from projects to good practices

8/2/2019 From Projects to Good Practices

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Examples of projects fi a ced by Labour Admi istratio :structural fu d period 2000–2006

Social Fund

From projectsto good practices



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Sisältö

Vipuvoimaa Euroopansosiaalirahastosta

Contents

To the reader ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3

TOLAB – Operational Control Laboratory-------------------------------------------- 4

Tidal Wave in the learning organisation ---------------------------------------------- 6

Naturpolis attracted returnees to Kuusamo ----------------------------------------- 8

Model and indicators for systematic development of well-being at work -------- 10

Keeping employment in sight throughout studies --------------------------------- 12

Setting immigrants on the path to enterprise -------------------------------------- 14

Encouragement at grass roots level ------------------------------------------------- 16

Regional foresight service to meet a need in Southwest Finland ----------------- 18

Welcome to the fells of Lapland! -----------------------------------------------------20

New programme period 2007-2013 -------------------------------------------------- 22



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To the readerESF funding is used to support those who are disadvantaged in some way or another by providing them with

opportunities to succeed, promoting equality and creating the conditions for entrepreneurship. In Finland ESFfunding can help to improve employment and employment opportunities and to promote the creation of newjobs.

Projects financed within the ESF programme include projects aimed at re-training the long-termunemployed and those with reduced working capacity, enabling them to return to working life. Other goalsare to promote employment, to encourage people to stay on at work and to prevent marginalisation.

The ESF provides funding for projects that support entrepreneurship and developing enterprises, improvethe effectiveness of work organisations and increase productivity in a sustainable manner. Also financedwithin the ESF Programme are structural projects that affect a large number of people over a long period.

ESF funding activities began in Finland when the country joined the European Union at the beginning of 1995.

By November 2007 more than 9,400 ESF projects had been financed in Finland. These projects have offered

training amounting to over 34 million person workdays as well as providing employment and developmentservices. In addition to those who have participated in the projects, ESF activities involve co-operation part-ners working in steering groups and staff from the implementing organisations. Over 12 years, the amount of ESF funding made available to Finland has been about EUR 1.1 billion. Together with national co-financing theresources have totalled EUR 5.1 billion, which includes an estimate of private funding used in the projects.

Labour Administration funded nearly 1,700 ESF projects in the structural fund period now coming to an end.The main themes were:

1. E trepre eurship a d perso el developme t i e terprises2. Promoti g employability a d equality3. Developi g employme t services a d foresight

In summer and early autumn 2007 about fifty examples were collected of projects from the structuralfund period 2000–2006. Nine of them are presented here. You will find these and the other examples at:www. rake erahastot.fi



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Operational control is the “in thing”for growth-oriented enterprisesThe TOLAB project executed by the School of Information and Communication Technology of the

Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences had an ambi-tious objective: to create a networked centre of com-petence in operational control in South Ostrobothniaand to develop the region’s training and research forthe benefit of SMEs in the region. And great progresshas been made!

Operational control is usually understood as a“heavy-duty” tool for big companies, but regardlessof the application area, TOLAB makes it accessible toSMEs for use in management decision-making anddaily routines. There are two different approachesavailable for enterprises. The application can

either operate on the customer’s own server or via

a browser by a remote access connection, whichmeans that the customer need not worry about soft-ware and server maintenance or use.

An evident needThere is a clear need for more efficient operationalcontrol in many SMEs. “If an SME wants to grow,a square-ruled exercise book is no longer enough,”TOLAB managerHeikki Siltala states. SMEs usuallyconcentrate on their core competencies, and issuesrelating to management and control very often tendto be neglected in the pressure of everyday work.It’s a pity, because a successful operational controlsystem would save time, money and work and wouldallow the company to grow without running into thefeared difficulties of information management etc,”

he points out.

new ways of orga isi g work

C a s e

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TOLAB – the OperationalControl Laboratory project

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THemE 1: Entrepreneurship and personnel development in enterprises



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R&D Co-ordinator Jari Rajamäki says that the ICT School has sev-eral different R&D projects under-way that link up with working life.Many of the projects are relatedto the School’s teaching, and they

stress one of the University’s basictasks, to influence the regionaleconomy.

“This project has been a long one,with quite a sizeable budget. Themain providers of funding, theCentre for Employment and Eco-nomic Development (TE Centre)of South Ostrobothnia and theRegional Centre Programme forSeinäjoki, believed in the projectand gave provided excellent sup-port for its implementation. Thesteering group has been active and

The U iversity of Applied Scie ces – a regio al forcethe representatives of the partici-pating companies have been genu-inely involved,” says Rajamäki,who chaired the group.

According to Rajamäki, TOLAB

provided an important additionalresource for the teaching offeredby the ICT School, creating astudy environment that was closeto working life. The competencein operational control systemsnow acquired will be transferredvia courses and in other formsto curricular plans. In addition,in autumn 2006, the ICT Schoolbegan a new programme in opera-tional control systems leading toa higher university degree. Thecommon thread behind all this isthe concept of operational control,

one component of which is systemintegration. TOLAB has also gener-ated several Master’s theses onoperational control.

“The chain continues when gradu-

ates from the School take their newcompetencies with them to thecompanies who employ them. Asa matter of fact, the employmentrate of our business graduates andengineers is exceptionally good,” Jari Rajamäki points out.

