news

The State of the European Union address by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, highlighted in particular the issues of energy market regulation and European energy independence. “Companies are collecting profits that they could not even have imagined. In these times, it is wrong to earn at war and at the expense of households," said von der Leyen, explaining that it is possible for the countries of the European Union to raise an estimated €140 billion from the excess profits of energy companies. More specifically, he did not open the action, but mentioned that it was temporary and that, for example, price caps would be a question. As one of the openings in the energy sector, President von der Leyen said: “With RePowerEU, we will invest in the hydrogen economy in the coming years. A concrete proposal is to set up a European Hydrogen Bank to invest in…

Figure: Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The different stages of the construction of the Haapakoski smolt downhill migration route were recorded in a documentary video. The installation of a smolt tube in the spring of 2021. In Haapakoski, Iijoki, Finland's first downhill migration route for salmonids and catching equipment have been taken into use this summer. A video has now been released on the construction of the fairway. The video was produced by BrainyDay Visual Oy. “This video will take you through the different stages of the construction of the downhill migration path, explaining why it was built and how it works. We are very pleased with the video", says Mirko Laakkonen, Project Manager of the Iijoki migratory fish project 2020-2022 from the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The construction of the downhill migration path took about a year, so filming took place at different times of the year. “Producing a documentary video on the downhill migration path of Haapakoski smolts was an interesting project around an important topic. Variable natural conditions posed production challenges, but flexible … between the parties

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, will deliver her most important State of the European Union address on Wednesday 14 September at 10 a.m. Internationally speaking, it is known as SOTEU (State of the Union). Last year, von der Leyen's speech naturally focused on overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, but it promised much more. Among other things, it referred to the European Union’s digital strategy and informed about the EU’s intentions to launch its own microchip production in a world that von der Leyen described as on its way to a ‘hyper-competitive era’. In addition, von der Leyen launched 2022 as the European Year of Youth, as young people in Europe are relatively affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The most anticipated speech of the year in the European Union The President of the European Commission gives every…

With these words, Sanna Salmela, Head of Welfare Promotion in the North Ostrobothnia Welfare Area, opened a seminar on Cultural Impact on Health and Welfare held on 8 September. ‘The wellbeing region must integrate cultural wellbeing services as part of its own service production. On the other hand, effective cooperation with municipal cultural services is important, as both parties share goals and customers", said Marjo-Riitta Tervonen, Head of Inclusion and Connectivity at the North Ostrobothnia Welfare Area. In the city of Oulu, the coordinator of cultural services for the elderly, Heidi Jäärni, already operates at the interface between general cultural services and social and health services. Perhaps such common tasks will also be possible in the near future between municipalities and the wellbeing services county. Expanding job descriptions and hybrid professionalism, i.e. working with different target groups in new kinds of work environments, challenge not only artists, but also the education system. Taru… has argued about the work of musicians in the Finnish health care system

A key objective of the New Expert Group on Urban Mobility is to ensure a more direct involvement of the local and regional level in the formulation of EU policy recommendations. The European Commission is reforming the EGUM Group and has therefore made an open call to local and regional authorities and sectoral organisations. The renewed expert group will focus on topics such as public transport, accessibility, shared mobility, SUMP projects and connectivity in cities and regions. The application process is now open, with 20 seats reserved for LRA representatives. Priority will be given to cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants, but other cities and regions can also express interest. Applications must be submitted no later than: 9.9.2022. More information on this topic can be found here. You can fill in the application here. Intelligent Cities Challenge –…

The questions of the North do not automatically take centre stage in the European Union; they must be raised there on their own. This is the direction of Mirja Vehkaperä, whose positions of trust include not only the chairmanship of the City Board, but also membership of the European Committee of the Regions. Vehkaperä finds his task very interesting and important. It is particularly important for him to highlight northern issues and illustrate conditions in northern Europe, so that the necessary issues are also understood at EU level and regional issues are taken into account.   "With my own experience of the work of MEPs, I can say that cities, regions and local areas are terribly far away from the EU, so we need the Committee of the Regions and to speak on behalf of the regions. The questions of the North always arise. No one talks about it unless we do it ourselves. Promotion …

The first round of applications for ERDF projects for the 2021-2027 programming period of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia has ended on 31 August 2022. By the deadline, 53 applications were received by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. Most of the applications were related to the development of research, knowledge and innovation under specific objective 1.1 Project applications were also received commendably for all other specific objectives. The applications sought funding from the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia totalling nearly 13 M€. The maximum amount of funding that can be granted is EUR 8.5 million. The next call for applications for the 2021-2027 programming period is planned to open in January 2023.

The Organisational Advisory Board of Northern Ostrobothnia will carry out 2-3 organisation sessions during the rest of the year. This is an online event on topical issues related to the activities of associations and aimed at all association actors. It is easy to join through the Teams link. The date is set at the beginning of the evening, as association operators often do other day work. ‘Outward orientation has been sought from the work of the Advisory Board. At the conference, we want to meet this need. Now we look forward to an enthusiastic participation!" inches Esa Aunola, Chairman of the Advisory Board, from the North Ostrobothnia Villages Association. The theme of the first organizational session is the organisation award and the theme of the award is the experience of participation in organizational work. Expert, project manager Varpu Wiens (Diak, Sokra-project) and service manager Piritta Pietilä-Litendahl (ODL foundation) are preparing the presentation. Check out the more detailed programme of the organisation session via this link. The participation link can also be found in the event announcement. All of provincial…

The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia is applying for funding from the Finnish Structural Funds programme Sustainable Growth and Jobs 2014-2020. The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia received an additional authorisation in July 2022 and this enables the opening of one more application round for projects in the 2014-2020 programming period. ERDF applications will be accepted for Priority Axis 1 "Competitiveness of SMEs" and Axis 2 "Production and exploitation of the latest knowledge and know-how". Specific objective 1.2 is not open in the application round, while the other specific objectives of priority axes 1 and 2 are open. The application period is 1.9-30.9.2022. ERDF applications must be submitted to the authority via the EURA2014 system (www.eura2014.fi) no later than 30 September 2022. Projects can run until 31 December 2023 at the latest. The maximum amount of funding requested (ERDF and State) is 70% the total cost of the project. Projects under Priority Axes 1 and 2…

In Haapakoski, Iijoki, Finland's first downhill migration route for salmonids and catching equipment have been taken into use this summer. The downward migration path was implemented as part of the large-scale Iijoki migratory fish project 2020-2022. The fairway was presented to the media and the public at the opening ceremony on 22 August 2022. Figure: Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The downward migration route of Haapakoski smolts consists of a control fence visible in the foreground, a funnel structure connected to the dam and a smolt tube leading to the lower canal of the power plant. “Good cooperation leads to innovative solutions. The Haapakoski downward migration route is a unique solution, both nationally and internationally, the implementation of which has required significant research and development efforts and open-minded implementation," said Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Antti Kurvinen. In the future, we will test and, based on the results, develop…