priority Axis 1 'Innovative Finland' under Specific Objective 1.1 'Improving research innovation capacity and deployment of advanced technologies'. The applications applied for funding from the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia for a total of EUR 1.801. Funding is available from 1,000,000 euros. Next, the project evaluation work will begin. Due to the summer holiday season, the evaluation work takes about 3 months.