As a result, the companies’ opera-tions gain more efficiency andthe increased efficiency bringscompetitive advantages, makingthe region more attractive and thuscreating new jobs locally. 5

Project: Operational Control Laboratory TOLABDuration: 1.7.2004–31.3.2007Implemented by: Seinäjoki University of

Applied Scienceswww.tolab.fi , www.seamk.fi

Tailor-made training on neutral territoryTOLAB offers companies tailor-made coaching

and support in defining, purchasing and using anoperational control system, the opportunity to testthe control system in the laboratory and multimodetraining in different areas of operational control. “Webuild a decision-making platform for companies,but we do not interfere with business transactionsconcerning the systems,” Siltala stresses.

Companies can test, develop and train personnelon neutral ground in the TOLAB operational controllaboratory, which operates in the premises of the ICTSchool at the Seinäjoki University of Applied Sci-ences. They can also find out about different opera-

tional control systems by studying case material.The facilities can be used for training, courses andpresentations by educational institutions, companiesand software suppliers.

According to Siltala, maintaining the professionalskills of adults working in SMEs is a challenge.

“In the past, one trade or profession lastedthrough three generations – now one generationneeds to learn three trades or professions. Themost successful and economical method of study istraining tailor-made for the company, on the job andthrough examples relating to one’s own work,” he

sums up.

Three-way benefitsTOLAB brings together information on the operational

control system procurement processes of growth-oriented enterprises of different sizes operating in dif-ferent sectors, at different stages of their life cycle. Thecompanies participating in the steering groups wereSimilan Oy and Hilamet Oy; the case companies wereMecakone Oy, Preseco Pomiltek Oy, E.S. Lahtinen Oy,Centaurea Oy and Alajärven Steely Oy.

Since the project objective was to create a jointcentre of competence for enterprises, software sup-pliers and educators, it made sense to look at thebenefits from all three perspectives.

“Growth-oriented SMEs gain a competitive edge

by learning effective control models right from thestart. For software suppliers we can deliver informa-tion gathered during the project, which will helpthem to develop new solutions for the differing needsof companies. The project implementer, the ICTSchool, also benefits as it can offer teaching that isup to date and in tune with the everyday needs of companies,” Heikki Siltala concludes.



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Developi g compete ce i work commu ities a d perso el

The project was led by Project Manager ElisabetHei o e from the Ministry of Labour, who sawtraining programmes tailor-made for specific employ-ment offices and large seminars as the key mediafor implementing the extensive project. The largestrategic seminars served to ground the labour policystrategy and to provide an insight into the challengesof the labour market. Top executives from the Ministryof Labour also participated.

First step: mapping out development needsThe project aimed at developing competence in threeareas: methods of working with clients, knowledge of regional and local labour markets and functioning of the work community.

“This division into three areas is based on the focalpoints of employment services and on experiencegained from national projects,” Elisabet Heinonenstates.

The Tidal Wave project did not offer the employ-ment offices a ready-made model, but the trainingwas tailored to suit each office. The tailoring took into

account development needs identified by means of Excel-based competence surveys. In addition, variousbarometer, client and statistical codes were utilised aswell as EFQM self-assessments.

“The principle applied to development was tofocus on the client interface, and work with clients wasto be developed where it is actually done. The frameof reference was the learning organisation,” ElisabetHeinonen goes on.

Analysis of work processesfor developing service modelsThe training for specific employment offices generallytook about a year, and on average it comprised about10 workdays. Outside experts were used as well astheir own.

“We in Labour Administration have strong tradi-tions of in-house training and development, but nowand again it is healthy make use of outside expertsas well. They are able to ask the right questions andintroduce an element of ‘wonder’”, Elisabet Heinonenbelieves.

The service models for employment offices weredeveloped by analysing work processes, particularlyin the last year of the project, 2004. The timing wasgood, as a structural reform of labour policy was in

progress at the time and employment service centreswere being set up.

After the analysis phase, the offices assessed theirservice model in relation to the development needsthat has arisen through learning and group worktasks. When the perception of development needshad become clear, work with the service model wasintegrated into the everyday routines of both manage-ment and staff.

The model, tying together training, developmentand execution, received excellent feedback from theparticipants, and the final report states that a decisive

factor in terms of successful development of workprocesses is the extent to which the whole staff of theemployment office can participate.

Good feedback on development staff trainingThe Tidal Wave Project organised training for thedevelopment staff of the participating employmentoffices and Labour and Employment Sections of theTE Centres, and in 2004 a development forum wasorganised in which about 40 developers took part. Themotivation was the fact there had been very little co-operation and networking among development staff.The purpose of the forum was to share experiencesgained during the project and compare good practices.Aspects of the training that received good feedbackwere the possibilities for interaction and learning fromothers, and benchmarking-type visits to other offices.

Tidal Wave in the learningorganisation

C a s e 2

I the years 2002-2004 about 1,100 employme t office staff members from 22 employme t officesi the regio s of seve TE Ce tres took part o the Hyökyaalto project (‘Tidal Wave’). The aim of the project was to improve the quality a d effective ess of customer service. The idea was first toa alyse the developme t eeds a d o the basis of the a alysis to i volve the whole work com-mu ity i trai i g a d through trai i g i developme t of the offices’ operatio s.




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“You have to go with the flow”Tidal Wave was an exceptional ESF project and itsevaluation report is also exceptional ( Robert Ar kil and Timo Spa gar ). Excerpts from the almost poetic

foreword to the report:“…Tidal Wave has been a project that is hard to

define and equally hard to evaluate. Both the imple-mentation method and the results have been moving,rolling and flowing all the time.

