Business Rovaniemi hosted a kick-off event
in late February to bring together professionals from local research and educational
organisations, businesses and city management to start a joint venture of developing
the city into a centre for sports, wellbeing and year-round tourism.
"Now
let's roll up our sleeves and together make Rovaniemi a world-renowned centre
for sports and well-being that serves the city's residents and increases
sustainable year-round tourism!" encouraged the city’s Mayor Ulla-Kirsikka
Vainio in her opening speech.
During the event, it was aknowledged that
Rovaniemi has a long history in the field of sports and exercise, but many
development plans have not actualized in the end. Now the different actors in the region have a
strong will to combine resources and work together to promote sports and
well-being as building blocks for new expertise. The participating businesses
emphasized the importance of quick and tangible business benefits as the
driving force for cooperation, whereas the research and educational organisations
saw that the initiative being launched under the leadership of the city offers
excellent opportunities for applying existing know-how, facing practical
challenges and developing new proficiency.
In the
spring of 2024, City of Rovaniemi will lead a process that will see the
building of a common vision, setting goals for development and making plans for
concrete action. One of the main targets is to raise sports and well-being into
one of the corner stones of the region’s economic growth as well as being an important
factor in the well-being of the city’s residents. "We need to find new
ways to get public and private investment funding from Finland and the EU for
Rovaniemi's most important development sites," said Antti Lassila,
chairman of the infrastructure-focused
sub-group and Director of Welfare, Educational
and Recreational Department at City of Rovaniemi. The arctic environment, good accessibility and
high-level of education are Rovaniemi's competitive factors, with which the
city can attract new top experts, companies, finance and visitors.
Key partners of the cooperation
are: City of Rovaniemi, Lapland Education Centre
REDU, Santasport Lapland Sports Institute and Olympic Training Centre, Lapland
University of Applied Sciences, University of Lapland, Natural Resources Institute Finland LUKE and several businesses. More detailed goals, milestones and roadmaps will be presented in
August 2024.