Finnish growth corridor

The Finnish Growth Corridor is a network of regional development cooperation extending from Uusimaa to South Ostrobothnia, which includes 17 municipalities and cities as committed owner members, as well as 4 regional associations.

Mission

The mission of the Finnish Growth Corridor is to promote and accelerate the growth corridor's ability to act as a pioneering region and ecosystem-based innovation and development platform, bringing together businesses, educational institutions and public sector actors in the region.

Strategy

Systematically building a fair, sustainable and inspiring future where people and businesses thrive by developing new solutions and working models for education, mobility, and entrepreneurs.

Vision

Our vision is to be the most internationally relevant growth corridor and work as a role model for other regions. By acting as a bridge-builder between different actors, the Finnish Growth Corridor will develop new operating models and solutions to ensure the vitality and competitiveness of Finland as a whole.

Values

Innovative

For us, innovation starts with a shared vision of the future. We collaborate with municipalities and cities, agencies, institutions, educational institutions, entrepreneurs and businesses to develop new innovations and share lessons and best practices.Our willingness to be a pioneer requires courage and the ability to innovate and to experiment together.

Open

Openness means transparency, accountability, and access to information in everything we do. It also means having the courage to experiment with new ideas and ways of working, and sharing what we have developed openly with everyone - to promote Finland's vitality and competitiveness.

Encouraging

For us, encouragement is about accepting, caring, considering and supporting different perspectives, which is the key to successful long-term cooperation. Together we are more. We treat each other fairly and equally, and support each other as we work towards a common goal.

Responsible

As our vision is to be the most attractive growth corridor internationally, this requires us to be responsible in everything we do and do well. We make all our decisions responsibly, taking into account the interests of the actors in the cooperation network, the environment and Finland as a whole.

Areas of work

Entrepreneurship

Through cooperation between the public sector, educational institutions and companies and through that taking entrepreneurs into the decision making processes - Suomen kasvukäytävä is creating an environment for businesses of all sizes to thrive.

Education and Innovation

We are constantly experimenting and developing new frameworks and working models to speed up sustainable growth for the benefit of municipalities and cities of Finland's growth corridor - and the whole Finland.

Mobility

Through advocacy and cooperation, we enable an effective, sustainable and environmentally friendly mobility in the area of the growth corridor.

Nationally highly significant

We are structurally more coherent than any other growth zone in Finland and, as such, we are the only growth corridor of European scale in Finland. The sustainable growth of the area and the cooperation between the different sectors in the area are of importance for the whole of Finland; for its competitiveness, the functioning of the labour market and the achievement of environmental objectives, for example in terms of passenger transport, logistics and land-use development.

The Finnish Growth Corridor is a core area for economic growth and competitiveness:

42% of Finland's population live in the area
50% of the country's GDP is produced in the area
60% of Finland's total RDI activity is carried out in the area

Members

The Finnish Growth Corridor is a network of regional development cooperation with 17 municipalities and cities and four regional associations as committed owner members. The owner members of the Finnish Growth Corridor are:

City of Akaa, Municipality of Hattula, Municipality of Hausjärvi, City of Helsinki, Municipality of Hämeenkyrö, City of Hämeenlinna, Municipality of Janakkala, City of Kangasala, Municipality of Lempäälä, Municipality of Loppi, City of Nokia, Municipality of Pirkkala, City of Riihimäki, City of Seinäjoki, City of Tampere, City of Vantaa and Municipality of Vesilahti as well as Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council, Häme Regional Council, South Ostrobothnia Regional Council and Pirkanmaa Regional Council.

see all members

Contracts and management

The basic activities of the Finnish Growth Corridor are carried out on a contract-by-contract basis, always with a clear goal in mind. The current contract between the members of the network covers the period 01.06.2020-31.12.2024.

The current contract is a continuation of the previous periods of activity: 15 November 2013-31 August 2015, 1 September 2015-31 August 2017 and 1 September 2017-31 December 2019.

The Finnish Growth Corridor is led by Jaana Villanen and the network's steering group is chaired by Markku Rimpelä, Strategy Director of the City of Hämeenlinna. The delegation is chaired by Teppo Rantanen, Director of the City of Tampere's Vitality and Competitiveness Service Area. The secretary of the steering group and the delegation is Launo Haapamäki, Head of Vitality of the City of Hämeenlinna.