…We began to be interested in what this rollingmotion really means, whether it tells us somethingimportant and interesting.

…The Tidal Wave project tells us something inter-esting about important about the changes that aretaking place as we move from the ‘first modern era’,where strict division of labour, hierarchies, clearcut

plans and top-down leadership are stressed, to the‘second modern era’, where the emphasis is on surpris-ing changes, uncertainty and crossing boundaries. Inthe second modern era a new type of co-operationacross boundaries is needed, and this a challenge forleadership, competence and training. The Tidal Waveproject has been in the midst of and forms a part of these changes. That is why we can say it ‘rolls’ or‘flows’. We believe we have to go with the flow. ”

“And we have gone with the flow”Elisabet Heinonen sees it as one of the good experi-ences of leading the project that she could worktogether with the staff of employment offices.

“I’d like to do more of this,” she comments.“If you allow for a little hindsight, I would increase

the role and input of the Ministry, and especially of

Elisabet Heinonen and Jari Kettunen . FinalReport on the “Tidal Wave” Project. LabourAdministration Publication 352. Ministry of Labour 2005. The Final Report also includes theabove-mentioned Evaluation Report.

the regions and networks. There were only two of usproject workers, and we were responsible not onlyfor steering the project but also for its co-ordination,the planning of training programmes and partly alsofor implementation and financial and administrativematters.

Elements of the Tidal Wave project have been usedand evidently will continue to be used in many con-texts. Examples include a national development andsupport project for specific employment offices based

on the results and assessment of the project in fourTE Centre areas in 2005, the development of compe-tence mapping and the preparation of instructions forcompetence mapping for labour administration, anda training project for implementing an EmploymentProgramme in 2006.

“I have often wondered how to bring the projectto a close. Or can it and should it be closed? I haven’tfound the answer yet. The important thing is, how-ever, to avoid development fatigue,” Elisabet Hei-nonen believes.

Project: Hyökyaalto (Tidal Wave)Duration: 1.1.2002–31.1.2005Implemented by: Ministry of Labour, Staff Development and International Support

Services Unit



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Promoti g busi ess e terprise

“Even though the region had a high level of unemploy-ment, there was a shortage of highly qualified people.The demand and supply of labour did not match in theway they should,” says Ha u Tikka e , who was incharge of the project. The Naturpolis Kuusamo projectgave publicity to the region’s business and informedpeople about job opportunities. Another objectivewas to inform companies about competent workforceavailable in the region. Thus the target groups wereboth job seekers and enterprises.

Jobs on-lineOne of the project’s most important tools was anInternet database that helped employees and employ-ers to find each other. The rekry.kuusamo.fi websiteposted almost 400 job ads and had almost 200 visitorsa day during the project.

“Some of those who found employment were fromthe region and some came from outside, includingreturnees. For them in particular the website made itwas easier to find jobs in the region. By maintainingthe region’s own recruitment website it was possibleattract the right kind of highly qualified workforce,”

says Tikkanen, pointing out the benefits of the site.The website also provided an important channel of communication.

“Through it we could give publicity to the wholeregion of Kuusamo. In addition to jobs, the site offeredinformation on services, businesses and recreationalopportunities in the area – everything that might beof interest to someone considering moving to theregion.”

Hundreds of participants at the main eventVarious events were organised in connection with theproject, including the RekryRuka Fair in the years 2002and 2003, as well as other events aimed at returnees.

“The biggest event was a ‘class of the 90s’ re-unionfor young adults who had completed their basic edu-cation in Kuusamo in the 1990s. Many of them had left

their home region and we could now tell them whatopportunities Kuusamo has to offer today,” Tikkanenexplains.

More than 400 people registered for the big classre-union. A questionnaire was compiled in collabora-tion with the University of Oulu, asking the youngpeople who had moved away what they thoughtabout Kuusamo now and, among other things, abouttheir possibilities or willingness to return to theirhome town.

“The respondents thought highly of Kuusamo and

were in principle willing to move back to their homeregion, but they saw the shortage of jobs and lack of opportunities for education as a problem.“

Regional development agencycarries on the good work The co-operation model developed during the projectlived on, as companies gradually learned to takeadvantage of the different opportunities and it becameeasier to reach the available workforce.

The work is now continuing in the regionaldevelopment agency, Naturpolis - Nordic Business

Center, which is owned by the town of Kuusamo andthe municipalities of Posio and Taivalkoski. It offersadvisory, recruitment and development services inclose co-operation with partners such as LabourAdministration.

One of the problems today is the fact that the‘baby boom’ generation are reaching retirement age.The Next Generation project started in 2006 is aimedat ensuring that there will continue to be competentworkforce in the region.

“The project action specifically targets qualifiedpeople in their 40s. A head-hunter has been engagedto help companies in the region with recruitment. Tosupport the work of the head-hunter a “competencybank” – an on-line meeting place for employees andemployers has been set up,” says Marketing ManagerMia Lampela from Naturpolis.

C a s e 3

Naturpolis attractsreturnees to KuusamoThe aim of the naturpolis Kuusamo recruitme t project was to fi d people withcompete cies for jobs where there is a shortage of labour. Arou d the year 2000, a shortageof qualified workers was oticed i north Ostroboth ia, for example i the high tech,health care a d educatio sectors.




