Oulu advances to the semi-finals of the Euro­pean Cap­i­tal of Inno­va­tion Awards 2027

Oulu has been select­ed as a semi-final­ist in the Euro­pean Ris­ing Inno­v­a­tive City 2027 cat­e­go­ry of the Euro­pean Cap­i­tal of Inno­va­tion Awards. The six semi-final­ist cities in the cat­e­go­ry are Gal­way, Kranj, Lei­den, Oulu, Regens­burg and Taran­to.

Oulu’s strengths in the com­pe­ti­tion include its tech­no­log­i­cal lead­er­ship com­bined with res­i­dent-cen­tered devel­op­ment, safe­ty and smooth every­day life, as well as strong region­al inno­va­tion col­lab­o­ra­tion.

Recog­ni­tion for the entire inno­va­tion ecosys­tem

The semi-final place con­tin­ues Oulu’s suc­cess in the iCap­i­tal com­pe­ti­tion. In 2024, Oulu ulti­mate­ly placed third in the Euro­pean Ris­ing Inno­v­a­tive City cat­e­go­ry, and this year the goal is to improve on that result. The new appli­ca­tion places par­tic­u­lar empha­sis on exam­ples relat­ed to resilience, sus­tain­able growth, Europe’s com­pet­i­tive­ness and strate­gic auton­o­my, as well as devel­op­ment activ­i­ties that com­bine cul­ture and tech­nol­o­gy and strength­en com­mu­ni­ty spir­it.

Next step: the jury hear­ing

Each semi-final­ist city will be invit­ed to a remote jury hear­ing, where the city rep­re­sen­ta­tives will present their appli­ca­tion and answer ques­tions relat­ed to the eval­u­a­tion cri­te­ria. The jury will then select the three final­ists in each cat­e­go­ry at the end of Octo­ber. The win­ners will be announced in Greno­ble on 3 Decem­ber 2026.

The win­ner of the Euro­pean Ris­ing Inno­v­a­tive City cat­e­go­ry will receive €500,000, while the oth­er two final­ists will each receive €50,000. Oulu’s 2024–2025 prize mon­ey was used in 2026 for the local Oulu Oival­lus inno­va­tion com­pe­ti­tion, in which city employ­ees, chil­dren and young peo­ple were invit­ed to devel­op ideas for inno­va­tions that improve the city’s oper­a­tions and ser­vices.

Euro­pean Inno­va­tion Coun­cil press release: https://eic.ec.europa.eu/news/european-capital-innovation-2027-meet-semi-finalist-cities-2026–09-30_en

Fur­ther infor­ma­tion:

Maria Vuoren­so­la
Pro­gramme Man­ag­er, Oulu Inno­va­tion Alliance
Business­Oulu, City of Oulu
+358 40 760 1288
maria.vuorensola@businessoulu.com

Juha Ala-Mur­su­la
Direc­tor
Business­Oulu, City of Oulu
+358 40 559 7020
juha.ala-mursula@businessoulu.com