Institutional systems in Finland
Finland has a strong role in technology research and development, and their programmes are successful examples of good cooperation in public private cooperation in R&D.
In Finland, energy issues are placed both under the Ministry of Employment and the Economy and the Ministry of the Environment. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy promotes environmental technologies, and has a key role in the formulation of innovation policy. The Ministry of the Environment is involved in regulatory matters and in developing guidelines for energy efficiency.
Innovation and technology
Under the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Tekes (The Finnish Founding Agency for Technology and Innovation) is responsible for energy innovation and technology development. They have several SHOKs (Strategic Centres for Science, Technology and Innovation), public-private partnerships between industry, universities and research organisations as well as public R&D funders to meet the needs of industry and society for the next five to ten years. Much of Finland's energy research and innovation is organised through the SHOKs, primarily the Energy and Environment Cluster, CLEEN Ltd. CLEEN comprises a cluster of 40 major Finnish companies in the area of energy and environment technologies. They focus on bioenergy, decentralised energy production, energy solutions for industries and electrical engineering.
Regional cooperation
OSKE is a public Strategic Centre of Excellence Programme under the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Their goal is to increase regional specialisation and strengthen cooperation and coordination between regions. Four of the OSKE centres, in four different regions, cooperate with cleantech businesses, universities and research institutions through the Finnish Cleantech Cluster, that covers about 60% of the country's environmental businesses and 80% of the sector's research. They focus on ICT-related environmental technologies, environmental monitoring, climate, air quality and health and environmental informatics.
Research
The Academy of Finland, under the Ministry of Education, is the key funding agency for basic research. VTT (the Technical Research Centre of Finland) is the main public R&D organisation.
KEY ACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS in the Finnish Energy Policy System (click to enlarge)
SOURCE: Nordic Energy Research 2009, "Nordic Energy Technologies - Enabling a Sustainable Nordic Energy Future"
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