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Anna Kristiina Lohilahti fromHelsinki returned with her familyto Kuusamo in 2004. Her formerhome town seemed to offer goodopportunities for both work andrecreation. For the price of a ter-raced house in Helsinki, the familycould buy heir dream home inKuusamo.

“At first it was just a dream. Welooked at a house on the net, andthought how nice it would be. Butwhen we really started finding outmore about it, we noticed that itwould really be possible.”

“It’s all right here o our doorstep”Anna’s husband had his own busi-ness in Helsinki, and in Kuusamothere seemed to be possibilities forcontinuing in business. His build-ing repairs firm now operates inKuusamo as well as Helsinki, andin addition the family has bought atanner’s business, Tannery Ay.

“We checked out the local pos-sibilities, for example throughbusiness services, and asked wherewe could buy a good business.

Then we found this tannery. Theemployment office helped us with

recruitment, and now the business

employs three workers besides us.”

“After the decision to move hadbeen made, we had to make thearrangements quickly. However,there was plenty of informationavailable and everything wentsmoothly.”

“Services are excellent, and it’sall here right on your doorstep inKuusamo!”

Project: Naturpolis Kuusamo Rekrytointi -hankeDuration: 1.5.2000–31.12.2003Implemented by: Town of Kuusamo, business serviceswww.naturpolis.fi

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“The model is based on the theory of double-looplearning, and it functions in a circular fashion. Ourcheck points were in November and May,” Aku Kelttomentions.

“We set up a development group whose respon-sibility it is to co-ordinate and monitor activitiesrelating to well-being at work. Thanks to the WorkMotivation model and the development group,

developing well-being at work has become part of our everyday routine. The most import thing is thatthis work should be continuous and systematic.”

The Diak West development group also involvesoccupational health care, occupational safety andhealth staff and personnel representatives. Thishelps to increase the participation and interaction of personnel and stakeholder groups.

The greatest beneficiary – the clientAku Keltto analyses the benefits of the DL-WorkMotivation Project from the perspectives of person-

nel, management and clients.“The project has increased the personnel’s

understanding of their own work community, it hashelped people working in the 14 different units to getto know one another and has lowered the boundariesbetween units. People have become more aware of the opportunities to influence their own work andlife,” he states.

In assessing the impacts of the project, thepersonnel felt that it had improved their well-beingat work and increased the interest of management inpersonnel. There was more confidence than before in

the management’s ability to look after the organisa-tion’s future.

“There has been development in the identity of immediate superiors. The management climate ismore open and interactive than before and internalcommunication is felt to have improved. Even thoughthe pace of work is increasing all the time in ourfield too, no significant increase in burnout has beenobserved.”

Aku Keltto stresses that the greatest beneficiar-ies of the project have nevertheless been the clients.

“The most important decisions are made whenwe meet the client. The project has created a goodfoundation and conditions for personal encounters.The client senses, recognises and certainly alsoappreciates the fact that the person he or she meetsis totally involved.”

Projekt: DL-Työinto (Work Motivation)Duration: 1.3.2003–31.12.2005

Implemented by: SFoundation of the Diaconal Institute of Pori , now Pori Unit of DIAK Westwww.pdl.fi

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The model for career and recruitment services devel-oped during the project is being established firstly forthe use of Amiedu’s partner enterprises and studentsat Amiedu, but a work group is considering its expan-sion for the use of other adult education centres andco-operating parties.

The objective of the Job Network is to speed upthe employment of students graduating from profes-sional or vocational studies and those completinglabour market training, and also to supply competentpersonnel to enterprises in the Helsinki metropolitan

area suffering from a shortage of labour. About ahundred students have been involved in the project.

Electronic meeting point“Companies have shown interest in the recruitingservices model. Its expansion will go forward withthe decision on how an electronic search service is tobe financed. Plans are being made during the latterpart of 2007,” Marja Kaikkonen states.

The electronic search service is a meeting pointintended for students of Amiedu and companiesin the Helsinki metropolitan area, which will allow

students to find on-the-job learning opportunitiesand after graduation, jobs. Employers can presenttheir companies and advertise traineeships, on-the-job training and jobs. The search service is beinglaunched by stages in 2007. The feedback from the30 or so employers who have tested the service hasbeen extremely positive, and students have found iteasy to use.

Guidance in job seeking before studies beginAn important idea of the Job Network is that guid-ance in job seeking is spread over the whole studyprocess.

“Since this object of studying is usually to finda job, this must be kept in sight all the time,” MarjaKaikkonen points out.

Paths to the labour market

Keeping employmentin sight throughout studies“The esse tial aspect of the Duu iverkko (Job network) project is to i crease the visibility of recruitme t i educatio al i stitutio s,” says Project Ma ager Marja Kaikkonen from Amiedu.

“We have tried out job application guidance indifferent forms and noticed that guidance is beststarted early, at the exploratory stage, when theperson is applying for a study place. At that stage itis a good idea to consider whether the best option forthat particular student would be an apprenticeshipor whether he or she should gain some experiencebefore the studies begin.”

“Especially for those who have an obstacle toemployment, such as age, lacking language skills orwork experience, individual guidance gives confi-

dence and job seeking skills.”

Training for workplace counsellors“During the early years of this long project weworked more with students and in the last few yearsmore with employers. The employers often wantedcommon ground rules for co-operation with educa-tional institutions.”

Well over a hundred people from about 45 work-places have taken part in the workplace counsellortraining. Together they have discussed and devel-oped themes related to recruitment services.

