City of Tampere was selected among the 10 finalist cities in the 2017 European Capital of Innovation competition. Other European cities in the finalist group are Aarhus, Berlin, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Nizza, Paris, Tallinn, Tel Aviv and Toulouse.

The iCapital competition was organised for the third time by the European Commission. Barcelona and Amsterdam have been the winners earlier. Engagement of citizens and successful interaction between public sector, companies, universities and citizens are highlighted in the selection criteria. Tampere application Grow.Smart.Together describes several cases how Tampere operates as a living laboratory and provides opportunities for co-creation and urban planning with citizens.

All 10 finalists will be invited to hearings in September 2017. After the hearings, the evaluators will propose to the Commission a ranking indicating a winner (€1 Mln) and two runners-up (€100,000 each). The winners will be announced at the awarding ceremony on 7 November 2017.

Tampere application Grow.Smart.Together – Tampere Co-creating Urban Future for Citizens was prepared by the Baltic Institute of Finland and the Tampere Region EU Office.

Grow.Smart.Together iCapital application web-site.

European Commission press release.