The Fair and Responsible Decision-Making in Lapland (OVAL) project brings solutions to the challenges of public decision-making in Lapland. Governments, municipalities, businesses, organisations and individuals are all involved in finding sustainable solutions for the future. The decisions people make affect not only the human future, but also nature and the environment. In order to make fair and responsible decisions, employees in municipal and other public organisations involved in public decision-making in Lapland need the knowledge and expertise to build up their skills, which they need to acquire through on-the-job training.

The OVAL project will strengthen the skills of the target group through a completely new implementation that responds to current regional development needs from the perspective of public administration needs and empowerment. The project’s pilots for citizen and business participation will generate new practices for fair and accountable decision-making. At the same time, the project promoter will be more active in designing and implementing projects that integrate university-level research directly for the use of local actors.

The OVAL project is targeted to municipal staff involved in public decision-making, policy makers and decision experts and authorities in the Lapland region. In the measures to strengthen participation, also local residents, representatives of the business community and representatives of cultural and environmental interests.

Novelty of the OVAL project

This type of training and development package on these topical issues has not been carried out in Lapland before. The target group will thus strengthen their knowledge on topics relevant for the future of the region. The target groups of the project are municipal staff involved in public decision-making, policy makers and decision experts and authorities in the Lapland region. In the measures to strengthen participation, also local residents, representatives of the business community and representatives of cultural and environmental interests.

Main objectives

1) Education planning: fair and accountable decision-making. In this measure, a training package to support fair and accountable decision-making will be designed in cooperation between experts from different units of the University of Lapland and drawing on the expertise of the steering group.

2) Expert-driven specific training and information sessions. Under this measure, the training package on Fair and Accountable Decision Making will be implemented as a multifaceted delivery consisting of a variety of lectures, presentations and participatory training events, as well as instructions for participants’ development tasks.

3) Familiarisation with participation and consultation in public decision-making.Under this measure, participants in training courses will be provided with training modules on various participatory methods, which they can use in their work.

4) Direct development actions: participant development kits for participatory decision-making. In this measure, participants will test new types of participatory approaches in their own work, under the guidance of project experts.

5) Compilation of training material on fair and accountable decision-making. In this action, material will be collected on all project activities and participants’ experiences. The output of the project’s activities during the project period will be compiled and further processed for wider and longer-term use in public decision-making throughout Lapland.

Results

I) Strengthened and increased fair and accountable public decision-making skills in Lapland

II) Produced specific training and information sessions on the topic of fair and accountable decision-making

III) Improved participation by piloting and developing consultation mechanisms for actors affected by public decision-making

IV) Increased professional mobility to Lapland and to increase the renewal and competitiveness of municipal organisations

V) Compilation of introductory material on fair and accountable decision-making