EU-funding createses WELL-BEING for people, companies and the environment Vieremä

Kiuruvesi Sonkajärvi SAVON TÄHDET SAVO STARS IN ENGLISH Nilsiä Siilinjärvi

Dear reader, this magazine is for you! It presents various EU-funded star projects in . Leppävirta EU-programs may seem fairly distant but their effects are shown in multiple ways in the daily lives of almost all inhabitants of North Savo. They promote the well-being of people,e, companies and the environment.

North Savo uses three funds of the EU: the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Rural Development Programme for Mainland . The province has received 379 million Euros through these funds between 2007 and 2013. Funding also offers significant benefits: the state, municipalities, companies, educational and research institutes and societies canalize co-funding to the projects.

Project activities have created several new jobs and companies in North Savo. In addition, thousands of employees have received up-to-date education, various companies and organizations have received new research and education equipment and municipalities have been supported through building municipal infrastructure that helps industry and trade. All this promotes employment, competitiveness, innovation and production activities.

Financial support from the European Structural Funds in North Savo are granted by the Regional Council of Pohjois-Savo, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of North Savo and Finnvera. These organizations work in close cooperation with each other. Funding is aligned with provincial development programs. Most of the funding is directed towards the development of entrepreneurship. ERDF development funding is especially directed towards developing businesses in the following themes: energy technology, new planning and production methods of the technology industry, measuring and sensor technology, and companies in the wellness industry. The funding of the ESF program is especially directed towards reducing structural unemployment, promoting entrepreneurship, developing innovation and new learning methods similar to the working life.

We hope that this magazine spreads widely in North Savo, but also elsewhere in Finland and abroad. This is how we live - under the lucky stars. Additional information of EU funding can be found at: www.rakennerahastot.fi and www.maaseutu.fi

EU FUNDING IN NORTH SAVO 2007-2013 (EU + NATIONAL CO-FUNDING) European Regional Development Fund (ERDF): EUR 229 million European Social Fund (ESF): EUR 108 million European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD): EUR 42 million POHJOIS-SAVON LIITTO Total: EUR 379 million Regional Council of Pohjois-Savo

Publishers: The Regional Council of Pohjois-Savo and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of North Savo Editorial board: Soile Juuti, Jari Sihvonen, Janna Merenniemi, Juha Minkkinen, Merja Hilpinen, Jaana Tuhkalainen and Merja Sihvola Texts: Ilpo Lommi, Jari Sihvonen, Minna Akiola, Jarmo Seppälä, Janiika Vilkuna-Räsänen, Anna-Liisa Pekkarinen and Sari Toikkanen Photographs: Marko Koivistoinen/Tmi Kuvakeikka and writers. Cover page: Nina Mikkonen (left), Mikko Härkönen and Emmi Ryhänen Layout: Jani Siitarinen/Mainostoimisto Luode Oy, Varkaus Press: Offsetpaino L. Tuovinen Ky, Kuopio Circulation: 4000 SAVON TÄHDET SAVO STARS Regional Council Director Jussi Huttunen and Director General Kari Virranta:

