The activities of the Regional State Administrative Agencies will end at the end the year 2025. Most of our tasks will be transferred to the new Finnish Supervisory Agency, which will launch its operations on 1 January 2026. Tasks related to animal health and welfare and to food will be transferred to the Finnish Food Authority. Competition and consumer administration tasks will be transferred to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority.
Read more: Reform of regional state administration
We promote library services and international cooperation and interaction between libraries. We work particularly closely with public libraries in other Nordic countries.
International networking is an important means of improving the standard of library services and the competence of library staff. We promote international networking between libraries by
The Finnish Sports Decree gives Regional State Administrative Agencies the right to engage in international sports cooperation as agreed with the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.
We promote the international education of young people and provide international partnership and networking opportunities for youth work professionals. We have our own bilateral relationships with partners in other countries as well as a wealth of international connections through the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.
International cooperation is bread and butter for Regional State Administrative Agencies’ education experts. We want to promote international competence to benefit people all over Finland. It is important for us to know about schools’ and nurseries’ international activities as well as linguistic and cultural diversity.
We want to help the nation to understand foreign languages and cultures and to shape attitudes. We want to strengthen networks that can promote international cooperation and identify individuals who have the right attitude, competence and will to interact with international partners both in Finland and abroad.
We can also contribute to education providers’ international projects by, for example, speaking about our work at their events.
Regional State Administrative Agencies are committed to helping schools, nurseries and other educational institutions to engage more readily in international relations. We work closely with the Finnish National Agency for Education to keep education professionals informed about international opportunities presented by programmes such as Nordplus and Erasmus+. Promoting international mobility and cooperation is ultimately the responsibility of the Finnish National Agency for Education.
You can also email us if you would like details about Erasmus+ and Nordplus seminars in your area.
Southern Finland: Virve Smarzoch
Eastern Finland: Johanna Albert
Lapland: Kari Torikka
Western and Inland Finland: Toni Saarivirta
Northern Finland: Sirpa Kova, Linda Mård and Jyri Ulvinen
Nordplus offers financial support for development partnerships in the area of lifelong learning.
The participants include eight countries and three autonomous regions in the Nordics and Baltics:
Nordplus programmes:
Objectives of Nordplus:
Read more about Nordplus on the website of the Finnish National Agency for Education (in Finnish)
Erasmus+ is an EU programme to support education and training and promote cooperation between European schools and nurseries as well as student and staff exchange.
Countries participating in Erasmus+:
Funding is available for children’s nurseries, primary and secondary schools, sixth form colleges, special schools, art schools and vocational schools.
Erasmus+ in the European Union:
Read more about Erasmus+ on the website of the Finnish National Agency for Education.
The education team of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland is currently running a three-year project called Out in the World Together under the Erasmus+ programme’s Key Action 1: Mobility of individuals. The main goal of the project is to build relationships with schools and nurseries in the target countries. The project consortium consists of 70 individuals mostly from North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu. The project has an assistance budget of EUR 245,960. The EU’s assistance towards the project is paid through the Erasmus+ programme and coordinated by the Finnish National Agency for Education.
Involved in the project are
Local authorities participating in the project in North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu:
Regional State Administrative Agencies involved in the project:
Sirpa Kova and Linda Mård, the Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland
Regional State Administrative Agencies coordinate cooperation between schools and nurseries in Finland and the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The primary aim is to find twinning partners for schools and nurseries in North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu. A delegation from the Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland visited Baden-Württemberg in 2019 to learn about the local school system there, and the plan is to deepen the relationship between the two regions in the coming years through reciprocal visits.
Sirpa Kova, Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland
