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  At its meeting on 11 March 2024, the Board of the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia approved the implementation plan for the security of supply and comprehensive security of North Ostrobothnia for 2024-2025. Safety and security of supply have become a new issue from the point of view of the vitality of the regions. The changed geopolitics and security situation require consideration of issues related to security of supply and overall security of supply. The priorities of the Northern Ostrobothnia Regional Programme include interfaces for overall safety and security of supply. The implementation plan will clarify the means and instruments of regional development. There are three main elements in the plan. They focus on the development of RDI activities, the development of business and industry sectors, as well as people's smooth everyday life and everyday safety. The challenge in developing and training competence related to overall safety is the identification of competence. The county must promote means and opportunities for identifying and sharing know-how. The region also promotes the participation of companies outside the central region in innovation networks, when this is possible…

The municipality of Pyhäjoki launched the project "Developing clean and stable energy production in the Pyhäjoki economic area" in February 2023. The aim of the project is to explore various possibilities for energy production and further processing in Pyhäjoki. The project aims to find the best solutions, both technologically, economically and on schedule, utilising the infrastructure already built and the local operating environment. The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia granted AKKE funding for the development of clean and stable energy production in the Pyhäjoki economic area project. The project started in February 2023. A preliminary study on energy production in the Hanhikivi area was completed in March 2024. It is available on the website of the municipality of Pyhäjoki. The preliminary report states that the Hanhikivi area still has excellent opportunities for energy production and further processing. According to the report, electricity demand in Finland will increase significantly as the green transition progresses. Solutions in the Hanhikivi area can be based on nuclear power, renewable energy…

23 candidates applied for the post of Administrative Director of Northern Ostrobothnia by the deadline. The application period ended on Friday 1 March 2024 at 3 p.m. Regional Director Jussi Rämet is delighted that the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia as a workplace is interested in experienced and competent applicants. – Candidates have both administrative and extensive municipal experience. I believe that the selection will not be easy, but I would estimate that we can find a good Administrative Director among the applicants, he says. Jussi Ylitalo, Chairman of the Provincial Government, also states that the number of applicants is of high quality. – A good and representative team is available. From now on, the process will proceed according to plan, and the provincial government will discuss the election. The candidates to be invited to the interview will be selected at a meeting of the Provincial Government in March. The Preparatory Group for Recruitment consists of the Presidium of the Provincial Government and Council, Provincial Director…

The first meeting of the Northern Finland Advisory Board was held on Thursday 29 February 2024. The Advisory Board for Northern Finland is a cooperative body for dealing with matters common to the provinces of Northern Finland. In 2024, the Regional Council of Central Ostrobothnia will hold the presidency. The Government Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo A strong and caring Finland has written that the Government, under the direction of the Prime Minister's Office, will launch the Northern Programme. The aim of the programme to be drawn up is to promote the full exploitation of the potential of Northern Finland, especially from the perspectives of economic growth, regional vitality, boosting investment, skills development and the availability of labour. In addition, the aim of the programme is to promote Finland's security of supply and self-sufficiency in the changed security policy situation and to strengthen security in Nordic, EU and NATO cooperation so that the new geopolitics and our route to the west are taken into account.  Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo…, State Secretary to the Minister of Finance

The second work package of the EMMI project of the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia examined the climate impacts of wind power production and electricity transmission in the regional energy and climate phase plan of North Ostrobothnia, as well as the climate impacts of solar power production in general. The regional plan process for the energy and climate phase of Northern Ostrobothnia is underway. The consultation with the authorities at the proposal stage has just ended. North Ostrobothnia is the leading wind power region in Finland. About 40 % Finnish wind power is produced here. Based on extensive studies, a total of 61 new wind power areas, totalling approximately ​1,705 km2, have been identified during the regulatory proposal phase. The assessment of impacts in land use planning is based on the Land Use and Building Act and Decree. Evaluation is an integral part of zoning and its purpose is to produce the information needed for the preparation of the plan and the related interaction and decision-making. The TP2 study of the EMMI project was commissioned to refine the assessment of the impacts of the phase-regional plan in terms of climate impacts. Expert service provider for work…

