Jyväskylä - human technology city

In 1991 Finland was plunged into a deep economic recession, the effects of which were also felt intensely in Jyväskylä. The way of how municipal policies were discussed and shaped was completely reformed. The mid-1990s saw the beginning of numerous projects for turning the city into a more vibrant and attractive provincial centre, a significant university town and a centre of expertise.

After recovering from the first shock of the depression, one of the first acts was to improve the employment situation in the city. In 1992, the committee was established to identify the strengths of the region. Before the recession, Jyväskylä had gained a reputation of a pioneer of cooperative business and trade policies. Now it was time to get different parties to cooperate for a common goal.

The city drew up an economic development programme, with the focus on a centre of expertise programme, technology initiatives, traditional industry, culture and tourism. Moreover, during the mid-1990s, Jyväskylä started making strategic municipal plans. The municipal plan of 1995 called Jyväskylä - Human Technology City envisioned Jyväskylä as a vibrant growth centre and focal point of Finnish culture and international education. International relations have long been an important channel for Jyväskylä. The city is a member of the Union of the Baltic Cities, the Eu-rocities, the Mid Nordic network and the European Cities Marketing network. Jyväskylä has also 12 twin-municipalities.

International stragic partnerships emphasise cooperation between educational insti- tutions and companies important to Jyväskylä. Cooperation between the city, educational institutions and the business sector has not only focused on Europe, but also on the St. Petersburg and Moscow regions, and on Shanghai and Kunming in China.

In 2000, the city also began the international training of its employees by making possible to work abroad for one to three months.

In the early 1990s, a centre of excellence programme was also drawn up in Finland. Eight centres were established, Jyväskylä being one of them. According to the programme, the strengths of Jyväskylä include paper manufacturing, energy and environmental technologies, as well as information and nano-technologies. Education in these industries was increased. The focus areas chosen turned out to be correct, and they have been continually strengthened.

Jyväskylä is strongly focused on service industries. New jobs have been created mainly in the financing and service industries. When the city is examined from the point of view of the employer sector, it can still be considered as a city of education, administration and institutions taking care of public services. A distinctive feature of the development in the 1990s and early 2000s was a noticeable increase in the number of private entrepreneurs. In the early 2000s, workplace self-sufficiency in Jyväskylä was one of the highest in Finland.