Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2015 | Page 16

Breaking New Ground
Innovative cities transform old mines and paper
mills to 21st century moneymakers

The challenge that many cities face is generating new
business and new companies, thus creating more jobs.
Around the world, communities with strong industrial roots
have struggled as mines and mills have been shut down.
However, in the new knowledge-intensive Experience
Economy there is plenty of room – and even a demand – for
cities with an innovative mindset and willingness to see
tradition and history as a springboard, not a tombstone.

F

innish Government is active in supporting a string of innovative cities with
an eye for the future. Having pooled
together resources between science, education, companies and the government, the
cities will deploy methods that feature new
development environments, creating pioneering markets and national and international cooperation in leveraging expertise.
Under the national Innovative Cities
programme, development environments
may include demonstration and testing platforms for new technologies and services as
well as new operating models for competence-based entrepreneurship. Major investments for the future made by the cities (for
example in energy and water supply, waste
management, housing, transport and health
care) have not been – as of yet – exploited
as development platforms for innovations.

The Starting Five
The Ministry of Employment and the Economy has approved five national themes for
the programme and named the urban regions
responsible for leading the effort. The focus
areas are Bioeconomy, Sustainable energy
solutions, Future health care, Smart cities
and industrial regeneration and Cyber security.
14 Nordicum

The City of Joensuu is spearheading
Bioeconomy, with Jyväskylä and Seinäjoki
also participating in this theme area. Joensuu, located in Eastern Finland, is one of the
Finnish cities which is trying to think out of
the box when it comes to rejuvenating the
local economy.
The Joensuu Region has a lot of things
going for it: there is already a diverse product development and innovation structure
in place. For instance, The Finnish Forest
Research Institute, the Geological Survey of
Finland, the European Forest Institute and
the Eastern Finland Centre of Excellence in
Social Welfare are among the organisations
that can be found here.
Adding to this, the internationally
renowned nano research, carried out at the
University of Eastern Finland, has resulted
in the establishment of several nanotechnology companies in the region.

Seeking Growth
The most notable industry employers are
the metal and engineering sectors, providing almost half the jobs. In addition, the
region’s forest industry experts have established Joensuu’s reputation as one of the forestry capitals of Europe.
Recent growth has centered on the

metal industry, but also completely new sectors with plenty of potential have emerged
alongside the traditional industries: bioenergy, mining and call centre sectors in particular have developed into full-fledged
knowledge centres for Joensuu Region.
Furthermore, the presence of gold
and copper has generated successful mining industry operations in the region. Interestingly enough, the most recent “mining
operation” is not targeting precious metals,
but experiences and emotions. Under the
concept of ‘Treasure Town’, a small, former mining town of Outokumpu has created
something unique at the old copper mine.

Building on Tradition
At the beginning of 20th century, Outokumpu was a tiny rural community in the
backwoods of Karelia Region, but finding
copper in 1910 launched the area on the
fast track for industrialisation. In addition
to copper, the multiple mines yielded e.g.
iron, gold and silver for decades – until the
mines were closed in 1989.
Anne Mujunen, Marketing Manager
for Joensuu Region Development Company
JOSEK, says that about ten years ago, the
local actors started thinking about ways to
bring the old mine “back to life”.