The core element of the Interreg Europe - interregional learning - was strongly put into practice on the 11th and 12th of May 2022, when Rural Growth partners visited their Finnish partner in Savonlinna.
During the two intensive days joint meetings were held between the partnership. The hosting partner and stakeholder representatives of Nagykanizsa and Drenthe presented interesting good practices and gave examples, how they have tackled Covid-19-related problems in the regions. The extension project, which is ongoing until Autumn 2022, concentrates namely on policy improvement in relation to problems caused by the pandemic.
The Finnish Programme Managing Authority, Regional Council of South Savo, was presented by Ms. Tuula Kokkonen during the first day. Opportunity to international co-operation in form of project is valued very much. The special features of the region, such as high number of second homes and the meaning of nature, were depicted well to the participants. Concrete examples of the utilisation of nature as an attractive factor during the pandemic were offered in the afternoon session, when the group head to the Saimaa seal archipelago. During the cruise they also a change to familiarize with a VR adaption of different cruise options, which was one of the innovations realised as a measure against Covid-restrictions.
In the second day the partners learnt more about second homes, digital services for entrepreneurs and the nature paths and mobile interpretations, which have been developed especially in the area of Punkaharju. Some of the project partners had visited the area earlier, so now they had a chance to see, how it has developed since the previous meeting in Savonlinna. The highlight of the day was a baking workshop, where the participants could try baking Karelian pasties and cinnamon buns. Both are typical Finnish bakings and the Karelian pasties even have a Traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) status.
