Cleantech Projects

Finnish Cleantech Cluster

Cleantech Cluster: 1 January 2007 - 31 December 2013
Budget: €237,500 per annum.
Funding: Ministry of Employment and the Economy/coordination 80%, participants 20%.
Objectives: Boosting cleantech business in Finland, creating new jobs and taking advantage of the global market and cutting-edge expertise in business, establishing new cleantech companies capable of driving international business, and generating new enterprises or new business within existing enterprises. For further information, visit www.cleantechcluster.fi.

Energy Pilot (planned)
Planned budget: approximately €1,000,000 (Lahti, Kuopio, Jyväskylä, Vaasa, Oulu).
Objectives: Providing consumers with integrated energy solutions while taking into consideration regional differences, disseminating research data to consumers, and mapping the environmental and health hazards of energy solutions.

Russia Programme
Business-Driven Export Promotion with the Russia Cluster (VeTo): 9 January 2009 - 31 May 2010
Budget: €150,000.
Funding: Regional Council of Päijät-Häme / Makera 50%, companies 30%, municipal funding 20%.
Negotiations are under way with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy to obtain further funding for cooperation with neighbouring areas.
Objectives: Developing a mini-cluster for cleantech business in the Päijät-Häme region, promoting new business opportunities in Russia, creating new contacts and mapping funding opportunities for the cluster, and working closely with the businesses in the national cluster. For further information, visit www.cleantechcluster.fi.

FECC Stage II: August 2008 - July 2011
Budget: €2,275,000.
Funding: Tekes/Sitra 50%, regional development companies (Lakes, Jykes, Posek, Kuopio Innovation, GHP) and Technology Industries of Finland 30-35%, businesses 15-20%.
FECC's mission is to promote commercial and technology partnerships in the cleantech sector (for example in energy-efficiency and renewable energy) between China and Finland. FECC is primarily focused on forging commercial agreements between SMEs. Companies work together to form consortiums, which can provide comprehensive solutions in response to the Chinese customers' challenges. We can help businesses throughout their marketing and business lifecycle, including commercial negotiations. We also support Chinese investment in Finland. FECC is actively involved in policy-level discussions, such as letters of intent (MoU), scientific and technological cooperation and Cleen Ltd. For further information, visit www.fecc.fi.

Environment

Lahti Region Cleantech Centre of Expertise: 1 January 2009 - 30 April 2010
Budget: €480,000.
Funding: Makera/Oske 50%, municipal funding (City of Lahti) 50%.
Objectives: The Centre of Expertise supports the efforts to realise the lead cluster of the economic strategy of the Lahti region and the provincial programme: the Cleantech Cluster. The long-term objective of the Centre is to create a significant concentration of environmental excellence in the Lahti region. As part of the national Centre of Expertise Programme, Lahti focuses on developing the corporate structure of the cluster and forging international links. For further information, visit www.oske.net.

Business from the Innovation Pipeline - Commercialisation of Cleantech Innovations: 1 January 2008 - 31 December 2011
Budget: €670,000.
Funding: ERDF 70%, municipal funding 3%, corporate funding 27%.
Objectives: Developing a corporate network, products and technology based on material efficiency of cleantech and earthworks. Modelling and piloting a global commercialisation process for cleantech businesses, identifying bottlenecks in the efforts to access international markets and cascading this information to other cleantech business networks. Modelling and piloting a more comprehensive market entry for the BRIC market (Brazil, Russia, India, China). The Innovation Pipeline project has ten member organisations located in the South of Finland, the project budget totalling €2.5 million. For further information, visit www.eura2007.fi.

Stormwater Management: 1 February 2008 - 31 March 2011
Budget: €180,000.
Funding: ERDF 70%, municipal funding 10%, corporate funding 20% (ERDF funding will be allocated only when corporate funding is secured).
Objectives: Seeking solutions for problems caused by stormwater in urban areas. The project provides opportunities for funding product development and market research projects carried out by businesses and research institutions to solve stormwater problems, commercialise products and access international markets. Project participants include Helsinki University of Technology, University of Helsinki, Lahti Aqua, City of Kouvola and Municipality of Hollola. Total budget: €1.5 million. For further information, visit www.lahtisbp.fi.