“More and more companies are asking us foradvice as more and more people are retiring. We havestressed a systematic approach of anticipating thesituation and we have included the transfer of tacitknowledge in our workplace counsellor training. Wehave studied mentoring, for example, together withenterprises.”

“What could be a better result than if companiesprepare for change and take on people graduatingfrom Amiedu to replace retirees,” Marja Kaikkonenpoints out.

C a s e 5

Theme 2: Promoting employability and equality



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Project: Duuniverkko – Työelämälähtöinen ura- ja rekrytointipalvelu(Job Network – a work-oriented career and recruitment service)

Duration: 1.2.2004–31.12.2007Implemented by: Amieduwww.amiedu.fi

Amiedu is a multicultural adult

education centre. Annually, of some 15,000 students, ten per centare immigrants and the number isgrowing all the time.

“There have been about two hun-dred students involved in the JobNetwork project and we haven’teven counted how many of themare immigrants. The employmentoffices and TE Centre have alsoadvised immigrants about theproject,” Marja Kaikkonen states.

Straight talk a d plai Fi ish

While building up the Job Net-

work electronic search service,the language needs of immigrantshave been kept in mind. A Finnishlanguage teacher from Amiedu par-ticipated in the development work.

“At Amiedu we stress the use of plain Finnish to all target groupsand in all activities. In practice oneway towards plain language is tosimplify sentence structures,” saysFinnish language teacher AnniPiikki from Amiedu.

“Sometimes, however, a bigger

threshold than language is gettingimmigrants accustomed to usingelectronic services,” she says.

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“Earlier our business service had many clients whosereal needs were not to set up a business but lay else-where. The customer service was given in a languagethat was not their own mother tongue and this hin-dered and slowed down the process even more. Allthis was, of course, at the expense of other clients,”says Alexei Ka ta e , Advisor on Entrepreneurshipfor the Russian service.

The Finnish and Russian administrative traditionsare light years apart from each other. In Finnish society,

administrative authorities are basically intended tohelp citizens, but in Russia the opposite is often felt tobe true: if you are contacted by an authority, it is oftentaken as a sign that you have done something wrong,or at least that something undesirable has happened.

“It’s extremely important that, when an immi-grant meets a Finnish authority for the first time, heor she gets a good impression of the system, becauseotherwise building trust takes too long and theperson’s integration into Finnish society takes muchlonger,” Kantanen points out.

Advisory service builds confidenceAccording to Kantanen, by far the biggest obstacleto placing Russian and also other immigrants on thelabour market is that the integration programmesoffered are too similar, and no effort is made to thor-oughly investigate what the immigrants’ competen-cies are and how well they match the needs of theFinnish labour market.

Jou i Mikkola is in charge of training for immi-grants. He confirms that many of the problems pre-venting employment would be solved more quickly if communication were better and if business advisersand instructors had a better understanding of theimmigrants’ cultures.

“I consider it really important that there arepeople involved in training and advising Russianimmigrants who understand both Finnish and Rus-

Equality a d diversity o the labour market a d i busi ess

Setting immigrantson the path to enterpriseThe project for promoti g e trepre eurship amo g Russia immigra ts has give busi essco sultatio to some 900 people, created 30 ew jobs a d led to the fou datio of 21 ewbusi esses. The project has served immigra ts ot o ly from Russia but also from Esto ia,Somalia, Lithua ia, Croatia, Serbia a d Ira .

sian culture, and who are able to pass on and inter-pret information. The role of the adviser for immi-grants has been to level out cultural differences andto dispel unnecessary suspicions. This has withoutexception been my experience of all the courses forimmigrants I have run,” says Mikkola, summing upthe opinion of local instructors on these courses.

According to Mikkola, the number of immigrantinstructors in the region is close to the minimum.

“For example, when advising entrepreneurs starting

out in business, the best results are achieved by havingsufficient time for each client; success is not measuredby the total number of clients,” Mikkola stresses.

Fifty information campaigns,over a thousand participantsGood recipes for promoting the employment of immi-grants are information campaigns and training eventswhere entrepreneurship and the employment needsin various sectors are explained, if necessary in theimmigrants’ own language, but certainly taking thecultural differences into account.

“In addition to information, the immigrants makenew social contacts. In general, more efficient usecould be made of ethnic networks, because in thesenetworks word spread fast, for example, about where anew roof worker is needed. In addition, in these eventsan immigrant who doesn’t speak Finnish, but has therequired skills, can find employment with an immigrantentrepreneur who has already adapted to Finnishsociety. This is to everyone’s advantage: the personconcerned is off the unemployed list, pays taxes andbecomes fully integrated into society,” Kantanen says.

Progress made by changing attitudesIn the Kotka-Hamina region, immigrants were offeredsuitable advisory services a few years ago, but theydid not reach all immigrants, or they centred only onindividual problems, not the whole.

C a s e 6




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When an immigrant starts up a business, the samerules apply as in any sound business proposition: he or

she must have competence in the field in question, asensible business idea and marketing skills.“Earlier at least, advisory services for immigrants

did not primarily encourage immigrants to becomeentrepreneurs, even though they might have had thenecessary capabilities,” Kantanen says.

“During the past one and a half years, though,the situation has improved greatly in the Kotka-Hamina region. Helped by the TE Centre and Cursor

Oy we have been able to produce advisory servicesand teaching material in plain Finnish that have

managed to dispel cultural reservations and speededup the process of immigrants becoming entrepre-neurs or otherwise entering the labour market.”

