Completed Projects
During the 2014–2020 programming period we have carried out several international cooperation projects.
CESME – Cirular Economy for SMEs
The aim of CESME project was to improve the circular economy potentials in the local SMEs by exchanging experiences and improving relevant policy instruments. The partnership consisted of ten partners from six European regions. The project partners from South Ostrobothnia were the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia and JPYP Business Services Ltd. During the project each region created action plans that included concrete plans and actions to improve the project topic. In addition, the South Ostrobothnian partners developed a qualitative tool for SMEs to assess their circular economy potentials as a pilot project. The project was funded under the Interreg Europe programme.
More info can be read from the project website: www.interregeurope.eu/cesme
Co2mmunity – Co-producing and co-financing renewable community energy projects
The aim of Co2mmunity project was to promote the awareness of community energy (CE) and to increase the exploitation of renewable energy in South Ostrobothnia. Community energy refers to energy projects where local people are actively involved and the sources of energy are e.g., solar, geothermal, hydropower and biomass.
The ten policy proposals compiled as a result of the Co2mmunity project will help in overcoming the challenges faced by community energy and supporting its exploitation in the Baltic Sea region. By combining these policies, a pathway is created for more renewable community energy. Furthermore, a handbook of community energy in Finland was compiled during the project. It explains among other things what CE in Finland is and how we all can promote CE in our own regions.
In the South Ostrobothnia region, we also arranged a four-part excursion to destinations where community energy and renewable energy are being used. The videos filmed in these interesting destinations can be seen on the YouTube channel of the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia.
The Co2mmunity project was funded under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme and it was implemented by partners in seven countries. These countries were Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Finland. In our region the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia and Thermopolis Ltd. – Energy Agency of South Ostrobothnia participated in the project.
More information and documents published during the project can be read from the project website: http://co2mmunity.eu/
ERUDITE – Enhancing Rural and Urban Digital Innovation Territories
The project ERUDITE aimed at development and creation of new digital services in the rural and urban territories of six European regions. The partnership included partners from six European countries: France, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden and Finland. There were two partners from South Ostrobothnia: Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia and SEK Economic Development Agency of Suupohja Region. During the project the project partners shared good practices of digital services and created regional action plans to implement new digital services in their regions. The project was funded under the Interreg Europe programme.
More info can be read from the project website: www.interregeurope.eu/erudite
MAMBA – Maximising Mobility and Accessibility of Services in Regions Affected by Demographic Change
The aim of project MAMBA was to promote the accessibility of rural areas by developing new mobility solutions. In South Ostrobothnia the objective was to develop health and social service transportation in order that they could be arranged better and more consistently in different parts of the region. A Regional Steering Group (RSG) was founded for this task. The RSG supports municipalities in developing and acquiring transportation services and enhances the cooperation of the transport services in the region. This group is managed by the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia and its members are the municipalities, joint municipalities, the Hospital District of South Ostrobothnia, the Social Insurance Institution as well as the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.
The project was funded under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme and the following six countries partnered in the project: Germany, Sweden, Latvia, Denmark, Poland and Finland. In South Ostrobothnia the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia and Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences were involved in the project.
More information and documents published during the project can be read from the project website: https://mambaproject.eu/
NICHE – Building Innovative Food Value Chains in Regions
The project NICHE aimed at improving innovativeness of food value chains within seven European regions. The partnership had partners from Romania, Ireland, United Kingdom, Greece, Poland, Estonia and Finland. During the project the partners shared good practices of food value chain development and based on lessons learned created regional action plans to improve the innovativeness of each regions’ food value chains. In addition, the regional council of South Ostrobothnia implemented a pilot project where the regional food brand, Food Province, was further developed. The project was funded under the Interreg Europe programme.
More info can be read from the project website: www.interregeurope.eu/niche
Projects in 2007–2013
During 2007–2013 Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia took part in several international projects.
In digitalization theme, council completed projects ENGAGE and Egoprice. EHealth theme was developed in three projects: PrimeCareIT, ICT for Health and Connected for Health. NECL I, NECL II, and Baltic Bird were transport development projects. Other themes were volunteering (Volwe), immigration (Diami), equality in worklife (Winnet 8) and development of innovation environment (BSR Innoreg).
Moreover, Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia carried out a project (KATE) where internationalization of the region was developed.