Turku-Southwest Finland European Office (Turku EU Office) represents City of Turku and Regional Council of Southwest Finland bringing together all 27 municipalities in the region. Our focus areas are: Blue Growth (maritime industry, Baltic Sea), Green transition (climate, energy, circular economy, mobility), Smart transformation (digitalisation and smart urban solutions).
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Smart specialisation focus areas in Southwest Finland are:
1) Blue growth and industrial modernisation,
2) Innovative Food Chains,
3) Life sciences and Health technology
The Region of Southwest Finland is looking for a consortium to join linked to the topic of promoting sustainable management of municipal forests. Our aim is to enhance the transparency and inclusivity of decision-making processes related to forest management while aligning with climate and biodiversity goals.
On 18 April, the RESIST project, in which ERRIN is a partner, hosted a webinar for the regions involved. The webinar focused on private solutions that can help encourage citizens' engagement in Climate Change adaptation activities. During the event, three solutions were presented: CoTowns, which is a technology that rewards citizens for contributing towards a sustainable urban environment; Maptionnaire, a platform used to design and manage community engagement; and MI4pADAPT, which is a DIY manual for stakeholder and citizen engagement.
During a dedicated session at the EU Research & Innovation Days, 23 new cities part of the EU Mission on 100 climate-neutral and smart cities were awarded the Mission Label for their plans to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. ERRIN is pleased to see that 15 cities are located in ERRIN member regions.
The European Week of Cities and Regions (EWRC) has come to an end. This year’s edition has been particularly rich in ERRIN’s involvement, with the Secretariat co-organising four events, promoting projects, and the Working Group Leaders participating in several panel discussions.
The RESIST project, launched last week, is a five-year EU-funded project coordinated by SINTEF in collaboration with INOVA+, which will support twelve regions across the EU in their efforts to build resilience against the impacts of climate change. ERRIN’s role in the project is to develop a Community of Practice and identify needs for a mutual-learning scheme. Following this, ERRIN will link LSD/Twinning regions with the wider Community of Interest.
On 11 October, the ERRIN transport WG co-organised with POLIS network, Stavanger, Berlin, Turku and Ile de France regions, a panel as part of the European Week of Regions and Cities. The event discussed how young people’s voices can be elevated in the future of sustainable urban mobility and how our future transport systems can cater to their needs.