Thank you for Wasa Future Festival 2021! The event was succesfully streamed to Wasa Future Festival YouTube channel. 

Watch: Thursday 5.8.  –  Wednesday 11.8. – Thursday 12.8.  –  Friday 13.8.  –  Saturday 14.8.

If you have suggestions, ideas or comments regarding the festival or the themes, please send mail to janne.perttu@wasafuturefestival.fi

Thursday 5.8.

13:00-17:00 Catalysing Innovation: Driving an innovation and start-up ecosystem, University
innovation services taking shape

Ari Tulla, Antti Sinisalo, Leena Kunttu, Philipp Holtkamp, Rathan Alagirisamy, Stefan
Lindegaard, Jussi Loukiainen, Kenneth Salonius, Mauritz Knuts, Marko Koski, Kristian Schrey
Registration: https://crm.uwasa.fi/Events/43/Apply

Wednesday 11.8.

13:00-15:00 EnergySampo
A solution to the challenges in green transition

EnergySampos progress
Business Finland: Building up the program for sustainable development
H-FLEX-E-program progress
VTT enabling the program for sustainable development

Stefan Damlin, CEO, Vaasan Sähkö
Anna-Kaisa Valkama, Program Director, Merinova
Juha Suuronen, Senior Director (Energy, Infrastructure & Process), Business Finland,
Kenneth Widell, Senior Project Manager, Wärtsilä
Antti Vasara, CEO, VTT
Matias Mäkynen, member of parliament, chair of parliamentary RDI-group

Moderator: Mari K. Niemi, research director, E2 Research

Klo 17:00–20:10 YoungTalk21
Goal: Vaasa 2030 – Globally interesting place for smart young people.

Organized by:
Marja-Riitta Vest, Head of Research, Development and Innovation, VAMK
Mika Hakosalo, Energy- and Climate Specialist, City of Vaasa
Together with other regional actors
Host of the evening: Frans Villanen

Klo 17:05-17:30 We create Future Vaasa!
Alina Östergård, chairperson of Vaasa Youth Council
Representatives from Student Unions from the Universities in Vaasa
Lukumanu Idrisu, trainee at Wärtsilä.

17:30-18:45 Reclaim the city hackathon
Young people and regional decision makers sit together and shape the future Vaasa. Three themes, which are: the library, the hippodrome and Vaasa from the perspective of international people.

19:00-19:20 Good life for young people – presentation of the project
To whom is the future built?
Mari K. Niemi, Roosa Veijola/E2 Research

19:20-19:45 Main findings of Hackathons

Kl 19:45-20:00 Future Vaasa – what happens next
Mika Hakosalo, City of Vaasa

Download the YoungTalk21 programme

Register to YoungTalk here (for catering)

Thursday 12.8.

09:30–11:00 Utilize new technologies – now!
Technology drives by and runs over the parties in all political and religious systems
Goal: Parties, entrepreneurs, and officials in a shared night school in order to put
new technology into use. Relates to health care, education, entrepreneurship,
leisure, and other social issues.

Antti Vasara, VTT CEO
Risto Linturi, futurist
Antti Pelttari, Chief of the Security Police
Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, MEP
Joakim Strand, member of parliament
and others

11:00-11:30 Vitality combines new technologies and new economical thinking
Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä

11:30-12:30 Lunchbreak

12:30-14:30 New economical thinking
Value chains, vitality, ecosystems, domestic ownership.

Value chains, vitality, ecosystems, domestic ownership.
Ville Vertanen, CEO, VTT
Juha Sipilä, member of parliament, entrepreneur
Philip Aminoff, Chairperson, Helvar Merca
Jyri Häkämies, CEO, EK
Minna Martikainen, Vice Rector, Vaasa University
Martin Paasi, Chairperson, Finnish Association of Business School Graduates

15:00-16:00 EnergySAMPO 2.0., billion-euro fund
Goal: New world-class knowledge in energy systems to Finland, FDI (Foreign Direct
Investment)
Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari: new
business driven R&D
Minister of Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto: Finland on the world map with energy
solutions, and a new geopolitical role for Finland
Pradeep Patel, Avery row Capital: FDI for EnergySAMPO
Mayor of Vaasa Tomas Häyry: The value chain of the battery factory
Swedish National Board of Trade Director General, Anders Ahnlid: We take the world
market together! The Nordics is in demand globally.

16:15-17:15 Impact Investing (Nordic Invest Wasa)
Goal: Investments (domestic and foreign) into new technologies and companies, risk-taking
into the area. Exciting announcements to be expected!

Patrik Österåker, Relax Gaming, Founder
Christoffer Häggblom, Rite Ventures, Managing Partner & Founder
Cornelius Boersch TBC
and others

17:30-19:00 Rurallife-Urbanlife. Nordic Business
The countryside doesnt survive isolation. Entrepreneurs meeting with Mats
Löfström.
Finnish-Swedish Chamber of Commerce CEO Kjell Skoglund: New business with
Sweden.
Mats Löfström: The possibilities of Ostrobothnia and Åland Islands.
Ambassador of Sweden Nicola Clase: Sweden calls for cooperation in all areas of
society.

Goal: New networks, changing the consumerism patterns in cities into local
products, wood house technologies, etc. Special measures to turn around the
negative development in South Ostrobothnia.

Sören Lillkung, CEO, Kulturfonden
Joakim Strand, member of parliament
Mats Löfström, member of parliament
Dan Ekholm, editorial writer
Hippi Hovi, CEO, Rannikko-Pohjanmaan yrittäjät
Kjell Skoglund, CEO, Finnish-Swedish Chamber of Commerce
Nicola Clase, Ambassador of Sweden in Finland
Mikael Antell, Ambassador of Finland in Norway
Emma Dahl, Councilmember, Mustasaari
Nina Söderberg, Councilmember, Mustasaari
Alexandra Wasberg, Councilmember, Mustasaari

Young Councilmembers from Mustasaari Emma Dahl, Nina Söderberg and Alexandra
Wasberg challenge Ostrobothnia to develop.

17:30-19:00 Future of economists, economist meeting (WFF SIDE EVENT)
A cocktail meeting for the members of the Finnish Association of Business School Graduates.
The occasion is opened by the chairperson of the Finnish Association of Business School Graduates Martin Paasi
Organized by Vaasan Ekonomit
Venue: LATO ”Bock’s barn”
*Participation to this side-event is limited.

19:00–01:00 Nacht der Technik
Goal: Young minded people getting to know cutting edge technology during the
night.
Robots, e-games, 3D printers, enthusiastic about reading -game, experience the
theory of relativity with the muon detector, SpaceEconomy KvarkenSat exhibition
You can follow live as the mural painting is being painted in the south wall of WIC

19:00-20:00 MEP Miapetra Kumpula-Natri and young decision makers: What do young
people expect from Europe? (WFF SIDE EVENT)
Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, Member of European Parliament from Vaasa, discusses
with young decision makers from Vaasa, about what young people are expecting
from Europe. What actions should be taken to ensure that Europe provides us with
better conditions to act in the future? The discussion is part of the Conference on
the Future of Europe.
Venue: The Right Wing

19:00 A good dinner – unofficial program
Registrations and special diets to janne.perttu@wasafuturefestival.fi.
Price 42€

Friday 13.8.

10:00–11.30 The new function of Culture. Culture 3.0: creating value socially and
economically
Goal: A new concrete impact of culture and real development to Finland and the region.
Football culture as a potential.

Opening remarks: Prof. Pier Luigi Sacco, Special Adviser of the European
Commissioner for Education and Culture

Panel:
Antti Kurvinen, minister of Science and Culture
Rosa Meriläinen, KULTA ry general secretary
Tomas Häyry, Mayor of Vaasa
Mia Huhta, General Manager, Vaasa City Orchestra
And others

11:30-12:30 Lunchbreak

12:30–13:15 HardTalk: Timo Soini. Jussi Lähde as challenger

13:30–14:15 City of the young and smart 2030, real Smart City
City planning, the public sector as a whole, the corporate world and entrepreneurs:
virtual, productive, exciting, entrepreneurial spirit – young entrepreneurs), Fintech,
WasaWaterCity, Real Smart City
Goal: to grasp the transformation process of the city from the perspective of the
futures young and smart people. An example of implementation (Mika Hakosalo).