REACH - Service Provider Network: 1 September 2008 - 31 August 2010
Budget: €30,000.
Funding: The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes) 100%. Total project budget: €1.4 million.
Objectives: Lahti Science and Business Park coordinates the project on behalf of Ramboll Finland Ltd, Asianajotoimisto Hammarström Puhakka Partners Ltd, Ramboll Analytics Ltd and Insinööritoimisto Gradientti Ltd. The project will develop a service for the registration of active substances in accordance with EU chemical legislation, intended for companies and consortia formed of companies. The turn-key service will be divided into separate services covering the entire spectrum of requirements for registration.

Sustainable Innovations and Treatment in Industrial Waste Water Clusters (estimated: 1 January 2010 - 31 December 2013)
Budget: €1.5 million, including €223,000 from Lahti Science and Business Park.
Funding: FP7 100%.
Objectives: Coordinated by Lahti Science and Business Park, the project has 12 partner organisations. The objective is to facilitate the development of a corporate and research concentration in the Lahti region focusing on the management and recycling of industrial hazardous wastewater. The project participants include industry experts from Sweden, UK, Italy and Greece. The project is at the grant agreement stage and expected to be launched in early 2010.

Housing

Lahti Region Centre of Expertise for Living Business: 1 January 2009 - 30 April 2010
Budget: €220,000.
Funding: Makera/Oske 50%, municipal funding (City of Lahti) 50%.
Objectives: Facilitating the development of new, environmental-, energy- and material-efficient housing solutions and design and user interfaces for living environments, supporting the growth and access to international markets of businesses in the housing industry, and building a regional concentration of organisations providing innovative, environmentally efficient and energy- and material-efficient living solutions. For further information, visit www.oske.net.

SouthWood - Competitiveness Based on Sustainable Development: 1 December 2008 - 30 November 2011 (Project Code A30757)
Budget: €500,000, including €150,000 for coordination and €350,000 for a sub-project of Lahti Science and Business Park.
Funding: ERDF 70%, municipal funding 16% (€80,000 City of Lahti/sub-projects), corporate funding 14% (€70,300). Six sub-projects in five provinces (totalling €2.2 million).
Objectives: Improving business opportunities for timber product manufacturers and building companies. The sub-projects are linked by a need for cross-industry development. The industry boundaries should be broken by introducing companies, traditionally not associated with the forest industry, to the timber construction sector. The Lahti Science and Business Park sub-project focuses on improving the energy and material efficiency of timber construction, and developing operational models, timber frames and interior construction. For further information, visit www.southwood.fi and www.lahtisbp.fi.

Disseminating the Expertise and Innovation of the Living Business Cluster: 1 September 2009 - 31 March 2011 (Project Code S11081)
Budget: €500,000.
Funding: ESF 88%, municipal funding (Heinola, Hartola and Sysmä) 10%, income funding/participant payments 2%.
Objectives: Developing business activities, seeking new business opportunities and improving employment opportunities in the region. The project seeks and activates measures for businesses and municipal cooperation in housing, construction and the timber product industry. The extent and content of the measures are based on the views shared by businesses and municipalities about energy-efficient living and the trajectory of the forest industry. Innovation events and business discussions are held to support new growth. As a result, the business environment, activated with the help of training and cooperation networks, will be able to maintain stronger growth and regional development. For further information, visit www.lahtisbp.fi.

