Building Regional Resilience to Industrial Structural Change (FOUNDATION)

FOUNDATION project aims to produce more efficient solutions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in structural change areas across Europe. Regional development policies are aimed to be developed particularly to support regional resiliency. Project is coordinated by Munster Technological University (MTU) from Ireland, and project consortium consists of partners from eight other European countries: Austria, Finland, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and Spain.

The particular instrument to be improved by Finnish case of Northern Ostrobothnia is Sustainable Growth and Jobs 2014-2020. In Finland's Structural Funds Programme, the activities are focussed to Priority 1: Competiveness of SMEs. The structure and level of the new regional program differs from the previous ones. The program seeks new thinking in regional and national regional development and moves towards a more comprehensive strategic thinking model. This strives for flexibility, as well as for a proactive and rapid response to the changes that are taking place around us. The first steps towards new approach to the Planning for Anticipated Structural Changes are being implemented within this program. Best practices gathered during the FOUNDATION project, will showcase how the structural funds can be used to improve the resilience of the regions by building capacities of the SMEs. By involving SMEs in new projects in these regions to support their competitiveness regionally, nationally and internationally. See more from project consortium's web page.

Planning for Structural Change - SMEs and resilient rural regions webinar available at University of Oulu Youtube channel.

See more form the consortium’s project page. You may follow the project also at Twitter @FOUNDATION_EU.