Background and purpose of the development programme
The programme is starting in the middle of the transformations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the health and social services reform and the TE2024 reform of employment and economic development services. The city’s duties will change, and dynamism will have greater significance in our operations. This is also visible in the Espoo Story, in which our city is profiled as the most dynamic and safest city in Finland and an international pioneer in culture and education, competence, innovation and business.
The programme aims for a positive impact on Espoo’s dynamism. We will improve the city’s appeal among international businesses and professionals , improve the incidence of the labour force and work and strengthen a positive attitude towards business and entrepreneurship throughout the city.
We will create a new kind of culture of doing things in the city and channel dynamism into appeal and holding power. We will highlight international Espoo residents and businesses with an intensive focus on information and competence as special target groups.
While the programme shares some target groups and objectives with the immigrants’ integration services, integration services will be excluded from this programme, regardless.
Goal 1: The best place for professionals – they and their families live and like it in Espoo
We want professionals – employees, jobseekers, students, spouses and families – to feel at home in Espoo. We will pilot policies through which the needs of professionals who speak a foreign language and their families will be taken systematically into account in the city’s operations, and international students and their spouses outside the labour market can find employment and access the employment services better.
Potential measures include e.g. strengthening the role of English in service situations, family services, early childhood education and schools. We will survey which factors influence researcher families’ and international students’ choice of staying in Espoo.
We will cooperate with companies that have hired professionals, as well as the academic community, to market and develop the city services for the professionals and their families.
We will invite international Espoo residents to live an active life, develop themselves and enjoy the best cultural and sports services and natural destinations in the Metropolitan Area, e.g. through the Talent Espoo and Hello Espoo service entities. We want Espoo to feel like home.
Goal 2: The best place for entrepreneurship – Espoo’s appeal as the home of competence-based businesses will grow
Our aim is for growth-seeking companies and startups to see Espoo as a natural choice for founding or expanding a business. The aim is for the number of jobs to grow, particularly in sectors that involve a high level of competence.
We will survey what companies truly need in order to develop, and what kinds of services are needed in the business and innovation ecosystems. Understanding growth business, transition phases and the commercialisation of innovations will help us provide the best assistance, networking, partnerships and city testing platforms.
We will develop our campuses and clusters of excellence. We will increase our cooperation with Aalto University and other universities and educational institutions, VTT, companies and other operators. A high level of resources is needed to build, market and support a more extensive startup ecosystem, accelerators or campus. We will look into external funding options for this purpose.
Goal 3: Espoo is where work and workers meet
The aim is to find effective measures to ensure the availability of a competent labour force, reduce unemployment rates and increase employment rates. It is essential that residents who speak a foreign language also find work that matches their skills and that young people can enter the labour market.
The TE2024 reform will improve the city’s opportunities of developing its services and jobseekers’ competence to better meet the needs of businesses.
The city will act as a pioneer in remedying the shortage of professionals and competence. We can use the service selection of e.g. the Dynamism profit centre, the city organisation and the expanded employment services network more extensively and pilot new services, service paths and flexible education models.
At the same time, businesses and the city can find a labour force that meets their needs. The desired change may be achieved through knowledge-based management solutions or by influencing employers’ attitudes (e.g. to recruit a person who speaks a foreign language as their first language or has a reduced ability to work).
Goal 4: Improved business services from the city
Espoo will be a business-positive city. We want companies to receive high-quality services from the city to meet their needs, for a positive approach to business to be a part of Espoo’s decision-making, and for the preconditions for entrepreneurship to be taken into consideration when the city divisions’ operations are planned. In other words, we will bring the perspective of dynamism extensively into the city’s operations.
Potential measures include e.g. promoting the availability of plots and premises, permit services and other service needs brought up by companies. In this, we can also use the Business Espoo service platform. It is essential that businesses are supported in their recovery from the pandemic and that they receive all services from the same service point. We will define the city’s role in the promotion of dynamism and competence since the objectives will remain detached without a clearly defined role. This will direct the operations and development work in the coming years.
