Tomorrow I am visiting these two cities during the weekend. Before the trip, I would like to do some homework about them for the business and leisure purpose.
In Wikipeida, it says that “ Kajaani is the capital of the Kainuu region. It is located southeast of Oulujärvi (Lake Oulu). There are 38,038 (in 2012) inhabitants. The population density is 20.73 inhabitants per square kilometre (53.7 /sq mi) . Kajaani is in the center of the region of Kainuu. Folklorist Elias Lönnrot began his travels from here when collecting folklore in Karelia. “
“One famous historical monument in Kajaani are the ruins of Kajaani Castle, located on an island in River Kajaani in the centre of the city. The castle was originally built in 1604 and completed in 1666. The castle served as an administrative centre, prison, military base and a refuge for the citizens.” I had been the castle with my Finnish friends. They told me the story about the soldiers who toughly, bravely fought against the enemy for months even when they ran out of supplies and food. They did not give up. The spirit passes on to the next generations. Finns know how to fight with the limited resources. I believe that’s why Finland can stand out even though with the harsh climate and small population.
On the other hand, Sotkamo is a municipality of Finland, located in the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of 10,694 (in 2012)and covers an area of 2,952.11 square kilometres (1,139.82 sq mi) of which 302.61 km2 (116.84 sq mi) is water.The population density is 4.04 inhabitants per square kilometre (10.5 /sq mi).
Vuokatti, west of Sotkamo, is a popular skiing resort. The Hiidenportti National Park (see as the picture below) is located in the municipality. In sports, Sotkamo is known for its Finnish baseball team, Sotkamon Jymy.
One of the major landmarks of Sotkamo is the sandy beach of Hiukka, which locates by the lake Iso Sapsojärvi, just beside the Sotkamo center. Beside tourism, mining is important for the economy of Sotkamo. Mondo Minerals BV mines talc in Lahnaslampi and the biggest unutilized nickel deposit in Europe is in Talvivaara. Talvivaara Mining Company was formed to utilize the reserves and metals production started in late 2008.
For the business purpose, I should take a loot at some companies in the region. Snowpolis Technology Park is the technology park I surfed online in Kajaani-Sotkamo region. The below is the information I got from their website (http://www.snowpolis.com/index.asp?pid=2). “With well-being with the help of sports-, nutritional- and winter technologies, Snowpolis Vuokatti is an international leader in the areas of wellness technology, sports and winter. The Competence and Firm Center is located in the Sotkamo-Vuokatti-Kajaani-region. Functionally, the technology park is a meeting point for companies, scientific research, development centers and education. Snowpolis gathers various companies working in similar fields together, in order to develop the area business activities, top-quality expertise, education and services. Snowpolis Vuokatti offers reputable jobs in an interesting working environment, as well as a pleasing and safe living environment for the entire family.
Business
Snowpolis is a modern and innovative environment e.g. for companies designing sports- and fitness equipment. The Technology Park suits well various kinds of testing, testing in cold conditions, electronics- and programming industry, as well as businesses based on biotechnology. Snowpolis combines entrepreneurial pursuits with university-level competence in sports technology, nutrition, and wellness technology and snow expertise.
Science and research
Local businesses as well as scientific personnel throughout domestic Finnish and international universities are part of Snowpolis-cooperation. The University of Oulu, the University of Kuopio,… and the Kajaani University Consortium are all part of it, as well as the Municipality of Sotkamo, the City of Kajaani, the Kainuu Employment and Economic Development Centre, and the Province of Kainuu.
Snowpolis is a part of a larger Multipolis-network, where there are 17 000 top-skilled professionals from various fields of expertise.
In addition to these facts and despite of the fairly young age of Snowpolis it has been accepted as a member of many remarkable international networks, such as IASP (International Association of Science Parks), TEKEL (Finnish Science Park Association) and ENoLL ( European Network of Living Labs) .
Snowpolis lifestyle
The strategy of Snowpolis builds on frictionless synergy, which is created by the companies and departments. Behind all activities are the competence and skills of the people, teamwork and willingness to do high-quality work. What makes the strategy of Snowpolis special, is its modern way of seeing the daily work to be done in a highly technological environment, whilst living and spending one free time in the midst of nature; factors which continuously support each other and raise the quality of living. Snowpolis stands out, both nationally and internationally, providing an attractive, pleasant and safe environment for working and living.
Sports technology
The competence of Snowpolis in sports technology is based on the activities of two university departments, the Department of Biology of Physical Activity and its division of Sports Technology …, as well as on the Measurement Laboratory for Sports at the University of Oulu. Different measuring equipment, - methods and concepts and their applications are tested. Winter sport is an area of specialization.
The competence in nutritional technology is based on the long experience the Laboratory of Biotechnology at the University of Oulu possesses. In addition, the MTT (Research Center for Agriculture and Food Science) in Sotkamo supports the competence in nutritional issues.
The expertise of Snowpolis in winter technology is founded on the many years of experience in testing winter sports equipment. The Vuokatti Sports Institute, the Vuokatti skiing slopes, the cross-country skiing tunnel and the snowboard tunnel have already functioned as a testing ground for many years. At Snowpolis, we are constantly seeking new dimensions of snow, ice and extremely cold conditions. The vision is to combine snow sports, ice sports and the testing of vehicles for their characteristics (e.g. friction).
Finland is such a country with freezing cold climate and only 5.3 million population. Decades ago, she promoted herself to the whole world with the telecommunication technology like Nokia. The world has changed the lifestyle since then. As we are aware of the fact- nowadays technology matters tremendously. Snowpolis takes advantage of the “traits ( the cold climate and few residents)” that Finland has, and transforms them into the competitive aspects, such as the skills to integrate the same profession and develop the winter technology. That is the dominant position that some countries such as Taiwan cannot compete with.
I am looking forward to my trip to Kajaani and Sotkamo, waiting to see more and learn more.
Comments
Heikki Hallantie mentions your blog, Hsuen-Chu! http://paper.li/heikkihallantie/suomalaiset
Hsuen-Chu, also take a look at Renforsin ranta in Kajaani. There are some interesting possibilities for collaboration.
Great posting. Irja and myself will show you the places during the weekend. Have a safe trip. Meeting you at the Kajaani train station at 09h17.