“There have been significant changes in the atti-tudes of immigrants themselves, by encouraging themto go from a wage-earning job into starting their ownbusiness or into jobs that better match their training,even if they already had a secure income from wage-earning employment,” Kantanen concludes.

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Project: Promoting Entrepreneurship among Russian Immigrants

Duration: 1.9.2004–30.11.2007Implemented by: Amieduwww.cursor.fi



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Encouragement at grass roots level

Ge der equality

The Ilo a project promotes e trepre eurship, co-operatio a d etworki g amo gbusi esswome , wome i terested i becomi g e trepre eurs, u employed wome a d allactive wome i ge eral. Ilo a focuses o worki g at grass roots level, e couragi g wome tobe active a d develop their abilities. The project’s mai fu ctio s are to improve employme ta d e trepre eurship amo g wome a d to establish these activities as part of a wome ’s

atio al resource ce tre model.

C a s e 7

FamiliarityOpe ess

TrustGe ui e will to co-operate

Wi -wi pri cipleRight to etwork

Hard work


An especially good practice has proved to be practi-cal networking organised with the help of projectfunding. One of the things necessary for its successwas familiarity with the field.

“The actors, organisations, social structures and

entrepreneurs were all familiar. By familiarity wemean even personal friendships or acquaintancesthat have been formed earlier and to some extentalso trust,” says Project Manager Vuokko Jaakkola .

Ilona notebook an essential toolFor a network professional a thick notebook is a verygood tool. Jaakkola makes notes on all the peopleshe meets in the same notebook. This makes it easyto go back to past events and meetings.

“My Ilona notebook has been an invaluable helpin problems relating to founding and developingbusinesses,” she laughs.

“You have to open your mouth – there’s no usesitting quiet at meetings. If you have something togive it’s worth giving it. But at the same time, youhave to be able to take in information and apply it

to practice. It’s hard and creative work,” Jaakkolastresses.

Data bank for women entrepreneursThe project has played an active role in work groups,

multisectoral negotiations, steering groups and co-operation meetings, where there it has been possibleto possible to tell people about the field of activities,that is the development needs of women and smallbusinesses. Out of the shared experiences and viewsof different parties a practical databank was devel-oped for women entrepreneurs.

“Setting up a business is no bed of roses. Itwas an incredible relief to get all the help I neededfrom one and the same place: where to apply for abusiness start-up grant, in what order to deal withthe different authorities and, of course, where toget encouragement to start up in business,” saysSari Härkö e (42 ) enthusiastically. Sari has beenrunning her own relaxation therapy business for ayear. She also praises the businesslike, motivatedapproach of the project.



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Project: Pieksämäki Region Women’s Networking and Entrepreneurship Development ProjectDuration: 1.5.2005–31.12.2007

Implemented by: Town of Pieksämäkiwww.pieksamaki.fi/ilona (in Finnish)

1717

Services tailored to needsA good example of what can be achieved by thestrong background work and co-operation of theactors involved in the project is the joint Pieksämäkibusiness coaching calendar. The content of business

coaching has also been tailored to match needs. Foran active network practitioner, an interview with fiftycourse participants proved to be valuable fieldwork.

“All those who had applied for business coachingwere interviewed in depth, which made it possible totailor training to needs. We were introduced to thesecrets of founding a business, marketing, drawingup a business plan and using information technol-ogy,” Härkönen comments.

Successful co-operation is in principle verysimple, but in practice many pieces of the puzzlehave to into place. A successful end result can bereached when everyone knows why they are work-ing and what the objective is. It is also important foreveryone involved to feel that they are benefitingfrom the co-operation.

“Open exchange of experiences and knowledgeamong partners and actors in the field has generatedservices and products that serve the needs of thefield well.”

“All this sounds easy but without the elements of

the heading – encouragement at grass-roots level –we would have had no chance of success,” Jaakkolaconcludes.



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Foresight

Regional foresight serviceto meet a need inSouthwest Finland“Foresight is prepari g for the future. I other words, pla ahead, a d you wo ’t be caught

u awares.” This is how Juha Pusila , project ma ager of the foresight project ru by the Laboura d Employme t Sectio of the TE Ce tre for Southwester Fi la d, defi es foresight.

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Theme 3: Developing employment services and foresight



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The research and foresight service of SouthwestFinland is an expert service set up by the TE Centreand the Regional Council of Southwest Finland in2002 to analyse and disseminate information ontrends in trade and industry and the labour market inthe region.

“The foresight service operating within the TECentre collects, analyses, processes and dissemi-nates information on various sectors of industry to

those who need it. The main partners in the projectare the Regional Council of Southwest Finland, theemployment offices, regional development centres,the City of Turku, educational institutions, the TurkuChamber of Commerce, various professional organi-sations and enterprises,” Juha Pusila explains.

“Information management, flexible and swiftservice and a networking approach have been theprerequisites for the project to succeed,” he says.

Electronic service attracts many usersThe project began in 2002 and will end in April 2008,

but the service model developed during the projectwill continue after that date.

“Until 2005 our activities mainly involved buildingup the infrastructure. We collected databases anddeveloped an electronic service for disseminatinginformation as well as building up expert and actornetworks. During the past two years we have wehave applied our expertise in foresight to the serviceof regional and local economic, employment andeducational policy,” Pusila explains.

