Ecosystems in North Savo create an innovative growth environment

Over the past thirty years, the Kuopio region has developed into a conducive environment for research, development and innovation (RDI). The interdependent ecosystems in the region enrich the competencies of companies and organizations and create new innovations.

TEXT RIITTA JUSSILA

PHOTOS WILLE MARKKANEN, JYRI WUORISALO AND TIINA KILVENSALMI

Due to their wide networks, the local ecosystems get noticed in international forums and the global market. Educational and research institutes, the university hospital, think tanks, good transport connections and digitalization have created an of the ecosystem both gives and receives, working for the greater common good.

“The ecosystems in North Savo are the most multidisciplinary ecosystems within one region in the Nordic countries, and together, they form the SuperEcosystem,” says RDI Specialist Johan Halvarsson from the Savonia University of Applied Sciences.

Development Through Cooperation

infrastructure for synergistic cooperation networks of experts in different fields, where the dependencies are positive in nature – each member

“The SuperEcosystem is an umbrella organization for all the ecosystems and clusters in the region and their member companies. Business Center North Savo and DigicenterNS also support the SuperEcosystem. It is based on the smart specialization strategy of the Regional

Council of Pohjois-Savo and the EU, which promotes new conditions for business. The active network provides companies of all sizes diverse opportunities to settle in North Savo,” says Halvarsson.

The region has many assets. It possesses strong RDI expertise, wide networks, short distances and four stunning seasons of the year. It is a multicultural region where everyone can be themselves. People from Savo are known for their willingness to help others, work hard and take pride in their achievements.

The development and growth of the ecosystems in North Savo has been supported by the innovation-oriented activities of the Regional Council of Pohjois-Savo, ELY Centre, various actors and organizations and decision-makers. Extensive cooperation between researchers and various educational institutions has played a crucial role in this development.

Enablers Of Growth

The City of Kuopio has signed an innovation ecosystem agreement with the Finnish Government, which outlines our joint efforts to strengthen and grow attractive competence centres. Introduced by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the agreement fortifies public and private RDI activities and supports competitiveness, employment and internationalization.

“The ecosystem agreement allows Kuopio to receive sustainable urban development funding from the EU that is meant for cities with universities. The cities allocate these funds to the priority competencies in their region; in Kuopio, these are health, wellbeing and nutrition, and water expertise,” says Arto Holopainen, Chief Innovation Officer at the City of Kuopio.

The City of Kuopio supports the ecosystems by providing test platforms, for example.

Kuopio Living Lab is a test platform formed by the City of Kuopio, Kuopio University Hospital (KUH) and Savonia UAS. Companies in the field of health and wellness technologies, for example, use the Living Lab to test and co-develop new products and services in an authentic environment.

The urban testing environment is embodied in Savilahti, which brings together living, studying, working and leisure. The district is being developed according to the principles of sustainable development, with due consideration for environmental, economic, cultural and social sustainability. The people in North Savo want to make Savilahti the most attractive research, education and innovation environment in Europe.

“Savilahti is like a condensed model of the city structure and contains several ecosystems. The district is located right next to the city centre, but still in the middle of nature. The institutes of higher education and research, companies and the university hospital in Savilahti combine research in health and wellbeing and practice,” says Holopainen.

Towards Global Solutions

Working under the specialization priority of water expertise, Kuopio Water Cluster aims to discover solutions to water issues around the world. This includes looking for answers to questions of how we could better prepare for extreme weather, take climate security into consideration and ensure access to clean water.

One of the main themes is leveraging digital data through data analytics and artificial intelligence.

For example, a virtual model of stormwater management can be created by using the city's utility services as a development platform, a Living Lab.

Different industries converge at the interfaces of ecosystems. Kuopio Health is an international, multidisciplinary, open innovation network of researchers, specialists, companies and funding agencies in health, wellbeing and the food industry. The ideas born within this community are used, for example, to develop new medicines for markets.

“International projects promote North Savo and describe what we have and what we can do. People also listen to us. Projects create new opportunities for companies to form contacts and open doors and sell their products around the world,” says Halvarsson.