Martin Meyer, Director, InnoLab
Rannikko-Pohjanmaa Young Entrepreneurs
Mika Hakosalo, Energy- and Climate Specialist, City of Vaasa
Päivi Korkealaakso, Planning Director, City of Vaasa
Olivier Schulte-Tigges, City planning architect, City of Vaasa

14:30–16:00 THE FUTURE OF WORK
How to secure know-how and a sufficient amount of workforce to Finland?
What are the young generations expecting from work? How does globalization affect
work in the future? Digitalization changes work – what should we prepare for?

Central issues and their solutions will be presented in the panel.

The panel consists of:
Antti Palola, chairman, STTK
Matti Vaattovaara, CEO, Hitachi ABB Power Grids
Minna Vanhala-Harmanen, CEO, Barona Oy
Adam Smale, Dekan, University of Vaasa

Researchers Susanna Kultalahti, Khuram Shahzad, Sorin Dan and Ville Manninen
(University of Vaasa) lead us to the thematics.

The discussion is moderated by director Karina Jutila and research director Mari K.
Niemi from E2 Research.

19:00 Evening programme – live music
Carl, Axel, Janne ja Karri

Saturday 14.8.

10:00–14:15 Nordic Cooperation – Case Kvarken
10:00-10:30 Coffee and snacks

10:30-12:00 FAIR – Promoting Electric Aviation in the Kvarken region

10:30-10:40 Why is Kvarken EGTC interested in Electric Aviation? Mathias Lindström,
director, Kvarken Council EGTC
10:40-11:15 What does it take to be the early bird? Intro and short panel
Andreas Forsgren, FAIR project manager
Isak Brändström, FAIR project manager
Jaroen Peeters, Senior Design Researcher, RISE research Institutes of Sweden
Carita Roslund, Project Manager, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
Riitta Björkenheim, Development Director, VASEK

11:15-12:00 How to benefit from Electric Aviation?
Antti Mäenpää, Associate Professor, University of Vaasa
When will Electric Aviation be a part of everyday life?
Arne Smedberg, CEO, BioFuel Region
Ida Nordberg, Project Leader, BioFuel Region
Where will the first regional Electric Aviation routes appear?
Lars Westin, Professor in Regional Economics, Umeå University
Moderated by Anna Bertills

12:00-12:45 Sandwich lunch

12:45-14:15 KVARKEN REGION – Cooperation to promote and develop a strong and viable
cross-border region
Reality: Nordic Battery Belt
Need: Fixed Link over the Kvarken, Electric Aviation and Upgraded Ferry Connection
Tools: Cross Border Cooperation and Kvarken Council EGTC

12:55-13:10 Nordic Battery Belt and the possibilities, Tom Einar Jensen, CEO, FREYR
13:10-13:15 Greetings from the company Johnson Matthey
13:20-13:25 Comments by Anders Ahnlid, Director-General at the National Board of Trade,
Sweden

13:25-14:15 Panel discussion with regional decision makers and business representatives.
Joakim Strand, member of parliament, chairman of Vaasa City Council and Chairman
of the Kvarken Council
Rickard Carstedt, Chairman of the Regional Development Board at Region
Västerbotten
Åsa Ågren Wikström, Vice Chairman of Region Västerbottens Regional Development
Committee
Arne Langset, CEO/Head of Secretariat at Indre Helgeland Region, Norway
Peter Östman, Member of the Finnish Parliament
Paula Erkkilä, Director, Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce
Anders Hjalmarsson, CEO at the Chamber of Commerce in Västerbotten, Sweden
Dr. Esa Eranti, Eranti Engineering Oy
M.Sc, Ph.D Antti Talvitie

Moderated by Anna Bertills

Download the Cooperation – Case Kvarken program here.

14:45–16:15 Space Saturday
14:45 – 15:00 What is the Kvarken Space Center?, Heidi Kuusniemi, University of Vaasa &
Kendall Rutledge, Novia University of Applied Sciences, et al
15:00 – 15:30 KvarkenSat satellite mission, René Laufer, Luleå University of Technology,
Sweden
15:30 – 15:45 Economic forecasting from space, Mikko Ranta, University of Vaasa
15:45 – 16:15 Kvarken Space Conversations, Antti Kinnunen, University of Vaasa, et al