Lappeenranta-Imatra region leading national innovation work on green electrification

The flagship projects will foster partnerships between regions in the development of the digital-green industrial transition and future technologies.

Sustainable energy, industry, production and consumption patterns and healthy, well-being are the themes that link the ecosystem agreements signed by the InnoCities. The idea behind the stakeholder projects is to complement and strengthen the regions' shared knowledge and co-development. The cooperation increases the international visibility of Finnish expertise as cities and operators compete for foreign talent and RDI investment.

In addition to the ecosystem agreements, the themes will be taken forward in group projects led by RDI actors in Lappeenranta, Kokkola, Tampere, Joensuu, Oulu and Jyväskylä.

There will be six lead projects promoting innovation and business in the following themes: green electrification, battery chemicals, mobile machinery, photonics, and physical activity and digital health and well-being technologies.

- The projects will increase collaboration and division of labour between clusters of excellence to deliver innovation-driven growth. The themes will focus on strengthening knowledge, foresight and innovation, developing new technologies and promoting interregional and international partnerships," said Petri Peltonen, chairman of the National Steering Group.

Each lead project brings together actors from at least three InnoCities. The lead projects are two-year projects. The themes to be developed are based on ecosystem agreements signed by the state and 16 city regions.

The Lappeenranta-Imatra city region has already signed an agreement with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM) on the focus of product development and innovation work in green electrification for the period 2021-2027, and now the strengthening of the innovation ecosystem for green electrification in Finland has also been assigned to Lappeenranta and LUT.

- With this project, we will complement and strengthen co-creation between the regions and increase the international visibility of the sector's expertise. Lappeenranta has already worked persistently to increase cooperation on green electrification in Finland. The lead responsibility project bringing together the top cities in green electrification is the next step in developing this cooperation, and LUT University is the natural driver of the project," says Development Director Markku Heinonen from Lappeenranta. LUT and the Lappeenranta city region are partners in strengthening the national innovation ecosystem for green electrification, with the ecosystem operators of Oulu, Vaasa, Jyväskylä and Joensuu, and the city regions of Raahe and Kokkola.

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