At the beginning of the month, the Finnish government concluded agreements with 16 urban areas to strengthen innovation activities. The objective of the agreements is to build innovation ecosystems, in other words, to intensify cooperation within networks, strengthen key competences and increase effectiveness of RDI activities. The content of the agreements is based on the local strengths of urban areas and they relate to comprehensive and current topics of carbon reduction, digital technology, and wellbeing and health.
Ecosystem agreements are a long-term, joint investment by the State and cities to strengthen competence clusters. The agreements will be in force until 31 December 2027. The agreements are specific to each urban area, but in all of them, the development of networks is based on a high level of competence driven by universities.
In addition, the Government allocated EUR 5 million in national regional development funding to the urban areas for the launch of the ecosystem agreements. After the launch phase, the agreements will be financed with EU funding for sustainable urban development in 2021–2027.
More information and source: https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/1410877/agreements-between-state-and-cities-to-speed-up-innovations-in-carbon-reduction-digitalisation-and-wellbeinghttps://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/1410877/agreements-between-state-and-cities-to-speed-up-innovations-in-carbon-reduction-digitalisation-and-wellbeing
