1st stakeholder meeting - Savonlinna Finland

How to Strengthen South Savo's Talent Pool and Attract Skilled Workers?

How can we enhance the knowledge capital of South Savo and attract skilled workers to local businesses? How can we create high-skilled job opportunities in the region? And where will we find the talent for these roles?

The REWARD project aims to improve collaboration among key stakeholders and promote actions that enhance the ability of companies within South Savo’s innovation ecosystems and networks to attract skilled workforce. By seeking EU-wide feasible ideas and solutions, REWARD focuses on making these strategies applicable in South Savo.

Join us at the first REWARD stakeholder meeting to brainstorm solutions together. Your insights are crucial to implementing effective measures to tackle these challenges.

We especially welcome representatives from cities, educational institutions, economic development companies, and innovation platforms. Business representatives are also encouraged to share their experiences.

Why Participate?

In the information society, skills, knowledge, and expertise are crucial for promoting investments, business creation, and economic growth. Regional innovation ecosystems often face the challenge of creating and retaining a sufficient pool of highly educated workers.

To address global trends, rapid technological advancements, and the emergence of new work forms and lifestyles, policy actions must focus on developing skills required for smart specialization, industrial transformation, and entrepreneurship. The REWARD project brings together nine partners from across Europe (Finland, Ireland, Croatia, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic) to find solutions for workforce availability by identifying and adopting best practices across four key themes:

• Collaboration between higher education and business
• Entrepreneurship and business support
• Quality of life and regional attractiveness
• Utilizing new work forms (digital nomads, remote work, multilocality)

At the meeting, we will review the situation in participating regions, showcase "best practices," and refine our understanding of challenges in South Savo. We will also evaluate the measures already taken to attract skilled workers. Throughout the project, we will summarize each theme and compile action recommendations for regional stakeholders.

As a stakeholder, your participation is valuable throughout the project from 2024 to 2028. In return, we offer tools to address challenges in your work. Besides meetings, we will gather insights through surveys and interviews. You will also have opportunities to join study visits to partner regions and attend the project's final conference in Savonlinna in 2028.

Meeting Agenda

• 8:30 AM: Breakfast and networking
• 9:00 AM: Introduction to the REWARD project and Interreg Europe program (Taina Tolkki, Project Manager, Savonlinnan Hankekehitys Oy)
• 9:15 AM: Skilled workforce in South Savo – Current status and measures taken – Discussion (Anne Kokkonen, Regional Development Manager, South Savo Regional Council)
• 10:00 AM: Experiences and practices from across Europe (REWARD) (Pellervo Kokkonen, Senior Specialist, Savonlinnan Hankekehitys Oy)
• 10:15 AM: Ideation workshop – How do we address the challenge? (Jatta Juhola, Project Coordinator, South Savo Regional Council)
• 10:45 AM: Summary, next steps, and closing