EU funding has sped up the development of North Savo

- The EU Structural Funds have had an indisputable positive effect the changing needs of the work life. A special target has been young on the development of North Savo and the rest of Eastern Finland. people in the risk of being excluded. We still need new sustainable No one knows the exact effect the funding has had, nor do we know solutions for their employment. where we would be without the hundreds of millions of funding. Our - All these actions increase the national and international future sights are, however, now much better, says Jussi Huttunen, competitiveness of our province and the whole Eastern Finland. the Region Mayor of the North Savo. However, we still have challenges in reaching nationwide and EU- average readings. Renewing our business structure must still continue, Kari Virranta, the Director General of the Centre for Economic focusing on the strengths and developing new growth areas. Virranta Development, Transport and the Environment of North Savo, adds that points out that the limited resources must not be diffused too widely; EU funding has an effect larger than the received sum as the state, instead, they should be focused on areas of priority commonly agreed municipalities and companies add co-funding to the projects. - Regional upon. support has helped create new jobs and secure old ones, establish companies and educate thousands of people, which improves the well- International cooperation should be increased being of people. Jussi Huttunen is pleased with the increased cooperation between the Both Huttunen and Virranta wish that the EU’s development funds economic life, educational institutions and research communities. continue on the new structural fund period starting in 2014 without - There is still a lot to be done, especially in international networking. any significant drop. Projects started during the on-going period can Joint projects have already given concrete benefits to the business continue until the end of 2014. life and the whole community. I wish that the cooperation between - We need EU funding and we also have strong grounds for it. The companies and the public sector would also be strengthened further. sparse population and large distances from the metropolises of EU My special wish is to increase and diversify Russian connections. are still there. Also, the ageing residents add difficulty to the task of Kari Virranta confirms that the projects do not, in themselves, renewing the business structure, says Jussi Huttunen. represent the absolute value. - Their benefits are measured in permanent positive effects, such as new competitive products and New ways of development must still be found services and even better operation modes and innovations. These Regional development funds have, according to Kari Virranta, supported achievements improve the regional economy and employment of the many projects that have a structural effect on renewing the business province, even after the project is completed. structure and on strengthening the existing strong points of cities and - People involved in projects and their partners shall not be the rural areas. only ones benefiting from the results. The good “fruits” must be openly - Social problems of the society have been mitigated and resolved divided for common benefit. This is a prerequisite of public funding, for example by renewing professional skills so that it corresponds with they both point out. SAVONSSAAVVOON TÄHDETTÄTÄHDHDETET SAVOSAVAVO STARSSSTTAARRS A miniature medicine manufacturing process is found in Kuopio

PROMIS Centre is hardly known by regular citizens, but it is substantially A genuine and fast testing environment for pharmaceutical companies beneficial for medicine manufacturers and users. Jarkko Ketolainen, - Our central idea was to create a genuine and conclusively supervised miniature pharmacy technology professor of the University of Eastern Finland, testing environment for medicine development and the production process. We says that the PROMIS Centre project can speed up medicine testing and gather a lot of information from each step of the production process in real time. We introduction. will instantly receive information of quality irregularities at any process. This improves medicine safety and saves money and the environment, when large, erroneous batches are not manufactured. - It saves in the enormous development costs and gives new hope for ill persons. The Central activators are the Departments of Pharmacy and Applied Physics of internationally unique Centre is also utilized by the University of Eastern Finland and the the University of Eastern Finland, VTT Technical Research Centre and the Savonia Savonia University of Applied Sciences in training physicists, pharmacists and engineers. University of Applied Sciences. There are also several international partners involved, The operations of PROMIS Centre are, according to Ketolainen, focused on solid because the concept has awaken a lot of interest e.g. in Austria and England. medicine batch manufacturing and continuous processing, as well as on the continuation - VTT has transferred its optical measuring knowledge from the paper industry to processing and formulation of biotechnological medicines. Medicine manufacturing the pharmaceutical industry, developing, at the same time, a new company application consists of several process parts, such as mixing active ingredients with accessory agents, surface for PROMIS Centre. Some twenty local and foreign pharmaceutical industry granulation, pressing and covering the tablets. processing and measuring device companies are involved. Jarkko Ketolainen says that - Medicine manufacturing processes are extremely exact, well supervised and quality documented. Jarkko Ketolainen points out that the present quality assurance method of the EU-funding has been directed towards equipment purchases and personnel. the pharmaceutical industry, where only a small part of the batch is analysed in general www.promiscentre.fi after the production process, is bad for cost efficiency and medicine safety. Cleanrooms of high class in Kuopio Cleanrooms in the pharmaceutical, foodstuff and electronics experiences or education. Cleanrooms have promoted, for example, the industries do not mean that all surfaces are well brushed and washed. development of a research model for growing human stem cells and altering them The research and development facilities must also have VERIFIED, for new treatments. microscopically clean indoor air. This requires highly effective Starting from the needs of companies ventilation and filtering, good sealing and compartmentalization for Sirkka Malmioja says that the incentive for the project came in the 2000’s when different grades of cleanliness. Cleanroom training guarantees that Ark Therapeutics, a biotechnology company from Kuopio, had to train new staff the workers are not the weak link, for example by clothing. for their cleanrooms. The company was a central development partner in the rapidly started project. Some five other companies were also involved. The cleanrooms are built for research and educational purposes, being the only Other central cooperation partners were the University of Kuopio, Savonia ones in Finland, to the premises of Savo Vocational College at Savilahti Science University of Applied Sciences, A.I. Virtanen Institute, North Savo Hospital Park in Kuopio. EU-funding helped equip the premises that meet the extremely District, Kuopio University Hospital and its pharmacy, and construction company strict cleanliness standards, which also serve the needs of the industry. YIT as a cleanroom expert. Other cooperation partners from outside the province Substantial educational and research use were Tampere and Turku Universities of Applied Science and the Engineering Department of Aalto University. - Evident educational benefits have been the development of an ISO and GMP- - International cooperation was born when our cleanrooms and activities compliant Cleanroom pass education with companies and other educational were noticed outside Finland. A wide network of educational and research institutions, which ensures basic cleanroom skills and the knowledge of cleanroom institutions has granted comprehensive and substantial use of the cleanroom actions and production hygiene. This is especially important in dressing and concept. attitude. Sirkka Malmioja, the project manager, points out that the education is needed by everyone who works in cleanrooms, regardless of previous working www.puhdastila.fi SAVON TÄHDET SAVO STARS

