South Ostrobothnia’s Regional Development Plan sets the main targets for the work of the Regional Council. One of the goals is to improve the foundations of innovation ecosystems, and support the creation of internationally connected ecosystems. To support these goals, the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia is a partner in the project CODIL – COVID-disrupted regional innovation ecosystems, funded by Interreg Europe. Other members of the project consortium come from Slovenia, Ireland, Romania, Spain, and France.
We hosted the second Project Partner Meeting in Seinäjoki on the 7th & 8th of November. The cornerstone of our meeting was the workshop ”How to Run Innovation in Distributed Teams”, facilitated by Jari Kolehmainen from the University Consortium of Seinäjoki. The goal of this workshop was to strengthen the common understanding on the ecosystems in the field of regional development and to examine the role of distributed teams in innovation ecosystems. After looking at innovation ecosystems from different angles we are better equipped to tackle the challenges that regions face with the new ways of working after the pandemic.
We made a site visit to a local company Prima Power, which produces machines and automated solutions for sheet metal production. They have a quite new factory in Seinäjoki, and are also closely working with the local University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK). On the more traditional side, our evening program at Koskenkorvan Trahteeri included their experiences of innovation during COVID, in addition to great food, local beverages and sauna!
The presentations on South Ostrobothnian examples of cooperation and innovation included The Food province (Ruokaprovinssi), a co-operation between multiple institutions focuses on advancing the region’s agricultural anad culinary landscapes. Complementing this initiative is NextGen project by the University of Vaasa, dedicated to reducing food waste through innovative buffet dining solutions. And lastly the University Consortium of Seinäjoki introduced their organisation. This Consortium exemplifies collaborative efforts in research and education in South Ostrobothnia.
CODIL project is financed from Interreg Europe programme. You can find more information on the CODIL project on the project webpage.