Northern rural areas in Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Iceland and Greenland face common challenges such as isolation, aging population, and the migration of young residents away from these regions. Through international cooperation coordinated by Savonia University of Applied Sciences in Finland, these challenges are being tackled using gamification related digital solutions.

The collaboration will develop solutions which integrate young people and other underrepresented groups into tailored, place-based communities, design services to attract and retain digital creative professionals in northern rural areas, as well as advance education on digital and gamified innovations.

-Through gamification, we are able to create new opportunities and strenghten communities in areas facing challenges of distance and isolation. We are looking forward to collaborationg to achieve our joint goals, says Mariia Hämäläinen, Project Manager.

Building virtual communities to improve quality of life in a €1.6 million international project

As a result of this cooperation an international cooperation platform will be built to share knowledge on the game industry, digital gamified solutions and other collaborative efforts. By combining the resources of the partner countries, physical and virtual communities will be created to improve the quality of life in rural areas. The project’s results will also enhance regional expertise in emerging technologies and promote sustainable business development in the northern peripheral regions.

“The Innovation Through Gamification Solutions” (InnoGS) consortium includes, in addition to Savonia UAS, Humak University of Applied Sciences from Finland. Other partners are Region Västerbotten and Creative Crowd from Sweden, Ardán from Ireland, The Government of Greenland and the University of Iceland. The project has received 1.6 million euros funding from the EU’s Interreg NPA (Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic) program. InnoGS starts on 1 March, 2025 and lasts until 29 February, 2028.

EU FUNDING PROGRAMME Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic   Project priority Innovation   Project period Start 01.03.2025 End 29.02.2028   Objective 1.2 Reaping the benefits of digitisation for citizens, companies, research organisations and public authorities   Total budget 1.603.953,39 EUR   NPA co-financing 1.042.569,69 EUR —