From eTampere to creative Tampere

by Ms Liina Penttilä

Tampere is an international growth centre with good services, expertise, and creativity. This lively city has been voted the most attractive place to live and to study in Finland. The region's success has been influenced greatly by the top research, solid education and availability of skilled a professionals.

For many decades, Tampere has been recognised internationally for its bold new initiatives aimed at business. Recently completed successful work of the five-year eTampere Programme transformed Tampere decisively into the world's leading city in the research, development, and application of the 'knowledge society'. In Finnish terms, Tampere is also home to a significant cultural industry and content development cluster. Thanks to time and money invested in this field, there is a great potential for culture to become even more important production factor and pilot of economic growth in the area.

Creative Tampere is the city's new business development policy programme, for implementation in 2006-2011. The programme has been divided into three theme areas: cultural industry, service innovations and structures for creativity.

The main target of the programme is to create new jobs in these selected areas by promoting interaction between representatives of different sectors to develop new creative concepts. It also provides financial support for changes and modernisation in existing jobs. The resulting successes will enhance the recognition and image of Tampere Region. Creative Tampere takes a very hands-on
approach in its implementation. All project ideas, project implementation, and administration originate with the parties directly involved.

Tampere is the programme originator and acts as a facilitator, in addition to formulating the concepts and setting targets for them. The implementers are enterprises, research and educational institutions, and associations and other organisations.