Development
Kuopio and its partners enable sustainable growth and a good life.
The City of Kuopio has several spearhead projects and other development projects underway to support the city’s strategy, vitality, and growth. External funding is used in the financing of development measures whenever possible (e.g. EU funding).
The projects in Kuopio are related to the city’s strategic goals:
- Healthy and communal Kuopio
- Dynamic and growing Kuopio
- Climate and resource wise Kuopio
- Progressive and cooperative Kuopio
as well as three themes that intersect all of the strategic goals:
- Digitalisation
- Partnership
- Internationality
The City of Kuopio also acts as a partner and co-financer in numerous projects coordinated by other actors. The possibility for the City of Kuopio to participate in projects varies at different times and according to available resources. Project proposals require discussions with representatives of the City of Kuopio well in advance.
EU-funded projects
Innovation and Skills in Finland 2021–2017 (EU regional and structural policy programme 2021–2027)
The Innovation and Skills in Finland 2021–2027 programme supports business, energy, climate, innovation, education, and employment policies as well as activities against exclusion and poverty. It includes the measures of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), and the Just Transition Fund (JTF). A newly included part of the programme is that funding for sustainable urban development is provided for innovation ecosystem agreement projects implemented in collaboration between cities and the state. The funding is used to develop the innovation capacity and ecosystems of cities based on the city’s activities as an innovation platform to strengthen cooperation between business life, research institutes, and institutions of higher education.
Further information: Structuralfunds.fi
Sustainable Growth and Employment 2014–2020 Finnish structural fund programme (EU regional and structural policy programme 2014–2020)
During the EU structural fund period 2014–2020, the City of Kuopio implemented and funded more than 100 projects. The implementation of the projects will continue until autumn 2023. The city’s funding of about 10 million euros has provided leverage for projects whose total value is more than 74 million euros. Most of the city’s project funding (more than 80%) has focused on developing the operating conditions of the city’s growth and business life and improving the level of employment. The largest of the city’s EU-funded projects have been investment and employment projects related to accessibility and lowering carbon emissions.
Progress reports
Progress report on EU-funded projects 6 February 2023 (in Finnish)
Spearhead projects
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The development of the Savilahti area is one of the City of Kuopio’s strategic spearhead projects. The aim is to create a neighbourhood of the future with climate smart solutions. Savilahti is home to one of the most interesting learning and innovation environments in Europe, and it is growing into a communal hub for working, studying, and living.
The city coordinates several significant projects related to the development of Savilahti.
Read more about progress and development projects in Savilahti: savilahti.com
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Kuopio is a great example of a Finnish InnoCity that serves as a platform for expertise, research, development, and innovation activities and investments, paving the way for the future. InnoCities (innovative cities and communities) is a network of sixteen Finnish urban regions that want to be international pioneers in sustainable urban development and business innovation. InnoCities participate in making Finland the world’s most functional experimental and innovation environment by 2030. Each urban region has signed an innovation ecosystem agreement with the state for 2021–2027.
Kuopio has defined health and wellbeing technology and water expertise as its top themes in the ecosystem agreement. Both of these areas focus on digital solutions that utilise data analysis and artificial intelligence.
Funding for the ecosystem agreements is provided from the Innovation and Skills in Finland 2021–2017 EU regional and structural policy programme funding for sustainable urban development (ERDF). Kuopio is committed to funding projects under the ecosystem agreement.
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The agreement between the Kuopio region and the state on land use, housing and transport was concluded in September 2021. The agreement will provide the region with more investments in sustainable urban structure and low-carbon mobility. The aim is to build climate wise urban areas, increase housing production in easily accessible areas, and increase the share of sustainable modes of transport, such as public transport. The agreements support the vitality of urban regions and the flexible organisation of everyday life. Attention will also be paid to the diversity of housing stock, the road safety of residential areas, and the increased accessibility of workplaces and services.
The entire agreement is available in Finnish on the website of the Ministry of the Environment.
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The Mieliteko programme is an ambitious development programme with a clear goal: we want to improve mental health and mental wellbeing and reduce the use of intoxicants and change attitudes towards substance abuse in North Savo. The activities centre around preventive measures.
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Viksu Kuopio brings together everything that is done in Kuopio for the climate and for the smart use of resources. Kuopio favours the use of renewable energy, smart mobility, and circular economy. We take care of the region’s biodiversity.
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The city of Kuopio implements the One Health for Cities project (ONCE), which receives funding from the EU’s Urbact IV (2021–2027) Action Planning Network funding program. The project will be implemented from 1 June 2023 to 31 December 2025.
The One Health approach describes the closely interconnected relationship of wellbeing and health of people, animals, and environment. Implementation of the One Health approach contributes to the achievements of sustainable development goals by promoting the wellbeing of the population and ecosystems.
In the project, a network of European cities will be formed. The network will work together to determine the best practices, tools and methods that can be implemented in the cities participating in the project. The means are cooperation between cities, learning and developing together, city visits, small-scale experiments in cities, and events together with regional stakeholders.
There are nine cities involved in the project: Lyon (France), Kuopio and Lahti (Finland), Suceava (Romania), Strasbourg (France), Loule (Portugal), Benissa (Spain), Elefsina (Greece) and München (Germany).
The project supports Kuopio’s vision to become the capital of good life. Project contributes to the implementation of the Healthy and communal Kuopio as well as Climate- and resource-wise Kuopio -strategic programs. In Kuopio’s strategy international cooperation is one of the goals. The One Health for Cities -project creates significant new connections between the partner cities. The city of Kuopio is a member city of the World Health Organization (WHO) Healthy Cities network and as a member Kuopio is committed to promoting the implementation of the One Health model in the city. Thus, the project is also concrete cooperation between the cities of the WHO Healthy Cities network.
The project is coordinated by the city of Lyon, France. In Kuopio, a multidisciplinary local working group is responsible for the implementation of the project. In Kuopio, Kati Vähäsarja, head of civic services, and Tanja Tilles-Tirkkonen, coordinator of wellbeing promotion, are responsible for the project.
Read more: One Health 4 Cities | urbact.eu
International networks
The City of Kuopio is involved in several significant international networks and projects. The goal is to promote active international networking and the contacts of the city, companies in the region, and R&D operators.
Contact information
Arto Holopainen
Chief Innovation Officer
Sirpa Lätti-Hyvönen
Strategy director