South Karelia’s regional programme 2022–2025: Sustainable haven for innovative thinkers

South Karelia’s regional programme is based on the promotion of comprehensive sustainability. The region’s vision is to be a sustainable haven for innovative thinkers.

In addition to the regional development priorities for the next four years, South Karelia’s regional programme contains a vision stretching up to 2040 and the priorities of its smart specialisation strategy. The priorities for the next few years build on the region’s strengths and opportunities. They have been encapsulated into four spearheads of development, each of which has a separate vision specifying the goals. They are expressed as hashtags. Each of the programme’s spearheads of development is also linked to the goals of smart specialisation, providing added depth in terms of RDI activities.

The drivers of change cutting across the entire regional programme are accessibility, digital power, culture of experimentation and internationality.

The region has specified the following priorities for development in 2022–2025:

Välittävä eKarjala #kumppanit

A caring eKarjala #partners

  • Promoting a healthy lifestyle collaboratively

  • Mental wellbeing as a resource

  • Promoting employment multidisciplinarily

  • User-oriented wellbeing services (smart specialisation)

An entrepreneurial eKarjala #achievers

  • A vibrant and attractive business environment

  • Availability of competence and talent and a smooth transition to work

  • An entrepreneurial atmosphere and co-creation

  • Industry renewal and entrepreneurship (smart specialisation)

An environmentally responsible eKarjala #innovativethinkers

  • A carbon neutral region as a test platform for solutions with climatic impacts

  • Sustainable natural resource use, the bioeconomy and circular economy

  • Biodiversity and high-quality water resources

  • Frontrunner in the green transition (smart specialisation)

A lively and agile eKarjala #playmakers

  • Boosting a positive attitude to change and team spirit

  • Vitality, attractiveness and wellbeing from culture

  • Developing tourism in the Saimaa region

  • Strengthening the experience economy (smart specialisation)

> South Karelia’s regional programme 2022–2025

> South Karelia’s innovation strategy 2022–2025 (Smart specialisation strategy)


Inquiries:

Laura Peuhkuri
Regional Development Manager
Regional Council of South Karelia
tel. +358 40 631 5970
firstname.lastname(at)ekarjala.fi