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Search information for companies and stakeholders in Northern Finland: Business development grant in the new programming period - what will change? The Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Northern Ostrobothnia organises application information for small and medium-sized enterprises on business development grants (EU co-funded) as part of the Renewable and Skilled Finland 2021-2027 Finnish Structural Funds programme. Two information sessions with the same content are available for companies on 28 February and 17 March 2022. Read more: https://structuralfunds.fi/-/enterprise-development grant-new-programme period-whatever-changes-Investments and prospects for livelihoods in the Barents region According to a study published by the Lapland Chamber of Commerce, the investment potential of the Barents region reaches EUR 178 billion. Of this total, EUR 86 billion will be allocated to industrial projects, EUR 50 billion to energy projects, EUR 32 billion to infrastructure projects, EUR 4 billion to tourism and EUR 6 billion to other projects. The report took into account the investments in implementation, confirmed and planned, mainly until 2030. Results…

The Ministry of the Environment's wood construction programme has commissioned a statistical analysis of the significance of the wood product industry in Finland and different regions with Pellervo's economic study. The data now updated mainly concern the year 2020 and are based on Statistics Finland's data. The gross value of production in the wood products and furniture industry was EUR 7.7 billion in 2020, of which Northern Ostrobothnia accounted for 12.5 per cent. The gross value of production in the wood products and furniture industry in North Ostrobothnia was 11 per cent of the gross value of production in the region's total industry in 2020 (the whole country 7 per cent). The wood products and furniture industry in Northern Ostrobothnia generated approximately EUR 199 million in value added (sales revenue - costs) in 2020. In Northern Ostrobothnia, the wood products and furniture industry accounted for 15 per cent of all employed persons in manufacturing. % in 2020. The wood products and furniture industry paid approximately EUR 125 million in wages and salaries in Northern Ostrobothnia in …

Supporting the sustainable growth and vitality of the regions, i.e. the application period for AKKE funding, has ended. By the deadline, 15 applications were received and a total of €946,381.94 was applied for funding from the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. Applications will be processed immediately.

The main themes highlighted in the final report of the Act 8 Smart Route project were the use of new technologies to improve transport efficiency, social and environmental issues related to smart roads and infrastructure related to special transports. The final report of the Vt 8 Älyväylä project managed by the Kasitie network has been completed. The project served as a preliminary study on the needs of the business community and the possibilities of the intelligence of the route to serve the needs of Western Finland's export industry. The project started in 2021 and was designed and implemented by WSP Finland Oy. In total, three workshops were carried out in which representatives of the business community, together with regional authorities, were able to map the challenges of highway 8 from the perspective of the export industry. The first workshop took place on 7 October 2021. The topics discussed in the workshop were the needs of business supply chains, as well as intelligent transport services connected to infrastructure and their utilization. Participants in the workshop wrote…

The call for partners for the Finnish-Russian Cultural Forum is currently underway and Finnish actors can use it to search for project partners in Russia. The call for partners is open until 1 March, so now is the right time to submit project proposals. The search for a partner in Russia can be started by filling in the project proposal form on the renewed website of the Cultural Forum at www.kultforum.org. Russian partner candidates will respond to Finnish proposals during the spring. Remote consultations will be held during the summer. The XXIII Finnish-Russian Cultural Forum is scheduled to take place in Lahti on 7-8 October 2022. If you are interested in the Cultural Forum and partner search, you can participate in the information event organised on 8 February at 2 p.m. via Zoom. You can register for the event here.

Supporting the sustainable growth and vitality of the regions, i.e. the application period for AKKE project funding, is still open for one week, applications can be submitted until 31 January 2022 at 4 p.m.

The City of Oulu and the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia have commented on Parliament's letter to the European Commission. According to the comments, Oulu airport and port should be included in the TEN-T core network. On 14 December 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new TEN-T Regulation, which includes the definition of the TEN-T network and the requirements to be met by the TEN-T network. The Ministry of Transport and Communications is currently preparing a U-Letter to Parliament on the proposal. According to the views of the City of Oulu and the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, the proposal for the TEN-T Regulation and the draft U-letter prepared by the Ministry of Transport and Communications do not take Oulu and Northern Finland into account in accordance with the position of the Government and the decision of the Grand Committee and the Transport and Communications Committee. On 5 May 2021, Parliament’s Transport and Communications Committee emphasised that ‘Finland should present Oulu airport on the TEN-T core network and thus as part of the core network corridor. This would also support opportunities to name …

The Government of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia appointed the Advisory Board for Organisations for 2022-2025 at its meeting on 20 December 2021. The tasks of the Advisory Board are to participate in the regional development work of the county, to make the organisation's activities visible and known, to promote the opportunities for citizens and organisations to participate, both between organisations and between organisations and the public sector. The Advisory Board for Organisations acts as a working group, ensuring that organisations are widely involved in the implementation of their tasks. Organisations are asked to nominate their candidates for membership of the Advisory Board by 15 February 2022. The nomination is made through this link The nominee nominated by the Organization undertakes to work for the benefit of the entire organizational field of the Province. The Regional Government of Northern Ostrobothnia will appoint an Organisational Advisory Board on 14 March 2022. Criteria for the selection of the members of the NAC: The advisory board is formed from organisations in different fields in such a way that it is as multidisciplinary and comprehensive as possible. Organisations operate in the whole of Northern Ostrobothnia or beyond, or …

Due to the coronavirus epidemic, we are not organizing a traditional reception for Women's Day on 8 March.    

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) call for projects under Axis 2 ended on 31 December 2021 in the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. By the deadline, 13 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 of EUR 2.399.310. The funding available for the projects is approximately EUR 1,400,000 million.