Developing the Research Environment

Clean Energy Centre/TRI Energy Ltd: 1 March 2008 - 28 February 2011
Budget: €3,720,000.
Funding: ERDF 50% €1,860,000, municipal funding 50% €1,860,000 of which Lahti University of Applied Sciences €300,000.
Objectives: Increasing research and development of renewable energy significantly in the Lahti region, including piloting, demonstration and commercialisation of new technology. The project supports the improvement of renewable energy research infrastructure in the Lahti region to a high level by international standards. With the help of new research infrastructure, renewable energy research and training organisations can share their operational environment with industry technology companies. Further information

Innovation & Design Projects

Lahti Regional Centre Programme 2009 | 1 January 2009 - 31 December 2009
Budget: €570,000.
Provincial development fund 50%, City of Lahti 28%, other funding (other municipalities, businesses, in-kind contributions) 22%.
Objectives: Lahti Regional Centre Programme implements and applies the regional innovation strategy in a future growth sector as indicated in the economic strategy: the private welfare sector. The Regional Centre Programme supports the reform of regional business activities and competence-based competitiveness by 1. building an efficient, practice-driven innovation system serving the entire region, and 2. increasing and developing the welfare business in response to the changing welfare service structure and market developments, which create a new kind of demand.

D-FORCE - Building and Piloting an International-level Concentration of Design, Environment and Material Expertise in the South of Finland: 1 August 2009 - 31 December 2011 | Inter-province ERDF project coordinated by Lahti Science and Business Park.
Budget: €567,030 (coordination + Lahti Science and Business Park sub-project).
Funding: ERDF 70%, municipal funding 30%. Four sub-projects in three provinces with a budget totalling €1.54 million.
Objectives: The project intends to increase the standard of design in Finnish companies and, in particular, facilitate the integration of design, material and business competence in the product development process. The project strengthens the network of centres of expertise for design in the South of Finland and improves the utilisation of international product development expertise and futures studies in businesses.

Upeeta 2 - New Service Businesses to Help Prevention and Occupational Welfare: 14 April 2008 - 31 March 2011
Budget: €263,000.
Funding: ESR 80%, municipal funding (City of Lahti) 5%, private funding from businesses and occupational health care 15%.
Objectives: Developing an operational model, which promotes occupational health in the Lahti region in partnership with businesses, occupational health care and service providers. The core concept involves bringing together and developing new forms of business partnerships for company-owned occupational health care units in the Lahti area. The project also produces and pilots preventative occupational health care models for employees in the owner companies.

Business Development Services

ICT Services

ICT Supporting Business Development Programme (TLT): 1 May 2008 - 30 June 2011
Budget: €733,000.
Funding: Häme T&E Centre 65%, Lahti Science and Business Park 5%, businesses 30%.
Objectives: Improving the electronic business competence in SMEs, educating entrepreneurs to improve the use of electronic systems in their businesses, and strengthening employees' skills in using electronic business systems. The development programme seeks to reach a total of 300 businesses with 400 development measures. By 26 August 2009, more than 200 businesses had participated the programme. For further information, visit www.elive.fi.

Wireless Lahti 3 Development Programme (LLA): 1 April 2008 - 31 March 2010
Budget: €432,036.
Funding: Regional Council of Päijät-Häme/ERDF 61.5%, Lahti Science and Business Park 38.5%.
Objectives: Promoting business opportunities and market access for SMEs in the information and communication technology sector, and enhancing their ability to provide solutions in partnership with public and third sector organisations. The solutions created should increase and develop, for example, organisations' service provision and availability in the environmental and housing sectors and social and health care, irrespective of time, location and terminals. The project also promotes the establishment of new information and communication technology companies and encourages the existing companies to increase their business. Higher turnover and number of employees in the region's ICT companies will indicate that the project's objective has been achieved. For further information, visit www.lahtisbp.fi and www.lla.fi.

Wireless Lahti Infra Investment Project: 26 August 2008 - 31 March 2010
Budget: €65,000.
Funding: Regional Council of Päijät-Häme/ERDF 50%, other municipal funding 50%.
Objectives: The project funds are allocated to implement the Wireless Lahti Development Programme by investing in necessary data communication equipment and terminals. The project promotes and supports the spread of multifunctional, high-capacity data networks in a manner which supports the piloting and deployment of welfare, housing and/or environmental applications reliant on data networks. For further information, visit www.lla.fi.