The www.luotain.fi service developed during theproject and launched in 2005 has been well used and

has links to all the most important websites relatingto foresight.

Information and interpretationThe Southwest Finland Foresight project outlinedclearly what it is and what it is not.

“We do not want to be a statistical centre toreplace existing ones. What we offer is up-to-datefigures on the principle that we are a public service- but we don’t only offer figures. We mainly gatherthe information ourselves but we also analyse it. Wehave good expert network to help us with interpret-ing the figures,” Juha Pusila points out.

“We produce sector- and client-based as well asregional information, covering Southwest Finlandwith the sub-regions of Turku, Salo, Vakka-Suomi,Loimaa and Turunmaa.

“Of the key sectors in Southwest Finland wemonitor the engineering, ICT, food, health care andwell-being, construction, logistics and tourist indus-tries, and also business services relating to thesesectors.”

Three-step time span Juha Pusila decribes the time span of foresight as athree-step process.

“You have to know the history, so that you canunderstand how we have arrived at the present situ-ation. Accurate knowledge of the current momentis important, because you have to know what yourstarting point is. From the point of view of our part-ners, the future usually means a year or two ahead.

“Behind this foresight into the near future there isof course a vision of what the years beyond will looklike in the light of current understanding and knowl-edge,” Pusila states.

“Thanks to our networking mode of operation wealso have access to foresight material produced on

different time scales, which we use to assess alterna-tive future development trends in expert groups,” heexplains.

Sub-regions taking a more active approachThe expertise of the Southwest Finland researchand foresight service is known and recognised in theregion.

“We have received praise for having created thisservice through our own development activities,”Pusila says.

Through the project, cluster-based foresight

processes have been started in the sub-regions, withthe aim of linking existing foresight information (andmethodological expertise) with regional develop-ment. Changes in the operating environment of theclusters have been mapped out, regional impactsassessed and the necessary actions worked out in abroad networking co-operation process. The workwill continue in 2008.

“I am very happy that the sub-regions havebecome more active in the area of foresight and thatthey have resourced their own foresight activities.For example, we have participated in developingSalo’s, Loimaa’s and Turku’s foresight processes.From the feedback received from the sub-regions,the regional foresight service provides crucial sup-port for their own forecasting activities,” Juha Pusilaconcludes.

Project: Developing a regional research and foresight serviceDuration: 1.2.2002–31.12.2007Implemented by: TE Centre for Southwestern Finland, Labour and Employment Sectionwww.luotain.fi (in Finnish)



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Tourism enterprises in Fell-Lapland employ morethan 2000 people, well over half of them on a sea-sonal basis. The tourist industry is characteristically

seasonal and this makes recruiting more difficult.“The idea behind the ‘Workforce Fell-Lapland ’

project was to create an opportunity for people in thetourist industry to be employed seasonally, yet allthe year round. In winter, there is plenty of work atskiing centres, in summer on ferries, boats and othertourism enterprises in the islands of SouthwesternFinland,” says Director of the Fell-Lapland Employ-ment Office, Hei o Vasara .

From the fells to the islands and back The aim of the ‘Workforce Fell-Lapland’ project was

not only to offer skiing centre employees the possibil-ity of year-round work, but also to attract competentpeople from the southern growth centres to thenorth of Finland. As the tourist industry becomesmore international, the demands on employeesbecome more stringent in terms of both professionaland language skills.

“When we were considering solutions to thelabour shortage here, we first of all carried out adetailed survey and thought about where workforcewould be available and how to get it. We noticed thatmost of the seasonal workers came from Turku and

Southwest Finland, so we had to go there to soundout the situation,” Vasara explains.

At the same time, Turku was struggling with thesame kind of problems. In the island communities,the tourism enterprises were somewhat similar,but workers were only needed in the summer. Sothe employment offices of Kolari and Kittilä agreedwith the Turku employment office on an ‘exchangeprogramme’ for tourist industry workers.

Jobs first on the agendaAmong the most important tasks of the project wasto actively disseminate information on the tour-ist industry vacancies in the Ylläs-Levi area. In thiscontext many events were organised.

“In Turku a mini-fair was held in three autumns.In addition we made about twenty trips to spread the

message in Lapland and Northern Ostrobothnia. Atrecruitment fairs held in Ylläs and Levi various entre-preneurs presented their operations and gathered

employees from all over Finland.”Part of the project involved further developing a

model created by the Kolari employment office for sur-veying tourist industry workforce. The model enablesinformation to be gathered, e.g. on the employmenteffect of the tourist industry, and in what kind of jobsand employment relationships people are employed.

“The information will be utilised in drawing upinvestment plans for the municipalities and creatingvisions for the future. In addition the information willhave great importance for planning the training of workforce.”

From migration loss to gainAccording to Heino Vasara results were achieved byco-operation between employment offices.

“The whole project was managed by collabora-tion between the employment offices. This was doneon the level where services were needed and wherethey were developed,” Vasara explains.

By co-operation between the municipalities, entre-preneurs and Labour Administration it proved possibleto resolve issues relating to the availability of work-force and, for example, obstacles preventing people

from moving to the area. Special employer panelsdiscussed needs and also ground rules, as well asagreeing on employment contract issues. During thepast few years migration loss has turned into migra-tion gain in the municipalities of Kittilä and Kolari.

