news

The regional plan for the energy and climate phase, which is being prepared in the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia, is a good example of the work being carried out in the regional councils, and at first glance the plan may look very strategic and long-term. As a conclusion, one can understandably wake up to the idea that this is not about me. But the truth is another: the choices made in the plan, especially with regard to wind power and energy transmission, create a solid basis for the development of the region and will be visible directly or indirectly in the everyday life of every person in Northern Ostrobothnia. The regional plan creates the preconditions for development well into the future. The need to renew the plan stems from the county's own needs, expectations and choices, as well as from national and international decisions. The cross-cutting theme of these decisions is climate change mitigation and adaptation. The global political situation also guides us towards becoming even more self-sufficient,…

Change Now – well-being from nature!   The North Ostrobothnia Welfare Forum 2022 will be held on Wednesday 2 November 2022 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pyhäjärvi Central School, Tunturitie 1, Pyhäjärvi. The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia organises the forum in cooperation with Metsähallitus' Nature Services and the City of Pyhäjärvi. The event is free of charge, including coffee and lunch. The North Ostrobothnia Welfare Forum is now being held for the fifteenth time. This year we will focus on children's and young people's relationship with nature and the connections between the environment, physical activity and health. The forum also hears about local good practices and rewards the well-being act of the year. The program has been published. You can register for the forum and the joint transport from Oulu from ​tä by 25 October 2022. More information about the Welfare Forum on our website

At the meeting of the Regional Government on 17 October, Regional Director Pauli Harju announced his resignation from the position of Regional Director as of 1 April 2023. Harju has led the Regional Council since 2008. The Provincial Government will discuss the resignation and is expected to start the recruitment process for the new Provincial Director at its next meeting on 14 November 2022. Additional information: Pauli Harju, Regional Director, tel. +358 400 389 152  

The second call for applications for the Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme has been opened. On 8 September 2022, the European Commission approved the new Interreg NPA programme, thereby definitively setting out its priorities and objectives. On this basis, at the end of September, the Monitoring Committee was able to close the first eight projects to be funded and to open a second round of actual project applications. In this call, project applications can be submitted under all priority axes, namely Axis 1: Strengthening the innovation capacity of resilient and attractive NPA communities, Axis 2: strengthening the capacity of NPA communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to ensure the sufficiency of raw materials. Priority axis 3: strengthening the capacity of NPA organisations to exploit the potential for cooperation in the region. Priority axis 1 and 2 projects should develop tangible and sustainable results with a positive impact on the target groups in the programme area.…

Iida Hyvärinen, Chairman of the Northern Ostrobothnia Youth Council, is looking forward to her position of trust in the Northern Ostrobothnia Climate Action Advisory Board. He says that he discussed with the members of the youth council about young people's suggestions for climate work in the county. "We have discussed issues such as increasing public transport routes, carbon sinks and agriculture as carbon sequestration," says Iida Hyvärinen. According to Hyvärisen, climate issues affect young people a lot and are also discussed outside of meetings. "We are interested in what kind of planet we leave behind and what kind of planet we leave for future generations," Iida sums up. The task of the Advisory Board for Climate Work in Northern Ostrobothnia is to guide the formation of regional climate and energy targets. The Advisory Board monitors its operating environment, promotes the promotion of strategic objectives and monitors their implementation. The tasks of the Advisory Board also include promoting interaction and cooperation on climate issues in the region. From the perspective of the near future, Hyvärinen highlights…

The European Week of Regions and Cities will take place from 10 to 13 October this year. The thematic highlights of this year's event will be the green transition, territorial cohesion, digital transition and youth empowerment. The event is an arena for political debate, giving regions and cities the opportunity to make their voice heard in EU decision-making. The ICT frontrunner of Northern Ostrobothnia on display during the Week of Regions Workshop organised by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, University of Oulu, Luleå University of Technology, etc. "Kick-start for Digitalisation via Global Crisis: Partnering for Resilient Connectivity for People’ is part of the Week of Regions programme. Europe has the opportunity to be a frontrunner in harnessing the deployment and digitalisation of digitalisation and in developing and utilising the wireless technologies of the future. Wireless…

The new Government of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia began its work at the end of November last year. The work list of the Provincial Government has been filled with the preparation of the regional plan for the energy and climate phase as well as interest representation work. North Ostrobothnia plays a key role in Finland's transition towards energy self-sufficiency. The increased construction of wind power and Europe's only ready-made nuclear formula at Hanhikivi offer solutions on the way to energy self-sufficiency and electrification of society. Our region currently produces about 40 per cent of all wind power in Finland. The rapid increase in energy prices caused by Russia’s war of aggression has boosted the pace of decoupling from the fossil economy. Finland is planned to be electric self-sufficient from 2023 to 2024. Increasing energy production brings with it new branches of industry, such as the hydrogen economy, where there are huge opportunities for northern Finland. The new regional plan will enable an increase in energy production, but at the same time it will create rules for the heated industry. The provincial government is…

In recent years, the size of wind turbines has increased significantly in terms of transportation, which poses challenges to the accessibility of wind turbine areas, transportation of wind turbine components, as well as road infrastructure and other traffic. The aim of the study was to find the most transportable special transport routes to the areas of the wind turbines of the North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu regional plans. The study established the main routes for wind power plant transports, which were seen as the most important connections for special transports related to wind power construction from ports to wind turbine areas. The study also identified the main problem areas on the main routes and produced indicative information on the accessibility of wind power areas on the road network branching from the main routes. The survey was carried out by Ramboll Finland Oy. A state grant from the Ministry of the Environment for wind power construction has been granted for the preparation of the report. The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia and the Regional Council of Kainuu have been responsible for the self-financing. Other financiers of the study were the ports of Kemi, Oulu, Raahe, Kalajoki and Kokkola. Installation of wind turbines…

The application period for projects under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the 2014-2020 programming period ended on 30 September 2022 in the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. By the deadline, 20 applications were received by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The majority of the applications were related to the development of research, skills and innovation activities under Specific Objective 4.1. In addition, funding was sought for the development of companies' innovation activities, renewable energy and energy-efficient solutions. The applications applied for funding from the Regional Council of North Ostrobothnia for a total amount of EUR 3.678.153. Funding is available for projects amounting to approximately EUR 1.900.000.

The final webinar of the TUULI project of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia gathered an audience of more than 150 people on Thursday 29 September. The webinar went through the background, objectives and results of the TUULI project in detail. The webinar was opened by Mikko Heikkilä, Fingrid's Head of Unit for Strategic Network Planning, who gave an interesting overview of the near future and the distant future of energy production and consumption in Finland. Heikkilä emphasised that, especially in the short but also long term, lowering peaks in electricity consumption is the most important key to curbing the energy crisis.The webinar heard about the project's process and contents from Tapio Tuuttila from Sweco, Jaakko Raunio and Johanna Lehto from vision work. Sweco's experts underlined in particular that at the moment clean electricity is the best answer to the challenges posed by climate change and Finland is one of the best places to build new wind power at the European Union level,…