IN ENGLISH New coating technology brings competitiveness to the product development of companies

Several companies in the metal industry coat their products. This Faster corrosion through experiments improves the durability, corrosion prevention and looks of the product, Juha M. Miettinen (left), project manager at Savonia University of Applied and decreases the friction. This is why coating is an important part Sciences, says that electrolytic hard coating was behind in the production process of the production process and product development. North Savo has development and that the industry needed renewal. A new laboratory-level front row research knowledge and resources for this purpose. research environment, tight cooperation among research and companies and new knowledge has narrowed this gap. Pressure to find new coating technologies is brought by the permissibility of - We have been able to study, develop and simulate coating technologies for chrome-VI in Europe due to its toxicity. Savonia University of Applied Sciences a number of metallic products to industrial production environments. They have and the University of Eastern Finland responds to this challenge by promoting been made in realistic miniature environments by e.g. speeding up the corrosion the use of nanotechnology in chrome coating. Electrolytic nano coating -where a processes. This means that several years’ long research can be shortened metallic object, for example a faucet or door handle, is coated with a thin metallic significantly. The new knowledge is taken advantage of in coating technology layer of nano particles - has not been applied in Finland before. education at Polytechnics, Universities, Vocational and Adult Institutes. New coating knowledge can be applied widely, such as in the development of vehicles and construction industry tools of the technology industry, in medical Nanotechnology is new in metal coating science, and in chemical and paper industry. Esko Helminen, managing director of Suomen Elektropinta Oy thinks that the coating project has promoted product development of the industry with its good research and testing environments. - The technology in the nanotechnology- utilizing laboratory researching electrolytic coating is of top level and ground- breaking. The project has increased networking between companies, educational and research institutions. It will improve the competitiveness of companies manufacturing machinery, equipment, commercial vehicles and construction industry equipment over time. The following companies were represented in the coating project: Metal industry companies Hydroline Oy, Normet Oy, Samesor Oy, a nanotechnology company Carbodeon Oy and a coating company Suomen Elektropinta Oy. http://enc.savonia.fi

Sawdust became an ecological innovation A new top product is manufactured with great expectations in Industrial production of boards started at Iisalmi in 2011. The company has Iisalmi. This product combines innovation and ecology. LunaComp, a received support for product development and internationalization from the product named after its manufacturer, is a thermowood composite, European Regional Development Fund. which is mainly used in terrace building. Suomalainen Työn Liitto has granted Lunacomp the “Avainmerkki” symbol. The terrace board of this century is made with a patented manufacturing process www.lunacomp.fi of thermowood side raw materials and recycled plastic, including 65 percent wood and 35 percent polypropylene. The thermowood raw material is in the form of sawdust, and it is from the parent company of LunaComp Oy, Lunawood, which is the leading thermowood manufacturer in the world. Ecology is shown in the product in numerous ways. It is manufactured at the birth place of the raw material, so transporting the sawdust does not strain the environment. The sawdust was earlier used as a source of bioenergy. Ecology is also accentuated by the durability and longevity of the product. The terrace board does not require surface treatment and it is promised to last up to 15-20 years, depending on the method of application and usage target. Additionally, LunaComp is a PEFC certified product, which means that the raw material is from forests that are treated in accordance with sustainable development principles. SAVON TÄHDET SAVO STARS