“The fell resorts attract many young people towork, but also older people wanting to move to thearea and those who have been affected by labourmarket changes. The season has been prolonged tomore than half a year, so many of them are lookingfor a place to live in the region.”

The model created by the project can be appliedto any centre where there is seasonal work. TheTurku office developed their own ‘Employment Bridgefrom Turku to the Fells’ project, which continues thework with tourism enterprises in Southwest Finlandand Western Lapland.

Developi g employme t services

Welcome to the fells of Lapland!With the dramatic growth of wi ter tourism i Fell-Lapla d, the e terprises i the regio havesuffered from a co ti uous shortage of compete t workforce. Si ce o solutio was fou d ithe regio itself, it was decided to fish i waters farther afield. C

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Theme 3: Developing employment services and foresight



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Pirkko and Reijo Kairimofoundtheir way to the fells in summer2001. The couple, who have versatile

skills in the restaurant business, hadwound down their own business andwere looking for new challenges. Thecontact with Levi Center Hullu Poro(Crazy Reindeer) was forged at arecruitment event held in Turku.

“Lapland captivated us years ago.We used to visit here a lot with thechildren for skiing. As old hands inthe restaurant business, we wantedto see what the busy tourist trade inLapland is really like,” they say.

Lapla d captivated Pirkko a d Reijo

The decision to go to Levi wasmade very quickly. As competentprofessionals they found work right

away at restaurant Kammi.

“At first we only intended to stayone winter, but in January the bosssaid: ‘You’re not going anywhere– just hire a removal van and bringyour belongings here’,” Pirkkolaughs. And they are still here.

Pirkko and Reijo are seasonal work-ers at Hullu Poro on a monthlysalary. During the winter rush, theydo overtime, which goes into a

working hours bank, ensuring thatthey can have a longer summerholiday.

Lapland-mania has not waned– quite the opposite.

“The quality of life here is quitedifferent. In winter we do downhillskiing and tobogganing, and thisautumn a golf course was openedat Levi, where we spend a lot of time in summer. And the workcommunity here is absolutelygreat. Adding all this together, wecertainly don’t want to go back!” 21

Project: Tunturin työntekijät (Workforce Fell-Lapland )Duration: 1.7.2001–31.3.2004

Implemented by: Kolari Employment Officewww.mol.fi/toimistot/tunturi-lappi/ (in Finnish)



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Five lines of actionThe ESF programme for Co ti e tal Fi la d i the structural fu d period 2007–2013 co sistsof five li es of actio (TL 1–5). The purpose of havi g these li es is to facilitate the allocatioof fu di g. The li es of actio are based o the atio al structural fu d strategy a d othe ESF Regulatio .

The first line of action is to develop entrepreneurshipand enterprises and to improve personnel compe-tence and work organisation. A special objectiveis to improve the ability of SMEs and of personnelto adapt to the structural changes arising from the

global economy and ageing of the workforce. The aimis to ensure that employees stay on at work and thatcompetent workforce is available. Another aim is topromote non-discrimination and gender equality inworking life.

The second line of action aims at reducing struc-tural unemployment, especially long-term unem-ployment and its consequences. However, the lineof action also aims at reducing the number of youngpeople dropping out from education and preventingmarginalisation. Subsidies will be used to prepare forchanges in the age structure of the work force and to

ensure the availability of labour.The objective of the third line of action is to

improve the degree to which education correspondsto the needs of the labour market, to facilitate themove from education to working life and to pro-vide competence that is relevant to labour marketneeds. The main emphasis is on developing various

systems, such as employment service, information,guidance and counselling systems, and on develop-ing new learning models.

The fourth line of action focuses on co-operationbetween Member States and regions on ESF activi-

ties. The main objective is to increase European co-operation on labour, education and economic policyand to promote immigration based on employmentpossibilities.

The fifth line of action is to provide technical sup-port for activities relating to preparation, adminis-tration, monitoring, assessment, information andcontrol. The subsidies will also be used to improveadministrative capacity for implementing the ESFProgramme.

Jobs to the foreIn addition to the European Social Fund, the state,municipalities and the private sector are involvedin financing the programme. The EU’s ESF fundingamounts to a total of approximately EUR 615 million.In addition some EUR 799 million of national publicfunding has been reserved for the programme.

Upcomi g programme period 2007–2013



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ESF action started in Finland at the beginning of 1995 withaccession to the European Union. By November 2007 over9,400 ESF projects had been funded in Finland. Theseprojects have offered more than 34 million person workdaysof training and other employment and development services.In addition to those who have participated in the projectactions, ESF projects involve partners and personnel from theimplementing organisations working in the steering groups.ESF funding amounting to some EUR 1.1 billion has beenoffered in Finland over 12 years. Together with nationalfunding, the resources used have amounted to a total of

EUR 5.2 billion, which includes an estimate of the amount of private financing in the projects.

For the new programme period 2007-2013 a total of EUR 1,414million is reserved for implementing the five lines of action

This publication presents nine ESF projects financed byLabour Administration during the structural fund period2000–2006.

More information on activities supported by the EuropeanSocial Fund is available at www.rakennerahastot.fi

M i n i s t r y o f L a b o u r / S t r u c t u r a l f u n d / V i e s t i n t ä O y V i i s i k k o / P i c t u r e s : F u t u r e I m a g e b a n k , i S t o c k P h o t o

, S h u t t e r s t o c k / S a v i o n K i r j a p a i n o O y 1 2 / 2 0 0 7

from projects to good practices

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