Regional development

The Regional Councils, as regional development authorities, have the main responsibility for regional development on the basis of Finnish law. However, the development of regions is in practice the result of cooperation between many regional, national and even international actors.

Regional plans, programmes and annual action plans are drawn up in collaboration with actors involved in the overall development of the region. Thus Regional Councils set directions and assume the leading position in regional development. The primary responsibility for land use planning and overall regional planning lies with the Regional Councils. However, as this has wide-ranging effects on various actors and residents in the area, hearings involving different bodies are organised in the course of the planning process, and feedback is considered in the drafting of the final plans.

The councils take care of regional development by compiling the EU’s structural programmes and overseeing their implementation in collaboration with the Employment and Economic Development Centres, the Environmental Centres, the Road District Offices and the Provincial Offices. In addition, the national funding assigned to the Regional Councils is used to initiate local and regional development projects. The regional councils have also created an international co-operation network.

The councils offer their knowledge and expertise for use in regional development planning, international cooperation and participation in EU programmes for new EU countries.