NordenBladet — Municipalities must in future determine whether occupational healthcare service providers that operate in their areas can participate in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, if this is necessary to ensure the provision of vaccinations without delays. On Thursday 16 December, the Government decided to amend section 1 of the Government Decree on Voluntary COVID-19 Vaccinations.The aim of the amendment to the Decree is to release municipalities’ resources from vaccination activities to other tasks, to help roll out booster vaccines as swiftly as possible and to promote vaccination coverage among the working-age population, for example.The amendment to the Decree does not provide for any new duties for municipalities or occupational healthcare. Under the provisions in force, municipalities are already responsible for organising the vaccinations and occupational healthcare services have the right to participate in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations. Under the Local Government Act, municipalities can determine themselves whether occupational healthcare services can participate in the vaccine rollout or they can agree that the responsibility for organising the vaccinations is transferred to another municipality or a joint municipal authority. The Decree will enter into force on 17 December 2021.
NordenBladet — More than 10,500 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Finland between 6 and 12 December. The incidence of new infections continued to increase over the last 14-day period, standing at 360 per 100,000 inhabitants at the end of last week. About 145,000 tests are carried out weekly. On 15 December 2021, the total number of confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in Finland was 34. In addition, preliminary screening tests indicate that cases of the Omicron variant are clearly increasing. The need for hospital and intensive care remains considerably high throughout the country.The incidence of new COVID-19 cases over the last two-week period (29 November–12 December) was 360 per 100,000 inhabitants in Finland. Between 15 and 28 November, the incidence of new cases was 279 per 100,000 inhabitants. Currently, the estimated effective basic reproduction number is 1.0–1.1, with a 90 per cent probability. The estimate has remained the same for several weeks now. At the end of last week (12 December 2021), the total number of patients in specialised healthcare was 171, of whom 119 were in inpatient care and 52 in intensive care. Last week, a total of 137 new COVID-19 inpatients were admitted to specialised healthcare.A total of 36 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to intensive care last week. Over the past four weeks, the weekly number of COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care has varied between 32 and 39. On 15 December 2021, the total number of COVID-19-related deaths reported to the communicable diseases register stood at 1,446. In the past two weeks (1– 15 December), a total of 98 new deaths were reported, and 78 per cent of these (76 deaths) were reported among people over 70 years of age.By 15 December, 87.4 per cent of people in Finland who are 12 years of age or over had received at least one vaccine dose, 82.9 per cent at least two vaccine doses and 11.5 per cent three vaccine doses.More than 145,700 COVID-19 tests were taken between 6 and 12 December. Unlike in the previous weeks when the number of tests was increasing, the number has now slightly decreased from the week before. About 153,300 COVID-19 tests were taken between 29 November and 5 December. The proportion of positive cases of all samples taken last week was 7.2 per cent. Between 15 November and 5 December, the figure was 6.2–6.3 per cent.The following 17 areas meet the epidemiological characteristics for areas in the community transmission phase: The Åland Islands and the Hospital Districts of South Karelia, South Ostrobothnia, South Savo, Helsinki and Uusimaa, Kanta-Häme, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Kymenlaakso, Lapland, Länsi-Pohja, Pirkanmaa, North Ostrobothnia, Päijät-Häme, Satakunta, Vaasa and Southwest Finland.The epidemiological situation is monitored weekly. The situational picture is updated weekly on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare under ‘Situation update on coronavirus’. An extensive monitoring report is published on the Institute’s webpage ‘Monitoring reports on the hybrid strategy’ every other week on Thursday afternoons. From now on, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare will publish the key monitoring information on the COVID-19 epidemic on a new reporting website. The new website will replace the current coronavirus map.