IN ENGLISH

Vocational skills will improve ETAPPI leads - The Etappi project serves many fields of working life suffering from workforce shortage by improving the skills of people entering the work markets, says Jorma Anttila, director the way to employment of the Employment and Economic Development office in Iisalmi, assistant manager Sointu Karstu and municipal manager Eero Ryhänen of Keitele. Six municipalities and cities of Upper-Savo prevent the exclusion of Eero Ryhänen thinks that too many youngsters are threatened to be excluded as the unemployed persons and youngsters without vocational qualification number of student places is lowered. Jorma Anttila sees that the project has promoted the with the Etappi project. Its results show such great promise that others goal of not letting people fit for work remain unemployed for longer periods. - In Etappi, have also become interested in the operational model. 700 people have each workplace is precious, so we support the searching of them around Upper-Savo. Sointu Karstu points out the low threshold of Etappi. -Virtually, it is enough if one is participated in the Etappi project by spring 2012. unemployed and seeks for a job. Project manager Harri-Pekka Luomi thinks that the success of the project is based on the systematic progression from the starting point survey, individual expert coaching and good employer connections. Individual coaching and support Good employment experiences

Luomi emphasizes the importance of coaching that takes the needs of both job appli- Validia Palvelut of Iisalmi has gotten Meeri Manninen, a happy and eager employee, cants and employers into account. The coaching stage, eight months long on average, through Etappi. After a long employment relationship in a telemarketing company, begins with a service need survey. Unemployment factors are analysed, strengths are Meeri was left unemployed. But with the help of the Etappi, she found new made clear, and goals and tasks are set for the coaching period. employment as a day activity instructor for the disabled. - At first I wanted to be - We go systematically through the labour demand of Upper-Savo and the a practical nurse, but I became inspired by the day activity instructor tasks during possibilities of the work market in order to find so-called hidden work places. We my practical training. It is important for my work morale that I can help others. I am have done over 1100 company visits and contacts by the summer of 2012. This has grateful for the help I have received from the project. opened up about 840 job opportunities of different types, ranging from vacancies to apprenticeship contracts and practical trainings. Etappi has also received positive feedback from employers. Eija Kuosmanen, Staff - The working life threshold is lowered by visiting companies and employers, Manager of Keisarin Korvapuusti, a café and pastry shop from Iisalmi, is pleased with educational institutions and apprenticeship contract education programs with joint the new employee they received from Etappi. - We made Elsa a permanent employee group activity weeks. The unemployed will also get acquainted with computers and one month after her training period, because we learned to trust her expertise, active learning possibilities, and the employment goals are adjusted, says Harri-Pekka Luomi. responsibility and customer service skills during the training. They are important It is, according to him, essential to create a concrete entirety of the employment matters on the demanding service sector and in a small family company. - Elsa is also or education path. - Some may achieve vocational qualification cards. Others may use pleased with her job, says Eija Kuosmanen happily. apprenticeships to show off their skills to their employers. www.etappi.eu Mega is making a miracle!

Mega Elektroniikka Oy from Kuopio is a real pioneering company in A giant leap forward is taken in treating spinal cord injuries and Parkinson’s if internationalization. The company manufacturing pharmaceutical the spinal cord shortage can be bypassed with a similar technology on humans. measuring devices has been persistent in making way to the There are three other companies and six Universities from around the international markets, which has led to a deal with McLaren’s Formula Europe participating in this nearly nine Million Euro project. One team, among others. Their export rate is now up to 70 percent.

