Mallusjoki pilot’s aim is to gather a stakeholder panel and carry out actions which will add value to all participants. The pilot builds on Social Exchange theory which is a concept based on the idea that social behavior is the result of an exchange process. Social exchange is cooperation for mutual benefit. It is an “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” principle. In any case, Mallusjoki pilot builds upon long-term stakeholder relationships and the pilot has a policy, tolerance and patience to wait for the pay-back.

The following two Mallusjoki pilot stakeholder meetings are about Smart Villages concept and synergies in the regional cultural events

Smart Villages concept

The stakeholder members in present were Marianna Selkäinaho from The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland and Ann-Sofi Backgren from the Finnish Food Authority.

The aim of the consultation meeting was to get first-hand information from the main authorities about the policy and strategy for implementing the Smart Village concept in Finland. The take-away was that the Ministry is committed to promoting the Smart Village concept and that there are also funds in the budget.

The authorities and agencies responsible for implementing the Smart Village strategy are looking forward to receiving innovative and practical ideas and funding applications from the villages.

Building synergies with cultural heritage projects in the Päijät-Häme region

The stakeholder member present was Joonas Pokkinen from the Regional Council of Päijät-Häme. He leads several regional cultural heritage projects. He is well informed about regional policies and strategies in the field of cultural heritage. Our discussion touched on possible synergies at policy and project level.

The following conclusions were drawn:

  • Päijät-Häme Regional Council promotes coordination of cultural work between municipalities
  • The PoliRuralPlus project and the Mallusjoki pilot project see advantages in linking up with other cultural projects in the region.
  • An interesting benchmark case is the Community Event Arena in the village of Jaala, which aims to promote cultural life in the village through a new arena. The investment was 1 MEUR.