NordenBladet — Finland will contribute EUR 125 million to the replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA), which is part of the World Bank Group. The replenishment process was brought forward to help the world’s poorest countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.All most 50 officials from donor governments (IDA Deputies) and representatives of developing countries have reached agreement on the replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA) for 2022–2025. The IDA Deputies’ total funding amounts to approximately USD 93 billion, of which development cooperation funds account for about USD 24 billion. The rest of the financing package consists of developing countries’ repayments of previous loans, as well as market financing. IDA, which is part of the World Bank Group, gives concessional loans and grants to the poorest developing countries. It promotes sustainable development and the reduction of poverty and inequality worldwide. IDA focuses on the rights and position of women and girls and persons with disabilities, as well as on combating climate change and adapting to it. IDA also supports job creation, livelihoods and better wellbeing in developing countries as well as stronger governance and tax collection capacity.“IDA is a multilateral financial institution, through which Finland can influence the content of a significant development funding package. In the negotiations, Finland has emphasised mitigation of and adaptation to climate change and questions related to equality and disability,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.Donors meet every three years to agree on the replenishment of IDA resources. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the new replenishment process was brought forward by one year to support developing countries affected by the pandemic. In the previous replenishment, Finland supported IDA by EUR 114 million, which means that the grant element pledged by Finland will increase by about 10 per cent.
NordenBladet — One of the objectives of the National Public Procurement Strategy is to promote respect for human rights and fundamental labour rights in procurement. To support the achievement of this objective, a Code of Conduct specifying the minimum requirements regarding responsibility has been drawn up in cooperation with the Procurement Finland project organisation. The Code of Conduct is to be included in the procurement contract. This means that commitment to ensuring working conditions that comply with the ethical guidelines will be required of suppliers.“By appending the Code of Conduct to the invitation to tender we can safeguard the rights of employees while helping responsible companies succeed in the tendering process. Contracting entities are encouraged to use the CoC especially if the procurement involves a risk of human rights violations. I believe that the model for minimum requirements prepared by Hansel, the central purchasing body for central and local government agencies, will encourage this,” says Minister of Local Government Sirpa Paatero.Social risks must be identified before starting the procurement process For procurement purposes, it is important to identify products and services that may involve a greater risk of human rights and workers’ rights violations. Problems may arise in production chains abroad, but violations may also occur in services provided in Finland, for example in the construction, cleaning and restaurant sectors. Social sustainability includes respect for human rights and fundamental labour rights, and making sure these rights are promoted and compliance is supervised throughout the production chain. Reference is made in the minimum requirements to certain agreements such as the Conventions of the International Labour Organization ILO and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.The Code of Conduct is intended for all public procurement agencies, including the central government and municipalities, which are required to comply with the Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts. Swedish and English versions of the Code of Conduct will be published later on the Procurement Finland website. The Ministry of Finance, Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, Hansel and the European Institute for Criminal Policy, affiliated with the United Nations (HEUNI), will organise webinars on socially sustainable procurement in 2022. These webinars are based on the minimum requirements for social responsibility and the previously published Labour Exploitation and Public Procurement guide prepared by HEUNI. The webinars will be held on 18 January and 10 February.
NordenBladet — The use of information created in zoning and building permit procedures is changing. The built environment information system to be introduced in 2024 will bring this information together in a nationally interoperable and machine readable form.The built environment information system will provide access to up-to-date information in the whole country. The most important users of the system are municipalities that produce data. It will also benefit government agencies, individual building owners and permit applicants, as well as residents who wish to follow land use planning.The new system has no impacts on the division of responsibilities in the production of data, but the responsibility for zoning and permit procedures continues to rest with the municipalities. In future jointly specified information models will be used for zoning and building permits, which means that the data will be interoperable and move smoothly from one organisation to another.National information system makes it easier to manage informationThanks to the built environment information system, there will be no need to store data in several locations. This will also improve the cooperation between different authorities: up-to-date information will move more smoothly between central government authorities and municipalities, and manual data processing will be reduced.In the first phase in 2024, the new information system will provide information on building permits, restrictions and different kinds of zoning plans. The information system and the ways it can be used will expand after the first phase. At first the focus will