One might even have thought that the pioneer company would have been able to choose a name for the street they built their new premises on. But it is a pure coincidence that their new premises are on Pioneerinkatu (Pioneer Street). Mega Elektroniikka employs 18 people and is involved in a joint-European project that has an unambiguous but wild goal: to make a paralysed person walk. The four-year-long EU-project has in its half way shown some very promising results. - We have already succeeded with a rat, says managing director Arto Remes, and shows an astounding video clip from the website of the project as proof. A rat wearing a harness is indeed walking, and even climbing stairs with a rapid pace! www.neuwalk.eu www.megaemg.com SAVON TÄHDET SAVO STARS

IN ENGLISH Golden Gavia shoots companies to the world The economic life of North Savo emphasizes on domestic markets and the export rates of companies are relatively low compared to several other provinces. An EU-funded project called Golden Gavia, the International service operational model project, has been started to amend this situation, participated by some twenty small and medium-sized companies.

- 12 public administration organizations from North Savo have close cooperation The project introduces a new activity - an Advisory Board - an idea devised with growth-seeking companies of the province in order to promote their by growth companies of the province. It gathers professionals of international internationalization, says Silja Huhtiniemi from the ELY-Centre of North Savo. activities from the corporate world and companies that seek international In order to be accepted into the project, a company must seek growth and growth, says Huhtiniemi. This group of some 40 experts is divided into teams of internationalization, and must be strongly committed to international business three; these teams then aim for the internationalization of the company. activities and open cooperation in the Golden Gavia network. A situation and Huhtiniemi points out the importance of comprehensive international target survey is made with the accepted companies, and a service plan is built interaction in internationalization. - This deepens the cultural and language skills, upon the survey, where the public services that best promote the international and creates confidential personal relations, which are vital in foreign trade. business activities of the company in question are identified. www.goldengavia.fi

A kiosk brought well-being services to a shopping centre

A well-being kiosk was opened at early spring of 2012 at a shopping A low threshold for customer criteria oriented service centre in Kuopio. The kiosk is run by experienced social and health The operational principle of the well-being kiosk is to lower the threshold in service professionals. It focuses on promoting the well-being, health taking advantage of well-being and health services, and to increase awareness and capacity, instead of selling candy, drinks and magazines. of them. Advice and guidance given by the kiosk support other preventive work. Tarja Hoffrén points out that the well-being kiosk works without The staff consists three nurses and a physiotherapist. They give advice to people appointments; this makes it easy and fast for the customers to come in for free of charge in well-being and health issues and guide in self-treatment or in self-care or seek for help. - Matters can be handled anonymously. But we still applying for other health services. The personnel at the well-being kiosk can emphasize that writing the information into the patient records is useful. We measure your blood pressure, haemoglobin, blood sugar level, length and weight. welcome our clients with a “how can we serve you”-attitude. The Terve Kuopio kiosk will also move from the city centre to suburbs and The well-being kiosk is, according to Hoffrén, an intermediate form of arrange popular theme Tuesdays with several partners. Topics have been for handling matters electronically and visiting a health centre. - We guide our example foot care, eye health, good nutrition and weight control, giving up clients to electronic services by hand if needed, so that they can do it from their smoking and coeliacie problems. homes the next time. A similar well-being, health and social service centre is located in Varkaus. In - Cooperation between the well-being kiosk, so-called third sector Upper-Savo, a health wagon is moving around the region, mainly in municipality activators as well as social and health educational institutions has gone very centres. Well-being kiosks have awaken positive interest. There has been at least well. For example, the student-run VireTori is connected as a part of the well- as many customers as we expected, says project manager Tarja Hoffrén. being kiosk project. The same goes for the training of the Master of Pharmacy students at the University of Eastern Finland, says Tarja Hoffrén.

