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Rural Finland coordination project
Published on 12 September 2018
Finland
Pohjois- ja Itä-Suomi
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
The project aimed to ensure two-way flow between national strategies and regional actors, intensify national and regional cooperation and convey development needs of tourism companies to researchers and financers. The national long-term goal of the project was to build a skilful, growing and renewing tourism industry to rural areas and to ensure that EAFRD funds are used effectively for the development of Finnish tourism industry.
The activities of the project included:
- Forming a network consisting of regional developers, researchers and actors of rural tourism,
- Providing sparring, briefings and material to project leaders, investors and developers
- Collecting and producing information about the realization of strategic programmes on the national and regional scale
- Creating new connections between tourism and other industries with meetings and exchange of information
The project organized several networking events in different parts of Finland. These events discussed current issues in tourism development in each respective area. Participants included tourism SMEs, financers and developers, NTOs, regional councils, regional tourism boards, Finland’s state forest enterprise Metsähallitus, universities ect.
The project collected data of tourism strategies, projects, development tools and good practices relating to entrepreneurship in rural areas. This material was added to the project website in order to avoid overlapping work and to share knowledge.
The activities of the project included:
- Forming a network consisting of regional developers, researchers and actors of rural tourism,
- Providing sparring, briefings and material to project leaders, investors and developers
- Collecting and producing information about the realization of strategic programmes on the national and regional scale
- Creating new connections between tourism and other industries with meetings and exchange of information
The project organized several networking events in different parts of Finland. These events discussed current issues in tourism development in each respective area. Participants included tourism SMEs, financers and developers, NTOs, regional councils, regional tourism boards, Finland’s state forest enterprise Metsähallitus, universities ect.
The project collected data of tourism strategies, projects, development tools and good practices relating to entrepreneurship in rural areas. This material was added to the project website in order to avoid overlapping work and to share knowledge.
Resources needed
The project was funded through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Its total budget was 350 000 €.
Project staff included a Project Manager and Project Coordinator in Karelia University Applied Sciences and four part-time staff members from University of Eastern Finland.
Project staff included a Project Manager and Project Coordinator in Karelia University Applied Sciences and four part-time staff members from University of Eastern Finland.
Evidence of success
The project improved cooperation and networking of tourism through joint meetings. It activated communication between tourism developers, financers and SMEs and collected data that tourism actors can employ in tourism development. These activities have reduced overlapping activities and improved the link between development programmes and regional actors such as SMEs. The well-tried activities and development of rural tourism will continue in Rural Finland II project that started in autumn 2018.
Potential for learning or transfer
This is an example of a project that has improved exchange of information between tourism SMEs, developers and financers.
The project has created several tools for tourism development. E.g. tourism strategy tool that describes key strategic development measures in each region can be used for evaluating correspondence between regional development activities and strategic objectives or for studying the link between regional planning and national strategies.
Also other tools and materials collected by the project are useful for tourism developers, financers, SMEs and project workers. E.g. project register (list of tourism projects) decreases the chances of funding similar projects and helps to minimise duplication of effort. List of product recommendations and tourism toolbox containing information on customer service, marketing and so on are especially useful for tourism SMEs.
The project has created several tools for tourism development. E.g. tourism strategy tool that describes key strategic development measures in each region can be used for evaluating correspondence between regional development activities and strategic objectives or for studying the link between regional planning and national strategies.
Also other tools and materials collected by the project are useful for tourism developers, financers, SMEs and project workers. E.g. project register (list of tourism projects) decreases the chances of funding similar projects and helps to minimise duplication of effort. List of product recommendations and tourism toolbox containing information on customer service, marketing and so on are especially useful for tourism SMEs.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Organisation
Karelia University of Applied Sciences
Finland
Pohjois- ja Itä-Suomi
Contact
Project planning officer