Participants
Ymparistoministerio, Finnish Ministry of the Environment (FiMoE)
The Ministry of the Environment directs and funds research into issues related to the environment, housing, construction and planning. Most of the environmental administration's research is carried out by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), who also co-ordinate national environmental monitoring. Finland's 13 regional environment centres concentrate in their research on certain specific issues, and are also responsible for regional environmental monitoring. Research is frequently conducted in co-operation with various research institutes in Finland and abroad. Finland particularly strives to contribute to the EU's research programmes, and to research focusing on the Nordic and Baltic regions.
The Finnish Environmental Cluster Research Programme is a collaborative programme between researchers, the business sector, public authorities and funding organisations. This programme aims at raising the level of environmental know-how, improving the state of the environment, creating favourable preconditions for environmental entrepreneurship, and integrating environmental issues more closely into the Finnish system of innovation.
The main financiers of the programme are the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the National Technology Agency, and the Academy of Finland. The Finnish Ministry of Environment is responsible for the co-ordination of the programme.
During the first phase of the programme (1997-1999) 60 projects, and in second phase (2000-2002) 80 projects have been funded from the programme. The third phase ( 60 projects) is carried out during the years 2003-2005. The theme of the third phase is "Ecoefficient Society". More detailed information about the Environmental Cluster Programme are available in the publication: Honkasalo Antero & Alasaarela Erkki (2003): On the Cluster Approach to Environmental Research and Development. The Finnish Environment 653, Edita Prima Ltd., Helsinki.
Further information can be found on FiMoE's research homepage.