be on information that the public authorities need for their statutory operations. Information can be used to produce better public services and develop a wide range of business activities.The project concerning the construction of the built environment information system is included in the Programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Government. The budget of the project, implemented by the Ministry of the Environment and the Finnish Environment Institute, for 2020–2024 is EUR 19.6 million. This national investment will pay for itself as better access to information will be provided and the quality of information improves.How will the change proceed?The Finnish Environment Institute has now completed the specification of the built environment information system, which determined the information to be included in the first phase and describes the movement of the data and links with other information systems. Based on these specifications, the Finnish Environment Institute will procure the implementation of the system in 2022. A process is also under way to prepare the act concerning the new information system that is interlinked with the process to reform the Land Use and Building Act. These acts should enter into force in 2024. This is also when the first version of the information system should be ready for use.Digitalisation changes the way in which information on the built environment is managed, produced and utilised. The project on the built environment information system identified tens of projects in different administrative branches that are interlinked with the movement of data on the built environment. Cooperation is needed to make sure that the change will be effective and fair and that digital security will be fully accounted for.In the initial phase, the change will require additional work in municipalities. Some of them have already made fast progress in digitalising their systems. The project on the built environment information system cooperates closely with the municipalities and offers support services so that all Finnish municipalities will keep up with the changeBuilt environment information system project on the website of the Ministry of the Environment
NordenBladet — UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee has inscribed Kaustinen folk fiddle playing to its Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at its currently ongoing meeting in Paris on December 15. The Nordic clinker boat tradition, which Finland proposed for inscription together with the other Nordic countries, was also inscribed. Currently, UNESCO’s lists of intangible cultural heritage include more than 600 elements from around the world. In Finland, the Ministry of Education and Culture is in charge of matters related to intangible cultural heritage and the Finnish Heritage Agency is responsible for implementing the Convention and coordinating the application processes.Finland’s first element on the lists is the sauna culture, which was inscribed in December 2020. Now, the list will be complemented with Kaustinen fiddle playing. Hundreds of people in the small town of Kaustinen play the Kaustinen fiddle and engage in activities related to it. One important reason why this tradition has been so successfully passed on from generation to generation is the internationally acclaimed method of näppäri pedagogics. These days, the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival is the most important Finnish folk music festival. More than 4,000 performers, both professionals and amateurs, participate in the event every year.Finland is also a partner in an inscription concerning Nordic clinker boat tradition. Clinker boats have been used in the north for thousands of years, and they have been very important to maritime transport in all the Nordic countries. To this day, hundreds of thousands of these wooden boats can be found on the shores of Finland, where they are used for fishing, sailing and rowing. However, these days Finland only has around 50 professional boat builders.
This multinational tradition was inscribed to the list at the Paris meeting on December 14 2021. The Pan-Nordic application process was coordinated by Norway, and the participants included all of the Nordic countries, as well as Åland and Faroe Islands. – In many ways, intangible cultural heritage is a foundation for our cultures. The UNESCO lists illustrates the great diversity of living heritage. The Kaustinen folk fiddle playing, which is now included on the list, is a perfect example of a living and prosperous cultural heritage in Finland together with our sauna tradition, which was inscribed to the list earlier. Humanity also shares many skills and knowledge. A good example of this is the pan-Nordic clinker boat tradition. I’m delighted to see that people are more interested in intangible cultural heritage and value it more than before, says Minister of Science and Culture Antti Kurvinen. Background: UNESCO Convention and Lists Finland ratified the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013. In Finland, the Finnish Heritage Agency is responsible for implementing the Convention, and it coordinated both application processes. Reports on the safeguarding of the elements are submitted to UNESCO every six years. The Ministry of Education and Culture is in charge of implementing and reporting on the Convention to UNESCO.The Convention promotes the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and makes people’s, communities’ and groups’ living heritage more visible. Intangible cultural heritage may include for example performing arts, craft skills, oral traditions, social customs or knowledge, skills and practices related to nature and the universe.As part of the Convention, living heritage is inventoried both at a national and a global level. UNESCO maintains two intangible cultural heritage lists and a register of good practices. The aim of the lists is to increase the visibility of living heritage and share good practices between countries. By the time of the currently ongoing UNESCO meeting, the lists contained a total of 584 items from 131 countries. A further 60 applications are being processed this year. In Finland, examples of living heritage are collected on the Wiki-Inventory for Living Heritage.
