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Change Now – Leading the Economy of Wellbeing! The 14th Northern Ostrobothnia Wellbeing Forum 2021 will be held on 4 November 2021 at Kuusamo House in Kuusamo (Kaarlo Hännisentie 2, Kuusamo). The event will start at 12 noon. In recent years, the economy of well-being has emerged as an important social theme and its effects on public policy can be observed both in Finland and abroad. If development continues in the same direction, the well-being economy may become one of the most significant policy ideas, operating models and drivers of change in the 2020s. It has therefore been justified to make the well-being economy a new key theme in the region's well-being work and regional development. In the well-being forum, we hear the latest information and good practices related to the theme, increase cooperation and partnership, strengthen competence and acknowledge successful practices. The event will reward …

The Northern Ostrobothnia Digital Support project’s webinar ‘Digitally Better Everyday - Welfare in cooperation with Digitisation to the North’ on 15 October will culminate in a multi-annual project related to the regional development of digital support. Digital skills can already be considered one of the most important civic skills, but still up to one million Finns are at risk of being excluded from the digital society. The threat of digital exclusion particularly affects older people, but also other target groups, such as the working population, children and young people.  Strengthening digital skills can increase the fluency of everyday life and promote well-being, and thus strengthen people's participation in a digitalising society.  "Syyswebinar is one of the key events of the autumn and it focuses on securing better everyday life through digital support, but at the same time it is a kind of final seminar of the Northern Ostrobothnia Digital Support project," says project manager Maria Puotiniemi. Digital support has been developed in Northern Ostrobothnia since autumn 2018, when the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region participated in the Ministry of Finance…

The Northern Ostrobothnia Climate Road Map was adopted in February. Remember, we have 'everything counts!' There are resources for doing this, and the new programming period will bring more of them. To refresh our memory, the Regional Emblems tell us how we are heading towards carbon neutrality. It is good to remember that we do not own the land, we borrow it from future generations. Grab the climate road map's core messages here and let's put climate action on the air! Further information: Ritva Isomäki, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 40 685 4026

The regions of Eastern and Northern Finland will kick off the 2021-2027 EU regional and structural policy programming period in cooperation with a joint event on 3 November 2021 from 12 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will be organised as a webinar and will be open to all regional developers, as well as funders and potential users of the EU's Regional and Structural Policy Programme. Programme The event will be hosted by Development Manager Eira Varis from the Regional Assembly of North Karelia. at 12-12.10 Opening of the event, Regional Director Markus Hirvonen, Regional Assembly of North Karelia at 12.10-12.20 Video message from Commissioner Elisa Ferreira at 12.20-12.40 Expectations for the implementation and performance of the programme period in Eastern and Northern Finland, Regional Development Director Johanna Osenius, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment at 12.40-13 Renewable and Skilled Finland Programme from the perspective of Eastern and Northern Finland, IP Secretary General Development Manager Päivi Keisanen, Regional Assembly of Oulu Region at 13-13.10…

Welcome to the Assembly. Congratulations on the election success. Most of you will be elected Regional Assemblylors. Twelve and a half years ago I sat as a young representative at a similar meeting and now it's safe to retire when you see new faces in the hall. I don't usually give long opening speeches, but now it's been over a year and a half since I've been able to talk live to a larger group of people. A lot can happen in four years. That was the case during the previous Regional Assembly, and it will be the case during the next term. We were sure that the new counties and regional elections would have been held long ago. We were preparing multidisciplinary counties in good speed and in cooperation with good cooperation across party lines, but suddenly a couple of years ago came to a complete halt. Now regional elections…

The Smart Specialisation and Smart Specialisation Strategy for Northern Ostrobothnia 2021-2024 is presented in a new video. Smart specialisation is a regional innovation policy in which regions recognise their strengths and areas for development. in cooperation with strengths, regions stand out and thrive, but from the point of view of preparedness, the tip must not be too narrow and the regions must renew- The objective of smart specialisation is to create innovation ecosystems in the regions that enable the businesses to renew itself. Cooperation between research and education decision-making bodies and companies to generate and implement new innovations is one of the pillars of the strategy. It is also important to complement local know-how by working together in cooperation with others. Partners can be found in their own country or region, but increasingly in international networks. The video was created in cooperation in cooperation with the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region and its stakeholders…

At its meeting on 30 September 2021, the Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy outlined the regional distribution of funding for the EU's regional and structural policy programme Renewable and Skilled Finland 2021-2027. In the coming programming period, the relative share of Northern and Eastern Finland in funding will decrease slightly compared to Southern and Western Finland. The 2021-2027 funding comes from three funds: the European European European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (ERDF) (ERDF), the European European European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) Plus (ESF+) (ESF+) and the Just Transition Fund (JTF). From the point of view of Northern Ostrobothnia, the financing solution has both pros and cons. Northern Ostrobothnia will continue to receive the largest regional and structural policy funding from the regions, EUR 317 million, including EU and national contributions. The EU contribution covers €249.4 million of funding. As a significant weakening, Northern Ostrobothnia will face a cut of up to EUR 86 million in the European European European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (ERDF). This is …

The anniversary year of the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region and the Summer University of Northern Ostrobothnia will continue on Thursday 30 September at 6 p.m. in cooperation with a lecture in Matti Enbuske's studia generalia lecture series.  The topic of Enbuske's lecture is: Northern Ostrobothnia; From centuries of transformation to a vibrant region. The interviewer after the lecture is Ilpo Tapaninen, Director of Planning at the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region. You can follow the lecture from this link. You can read more about the 90th anniversary of the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region and the 70th anniversary of the Summer University of Northern Ostrobothnia here.

Jari Leathernen, Member of the Regional Board of the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region, Hanna Honkamäkilä, Manager of International Affairs, Pauli Harju, Regional Director, Ritva Isomäki, Senior Specialist (natural resources, bioeconomy, circular economy and climate Affairs), Tiina Rajala, Development Director, Erika Kylmänen, Environmental Manager, Lyly Rajala, 1st Vice-Chair, and Lauri Romppainen, Regional Engineer, attended the 25th anniversary meeting of the Baltic Sea Commission. The CPMR Baltic Sea Commission celebrated its 25th anniversary on Thursday this week. From the point of view of the protection of the Baltic Sea, the ability to act against the effects of climate change and to halt the rise in global temperatures are a key issue today. The regions of the Baltic Sea basin face the effects of climate change in many ways. In his ceremonial speech, Alexander Stubb highlighted three historical developments affecting the Baltic Sea. They are …

Issues related to Europe and the European Union have been reflected in the events of the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region in recent weeks. Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen made a virtual regional trip to Northern Ostrobothnia, Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen opened the annual studia generalia lecture series, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union speech was reviewed live. In Northern Ostrobothnia, the Arctic, the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, Participation and Inclusion, Africa and young people from the European Union were widely discussed when Commissioner Urpilainen made a regional trip to Northern Ostrobothnia on 20 September. Commissioner Urpilainen's visit began in cooperation with a question-and-answer session, where he was asked about topical issues from the perspective of Northern Ostrobothnia. Pauli Harju, Regional Director for Northern Ostrobothnia, expressed concern about TEN-T funding (TEN-T) and wanted to know how to update the Arctic strategy…