Figure: Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. Iijoki's Jurmunlampi in Taivalkoski was one of the subjects of the documentary. ‘In the midst of unbreakable peace, Finland’s sixth largest river system, the Iijoki River, opens up.’ With these words, the short document ‘Iijoki of Possibilities’, which opens the life of the Iijoki River at different times of the year, has just been completed. ‘Iijoki of Possibilities is the story of Iijoki's annual cycle and the interaction between man and nature in the river area. Iijoki is a very beautiful shooting environment along its entire length, and the long-term work done there to restore migratory fish, for example, is awe-inspiring," says Johannes Valkonen, CEO of BrainyDay Visual Oy, who was responsible for the production of the documentary. Located in Northern Ostrobothnia, Iijoki flows through 370 kilometres of northern Finland. Starting from Iijärvi in Kuusamo, Iijoki passes through the areas of Taivalkoski, Pudasjärvi and Oulu and descends to the Bay of Bothnia at the Ii agglomeration. Iijoki has been…

This spring, for the first time, the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia will carry out the regional director's visits to the municipalities of the region. The series of six visits began in the Nivala region on Thursday 22 February 2024, when the provincial director Jussi Rämet visited Nivala together with the acting mayor of the city of Oulu Ari Alatossava. The meeting was attended by the municipal directors of Nivala, Haapajärvi, Reisjärvi, Pyhäjärvi, Pyhänttä and Kärsämäki. The purpose of the meeting was to hear them and get to know the situation in each municipality. Discussions were also held on the themes of the Northern Finland Programme launched by the Government. "The purpose of the meetings is to intensify cooperation between municipalities and the Regional Council and to identify area-based development proposals for the preparation of the Northern Programme to be launched under the auspices of the Prime Minister's Office. The municipal tour is a concrete and effective way to create the differentiated needs of the whole of Northern Ostrobothnia for the development of the region," Jussi Rämet says.…

There will be four employment areas in Northern Ostrobothnia – the Government confirmed the areas From the beginning of 2025, there will be 45 employment areas in Finland. The municipalities and the cooperation areas formed by the municipalities have already informed the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of how they intend to organise the services. The Government confirmed the regions on Thursday 22 February. The responsibility for organising public employment services will be transferred from the State Employment and Economic Development Offices to municipalities and cooperation areas formed by municipalities on 1 January 2025. In addition, some of the ELY Centre's services will be transferred to municipalities. The municipalities of Northern Ostrobothnia have agreed on areas for cooperation or employment. There are four areas of employment in the region: Employment regions of Oulu, Raahe and Ylivieska-Kalajoki-Nivala. In addition, Kuusamo and Taivalkoski join the Kainuu-Koillismaa employment area. Oulu, Raahe, Ylivieska and Kajaani are responsible for organising the services. The municipalities in the regions will obtain the employment services they need from the organisers. Government compensates municipalities for employment care and unemployment security costs…

The High-Level Expert Group on Cohesion Policy appointed by the European Commission has presented its report, which assesses the functioning of cohesion policy and makes recommendations for its future. The report discusses the role and tasks of cohesion policy for the future of Europe and how to promote economic, social and territorial cohesion in the context of the twin transition and demographic change. Key recommendations of the report include: • Cohesion policy should be more place-based and future-oriented investments need to take better account of the strengths, conditions and needs of regions. • Cohesion policy must deliver more effective and inclusive development strategies by strengthening partnerships and cooperation between stakeholders at different levels. • Interregional links should be stepped up in order to realise the global potential. • Cohesion policy administrative systems should be made simpler and more user-friendly. Read more Commission…

The second application period of the 6th application round of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia's programming period 2021-2027 has closed on 16 February 2024. During the application period, 87 new applications were received by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The applications sought funding from the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia totalling approximately EUR 20.1 million. The solutions for applications progressing to positive further processing will be received during spring 2024. The next application round is planned to open in May-June 2024. The schedule for the application round will be specified during the spring.