NordenBladet — Finland’s bilateral development cooperation with Afghanistan will remain suspended, but funds will be channelled to humanitarian activities and to responding to people’s basic needs. Finland’s support is delivered through the UN and civil society organisations and it will not fall in the hands of or support the Taliban. A new temporary policy line has been adopted by Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.The UN has estimated that Afghanistan will be the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in 2022. The need for assistance is more than EUR 7 billion. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that up to 97 per cent of people in Afghanistan will live in poverty by the middle of 2022. Socio-economic and basic services in the country are on the verge of a collapse, which increases human distress, suffering and social instability.Responding to such human basic needs as nutrition, security and livelihood requires not only humanitarian assistance but also other measures. Therefore, Finland is prepared to provide controlled, carefully targeted and selected assistance to Afghans via the UN and civil society organisations. Traditional intergovernmental development cooperation will remain suspended because Finland does not recognise the Taliban administration. In other words, Finland takes care that its support does not fall in the hands of or support the Taliban. The decision on a temporary policy for 2022 was made by Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.“The scale of humanitarian distress in Afghanistan is immense. Together with the international community, we must do our utmost to alleviate it. Finland’s support is targeted at safeguarding people’s survival and basic needs and on defending human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, during the crisis,” Minister Skinnari says.According to the policy, Finland will support international actors and civil society organisations that are capable of sustaining their operations in the country and that are committed to jointly agreed principles and policies. Finland will continue to support its long-term partner organisations such as UN Women and MSI Reproductive Choices in Afghanistan. Funds from the World Bank’s Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) will be redirected, for example, to the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).In addition, EUR 4.9 million of funding originally allocated to Finland’s long-term development cooperation has now been directed to humanitarian food aid (WFP). In late autumn, Finland tripled the amount of its humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, which was planned at the beginning of 2021.The objectives of the temporary policy coincide with the plans and actions of Finland’s close partners, including the EU. Afghans in an extremely vulnerable situation need help and the international community is working together to find ways to alleviate the situation.
NordenBladet — The objective of the Artificial Intelligence 4.0 programme is that Finnish industry’s assets in 2030 are sustainability, capacity for renewal, technological leadership and solutions that enable increasing the carbon handprint. The interim report compiles the concrete objectives and proposed measures for achieving the artificial intelligence vision for 2030. Business and industry will be shaped by the fourth industrial revolution, i.e. the digitalisation of production and services, as well as the transition towards sustainable activities that take the limits of the planet into account. The Artificial Intelligence 4.0 programme launched in 2020 aims to make Finland a pioneer in the dual transition, that is the digital and green transition, by 2030.“Our aim is that, in international comparison, Finnish SMEs will lead the development of digitalisation. The green and digital transitions are the most important drivers of sustainable development and economic competitiveness. The Artificial Intelligence 4.0 programme focuses on the digitalisation of companies in the manufacturing industry and the renewal of value creation,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.“The key assets of Finnish industry include sustainability, capacity for renewal and technological leadership. Finland’s ability to remain a leading country in technology and artificial intelligence exists, but it requires concrete and far-reaching measures today,” says Jussi Herlin, chair of the Artificial Intelligence 4.0 programme.During autumn 2021, the programme’s thematic sub-groups have, together with stakeholders, specified the objectives and defined the key results as well as the measures and indicators required by them. This interim report compiles the results of the work of the sub-groups and four proposals for achieving the vision of Finland as a winner in the dual transition in 2030.1. Finland must invest in the development and introduction of leading technologiesRemaining a leading country in artificial intelligence will require increasing investments in new competencies and key technologies, including those related to the data economy, data-based value creation, high-performance computing and the integration of network technology and artificial intelligence. In addition to increasing skills, Finland must be able to attract more top international talent.2. Nature smartness and digital technology are key to triple victory of sustainable developmentNature smartness means that companies use their products and solutions to create economic, social and environmental benefits for society. Investing simultaneously in nature smartness and digital technology will take Finland towards the triple victory in sustainable development. The triple victory relate to the economic, ecological and social benefits, which in practice translate into business growth, higher employment and wellbeing, and climate and environmental benefits.3. Finnish companies are at the forefront of digitalisation internationallySmall and medium-sized industrial companies are at the heart of Finland’s national economy. The sustainable development of our economy depends to a significant degree on how SMEs can boost their productivity, improve their competitiveness and reduce their environmental footprint with the help of new technologies, for example.Barriers to digital development in SMEs include limited resources, hectic everyday operations and lack of competence. These barriers must be addressed by both the public sector and the business community.4. Finland is actively involved in creating the EU’s artificial intelligence, data and industrial strategiesFinland must be active in the development of artificial intelligence and digitalisation in the EU. The visibility of Finnish expertise in the EU must increase, and Finland must actively exert influence in the EU in areas such as potential export sectors.Next year, the Artificial Intelligence 4.0 programme will prioritise and specify the proposed measures. The programme will continue until March 2023.
