Living and working smart in Eastern and Northern Lapland (EIP)
Municipalities are key drivers of regional development and innovation. The aim of this project is therefore to strengthen, across municipal boundaries, the sub-regional municipalities of Eastern and Northern Lapland in order to discover, exploit and promote the region’s know-how in research, development and innovation (RDI) and to support internationalisation efforts.
Project description and objective
The aim of the project is to identify the growth and strength areas in Eastern and Northern Lapland and, based on these, to define three to five smart specialisation clusters. The project will be implemented through cooperation between the public and private sectors and research institutes, using workshops and seminars and best practices in smart specialisation from other municipalities. The project will also help to strengthen innovation cooperation between Eastern and Northern Lapland and to create a growth agenda for smart specialisation in the sub-region. The networks established during the project will be exploited and monitoring methods will be developed for the measures created. The knowledge capital generated will be used as a continuous process in which actors in Eastern and Northern Lapland work on national and international initiatives with the partnerships created by the project.
Funding of the project
The Regional Council of Lapland has allocated €214,000 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the state to the project ”Vitality and Smart Activities in Eastern and Northern Lapland” (EIP). The aid amounts to
up to 80% of the total amount. The remaining 20% will be financed by the municipalities in the region. The project will run until 30.04.2023. The main contractor is the Regional Cooperation Association of Northern Lapland.