Sustainable urban development is implemented as part of the Renewable and Skilled Finland programme within the framework of innovation ecosystem agreements between separate cities and the state. Ecosystem agreements strengthen the construction of attractive competence clusters and innovation environments, as well as the connection of Finnish actors to international networks and value chains. Ecosystem agreements are a long-term joint investment by the state, university and university centre cities in strengthening centres of expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The content of the agreements is based on the local competence strengths of the urban areas. Innovation-driven growth is sought from the opportunities raised by current societal and global challenges such as low carbon, resource scarcity, digitalisation and other new technologies. The objectives and content of the agreements correspond well to the set key national innovation and urban policy guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cities involved in the agreements are Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4, Vaasa, Lappeenranta-Imatra, Lahti, Joensuu, Kuopio, Pori, Kajaani-Sotkamo, Kokkola, Sein\u00e4joki, Rovaniemi and Mikkeli.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 Digitalisation in the changing urban environment<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 OuluHealth \u2013 Digital solutions for well-being and health<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Sustainable circular economy and clean solutions<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Cross-cutting themes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n o Start-up entrepreneurship, skills and continuous learning and business ecosystems<\/p>\n\n\n\n o Major investments and acquisitions by the city and other public actors<\/p>\n\n\n\n Link to the ecosystem agreement between the City of Oulu and the State can be found here<\/a>. The City of Oulu, in cooperation with the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, is launching the 8th ERDF call for sustainable urban development, which implements the innovation ecosystem agreement between the State and the City of Oulu. The content of the Oulu ecosystem agreement consists of the strategic focus areas and key programmes of the Oulu Innovation Alliance (OIA) for 2021-2027 (link: www.ouluninnovaatioallianssi.fi<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second call for proposals for sustainable urban development in 2026 seeks funding for projects that support the joint vision of the Oulu Innovation Alliance: Oulu is the best digital ecosystem in Europe with global added value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The projects under the ecosystem agreement and the OIA strategy will enhance the creation, development and internationalisation of high-skilled start-ups and support the growth of investments and RDI funding in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ERDF applications must be submitted to the authority EURA2021<\/a> through. The application period opens on 1 September 2026 and ends on 9 October 2026. The implementation of the funded projects can start no earlier than 1.1.2027. The duration of the projects to be funded shall not exceed two years. However, projects must be completed by 31 December 2029 at the latest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The evaluation and prioritisation of applications takes approximately three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project to be funded must be: The Renewable and Skilled Finland 2021-2027 Programme<\/a>, the Northern Ostrobothnia Smart Specialisation Strategy 2021-2025<\/a> (for projects under specific objective 1.1.) and Ecosystem Agreement between the City of Oulu and the State<\/a> in accordance with<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the project application process, the maximum amount of ERDF funding for sustainable urban development is 800,000 euros. The maximum amount of support funding is 60 % the total cost of the project. The City of Oulu has prepared to fund up to 30 projects under the ecosystem agreement from the City of Oulu Development Fund. % financial contribution from the total budget of the project. The required self-financing rate for applicants is at least 10 % the total budget of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next call for applications is planned to open in spring 2027. At that time, EUR 1,500,000 of ERDF funding will be applied for, provided that the Government makes a decision on the allocation of funds related to the application to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More information about applying from this link (link opens by 1.9.2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Governance structure for sustainable urban development<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Urban development projects are selected through open calls for applications using the EURA2021 system for the notification of application rounds and the processing of applications. The City Executive Board will prepare a proposal on the contents of the open call based on the needs of the implementation of the ecosystem agreement. The Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia confirms the opening of the search with a call for applications in the EURA2021 system and, at the same time, confirms the boundary conditions related to the lawfulness of the search. Among other things, the selection criteria are described in the call for applications published by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia in the EURA 2021 system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The selection of the projects to be funded is carried out by the steering group established by the City of Oulu. The key role of the Steering Group is to be responsible for assessing the relevance of projects, i.e. prioritising and selecting ERDF projects to be financed under the ecosystem agreement\u2019s financial framework on the basis of selection criteria defined by the Monitoring Committee. Funding decisions and the assessment of legality and compliance with the programme are made by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The Regional Council shall grant support from the European Regional Development Fund for the implementation of sustainable urban development in accordance with the proposal of the City Executive Committee referred to in Section 30(1) of the Implementation Act, if the granting of the support is in accordance with the Act, the European Union Regional and Structural Policy Programme and the Ecosystems Agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the assessment of appropriateness, the management team scores and evaluates the applications on the basis of the selection criteria defined by the monitoring committee. The Executive Board makes a proposal on the projects to be funded to the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, which initiates the preparation of financing decisions. Next, the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia ensures and confirms compliance with the general selection criteria as well as the legality of the projects to be selected, compliance with the programme and compliance with the technical requirements of the applications. Before making a funding decision, the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia may require the application to be completed in order to meet the funding conditions for the application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further information:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tuula Lotvonen (Financial Specialist) BusinessOulu, tel. +358 40 359 4236 or tuula.lotvonen@businessoulu.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aki Lappalainen (regional development expert) Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, tel. +358 40 502 1851 or aki.lappalainen@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sustainable urban development is implemented as part of the Renewable and Skilled Finland programme within the framework of innovation ecosystem agreements between separate cities and the state. Ecosystem agreements strengthen the construction of attractive competence clusters and innovation environments, as well as the connection of Finnish actors to international networks and value chains. Ecosystem agreements are a long-term joint investment by the state, university and university centre cities in strengthening centres of expertise. The content of the agreements is based on the local competence strengths of the urban areas. Innovation-driven growth is sought from the opportunities raised by current societal and global challenges such as low carbon, resource scarcity, digitalisation and other new technologies. The objectives and content of the agreements correspond well to the set key national innovation and urban policy guidelines. The cities involved in the agreements are Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4, Vaasa, Lappeenranta-Imatra, Lahti, Joensuu, Kuopio, Pori, Kajaani-Sotkamo, Kokkola, Sein\u00e4joki, Rovaniemi and Mikkeli. Key priorities of the City of Oulu-State Ecosystems Pact \u2013 Digitalisation in the changing urban environment \u2013 OuluHealth \u2013 Digital solutions for well-being and health \u2013 Sustainable circular economy and clean solutions \u2013 Cross-cutting themes: o Start-up entrepreneurship, skills and continuous learning and business ecosystems o Large investments by the city and other public actors [\u2026]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"parent":3379,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-31031","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"alternative-title":"","color_layout":false},"yoast_head":"\n
Key focus areas of the City of Oulu-State Ecosystem Agreement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 8th application period for sustainable urban development opens on 1 September 2026<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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