www.kuopio.fi/web/kaupunkitietoa/hyvinvointikioski-hanke SAVON TÄHDET SAVO STARS

IN ENGLISH Pike is a fish, even in a soup

Jaana Vidgren, the food service director of Vieremä, says that a institutional kitchens. Healthy recipes and eating habits have also spread to dinner -born idea of adding pike soup to the menu has received tables in homes, says Sari Väänänen, the manager of the project. positive reactions in Vieremä. We served it to schools and other She thinks that it is essential to distribute correct and hands-on information to institutions of the local authority. We received positive feedback and food service organizations by education, seminars and publications. We also affected will bring the fish of our province to the menu in the future too. the public servants and decision-makers. Several municipalities came up with good tips and operational models, not only for their own advantage. For example in Kiuruvesi, Vieremä, Lapinlahti, Leppävirta and Juankoski, food services have tried out - It is strange to import fish from the other side of the world to Savo when our own new locally-produced food without prejudice. lakes are filled with common food fish. The same goes for the fields and their root - We have also acquired education from abroad. Experts from and crop, and the forests and their berries and mushrooms. The traceability of the food is visited and told us about vegetable foods and fresh products. These in a class of its own: sometimes we even know the producers. Jaana Vidgren points countries are before us in organic food, says Väänänen. out that adequate food deliveries are a challenge, but this should not be a problem during harvest seasons. Local food should be eaten fresh Although Finnish fish and other products of the nature are a bit more expensive, - A sustainable development workbook for professional kitchens was finished in early they still are, in Vidgren’s opinion, cheaper as a whole, safer, more environmentally summer. The “Lautaslaatu”-report on the other hand presents the nutritional facts friendly and employable than their foreign counterparts. of institutional kitchen foods. A notable discovery was that season products, such as More local food to the plate potatoes and carrots, should be eaten when fresh. The amount of vitamins is then much higher compared to foods that have been stored for longer. Sari Väänänen Institutional kitchens of some municipalities have increased the amount of local food points out that lesser refined, locally produced foods are also tastier and healthier, as in order to spread healthy delicacies to even more plates. This was contributed by the they are not packed, stored, transported and processed multiple times. EU-funded project Sustainability for the food services of Eastern Finland (KestITÄ). It The Biowaste campaign aims, she underlined, to reduce wasted food of promoted the use of high quality and environmentally friendly local food in public food institutional kitchens. One specific educational institution wastes 67 tonnes of food services of North Savo and North . per year, worth over 330 000 Euro. - The project supported regional economy and employed food producers and refiners. New operation modes and foods have stayed as common practices in many www.ekocentria.fi/kestita

the beginning of the autumn while present varieties only give crop a few weeks in the Berry cultivation in middle of the summer. If the experiment succeeds, it could be a sort of a revolution for professional farming of strawberries, as at least a part of it would move to growing tunnels and perhaps even new winds of from the ground into peat bags placed on transfer tables. North Savo would probably be the leader of the change, as a third of Finnish strawberries are produced here. The Berry knowledge centre of Suonenjoki has established a new Prolonging of seasons is also the aim with grapevine test farms. A total of twenty testing facility in Iisvesi, which seeks to find new winds for Finnish berry grapevine varieties have been planted in growing tunnels. The goal of the experiment is cultivation. The base test of the Polka strawberry variety was in its to find suitable varieties for Northern areas. They could be used for fulfilling the season of extent unique in the whole world. As far as is known, there have never berry farms and sell domestic table grapes in September or even as late as early October. been eight different varieties of Polka planted on the same field for The suitability of growing cantaloupes in crop rotation with tunnel strawberries observation. is also tested. A goal is to develop the rotation of crops in a way that laborious tunnel movements could be avoided. The experiment farm gathered during its first summer practical experiences of the Permanent berry farming field experiments are desired to be created around the applicability of tunnel farming to the conditions of North Savo. Three different kinds of teaching and observation farm to promote the deployment of new varieties and farming growing tunnels were built on the farm, which were used for growing grapevine and techniques in North Savo. This is why the testing farm is open for berry farmers and cantaloupe along with strawberry and raspberry. The light-structured growing tunnels research institutes. For example, MTT Sotkamo performs strawberry autumn treatment were used for testing two strawberry production methods simultaneously. experiments and the University of Eastern Finland researches the appearance of Continuously fruitful strawberry varieties shored to Finland some years ago; these strawberry black spots and black leg. have now been grown on so-called tabletops for the first time. The technique developed The Berry knowledge centre has received half a million Euros from the European in Finland enables faster treatment and harvesting of the crop. Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Tunnel farming and continuously fruitful strawberry varieties can significantly www.sisa-savo.fi prolong the season, thus balancing price changes especially on the fresh berry market. Continuously fruitful strawberry produces berries for sale throughout the summer and