NordenBladet — Prime Minister Sanna Marin will attend the Eastern Partnership summit on Wednesday 15 December and the European Council meeting and Euro Summit on Thursday 16 December in Brussels.The Eastern Partnership summit is expected to adopt a new Eastern Partnership working document and a joint communication.Topics on the agenda for the European Council include the COVID-19 pandemic, crisis management and resilience, energy prices, security and defence, migration, and external relations, while the Euro Summit will address the current economic situation and examine progress with regard to the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union.Finland’s positions on the key issues to be discussed at the summits are outlined in the press release about the meeting of the Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs on 9 December. On Tuesday 14 December, Prime Minister Marin attended a small group meeting in preparation for the European Council. Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus and Lithuania also participated in the meeting. The preparatory meeting was convened by President of the European Council Charles Michel, who also organised similar sessions for other groups of countries.
NordenBladet — At its meeting on 14 December 2021, the Ministerial Working Group on Competence, Education, Culture and Innovation approved the first update of the national Roadmap for RDI. The first Roadmap for RDI of Prime Minister Marin’s Government published in spring 2020 paves the way for sustainable growth and wellbeing based on knowledge, education, research and innovation.The objectives and strategic development priorities of the Roadmap will remain unchanged. The measures in the Roadmap raise and improve the international attractiveness of the Finnish RDI environment and encourage businesses to invest more in RDI in Finland. The growth in the volume and ambition of RDI means that we need to see a significant increase in the national level of competence and education.The updated Roadmap takes into account the changes that have taken place in the operating environment, feedback from RDI actors and other stakeholders, as well as reports and reviews by working groups to develop the RDI.“Finland relies on research-based knowledge and on education and competence that draw on it. It is also about the people who carry out research, development and innovation activities. We need predictability and an outlook for the future in the whole field. The Roadmap is important not only for decision-making but also for the field of research,” says Minister of Science and Culture Antti Kurvinen.The Roadmap’s measures make the research and innovation environment and career paths in research more attractive, and boost the recruitment of foreign experts. The partnership model will be further developed and aims to create strong research and innovation environments and partnerships in Finland.“The funding instruments used in the partnership model, the flagship programme and leverage from leading companies, were all well received by the RDI sector, and feedback has been encouraging. We need to further strengthen cooperation with companies, higher education institutions and research institutes and find ways to engage SMEs, universities of applied sciences and other bodies that use and exploit research,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.RDI policy should be incorporated into all policies and public sector activities. It is therefore important to strengthen the public sector’s own capacity for innovation and to develop regulation that is both research-friendly and innovation-friendly and its utilisation as part of RDI activities.The measures in the updated roadmap are ones that will be implemented or launched during this government term. The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment coordinated the preparation of the updated Roadmap.While the Roadmap for RDI was being updated, a parliamentary RDI working group appointed by the Prime Minister’s Office examined the long-term increase in public funding for research and development. The working group drew up the principles for developing the RDI system and published its unanimous proposal on 13 December 2021 for creating a long-term vision for RDI funding.Updated national Roadmap for Research, Development and Innovation (in Finnish)Press release (in Finnish): Parliamentary RDI working group proposes a legislative act to increase funding for research and development