The regional councils in Finland have a statutory responsibility for regional Development, international cooperation being a part of these activities. The regional councils are the regions’ key international actors and they are largely responsible for the EU’s Structural Fund programmes and their implementation. Regional councils also have the key role in promoting the region’s interests.

According to the charter of the Regional Council of Kainuu, the organisation supervises the region’s interests in national and international politics, creating and maintaining partnerships with organisations inside and outside the region. The Regional Council of Kainuu cooperates with organisations in Finland and abroad via different kinds of networks.

The international activities of the Regional Council of Kainuu implement the common development goals of the region, with an aim at supporting the positive development of the region. One of the basic issues related to international activities is also reinforcing public awareness about the Kainuu region and promoting positive image of the region.

International Networks

Regional Council of Kainuu is a member in several international networks, through which we seek to promote the interests of our region and the positive development of our region.

Visit the EU Office Website

The East and North Finland EU office represents the interests of its member regions in Brussels. In close collaboration with the regional councils the Brussels office aims to improve the competitiveness and conditions of the businesses throughout the East and North of Finland.

International Funding Programmes

International regional development policy initiatives are an important instrument for Kainuu. Kainuu based organisations may apply for project funding from several funding programmes.

Barents Euro-Arctic Cooperation

The Barents Council is the official body for inter-governmental co-operation in the Barents Region. It seeks solutions wherever and whenever the countries can achieve more together than by working on their own. The Barents organisation works in two levels, via intergovernmental Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) and inter-regional Barents Regional Council (BRC), assisted by Regional Committee (RC) and supplemented by the working groups.

Barents Youth

BRYC (Barents Regional Youth Council) is a multinational youth council consisting of youth representatives from the Northern regions of Norway, Finland and Sweden. BRYC was established to promote the interests of young people living in the Barents Region. Their mission is to strengthen people-to-people cooperation among youth and empower young people to be active participants of their societies. BRYC's five core values are: Cooperation, tolerence, reliability, fairness and respect.

Barents Sports

Barents Games is a sports festival comprising of 30 different sports. The games are an arena for both sporting and cultural exchange and makes people-to-people cooperation between the four countries in the Barents region possible. The Barents Games are annually arranged by one of the Barents member regions. The event is aimed at young people aged 15–25 and involving up to 10.000 young adults every year.

Our Team of International Affairs

The international affairs and communications are considered as a part of the tasks of each and every one of the employees of the Regional Council of Kainuu. The general responsibility of international affairs lies ith the Regional mayor. In addition, there are designated contact persons for EU cooperation (Regional Development Director Jouni Ponnikas) and for cooperation with Russia (Regional Development Manager Katja Sukuvaara, or her Deputy).

The coordination and the Development of international activities have been concentrated to the International Team managed by the Regional Mayor. The team reports to the executive board and informs the rest of the staff about the international affairs. The international team invites experts to its meetings when necessary.

Co-operation with other Organisations in International Affairs

Within the Kainuu region, the goal of the Regional Council is to bring together the internationally oriented and internationally functioning organisations and to activate and to coordinate the international cooperation. The unofficial network of internationally functioning organisations in Kainuu gathers when needed to discuss current matters. The meetings are open to all organisations interested in the subject.

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