The Six City Strategy/6Aika

The six cities (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku and Oulu) have a long history of not only cooperating with one another, but also being each other’s rivals. The Six City Strategy was a significant joint effort in which the cities committed to
shared objectives, decided unanimously on the allocation of funds to jointly identified areas of development and implemented projects together. The was to reinforce Finland’s competitiveness and the productivity of the
public sector by using cities as innovation development and pilot environments. This required not only commitment and resourcing, but also open sharing of know-how and lessons learned between the Cities. Six City Strategy was created as a collaboration between the organisations of the six cities, but there were a total of 64 organisations involved in the implementation of joint projects. In addition to the actual project partners implementing the 6Aika projects, the cooperation also involved more than 4,000 businesses.
Because the Six City Strategy was genuinely division-independent, development operations could be aimed at almost
any city division. Thematic extensiveness made it possible to take the different cities’ emphases and maturity of development into account and find shared themes between the cities. On the other hand, the multidisciplinary approach was also a challenge, as a wide range of experts were needed in the preparation of special objectives.
The Strategy was implemented with the so-called ITI principle, in accordance with which the operations were funded from two funds (ERDF and ESF). This was not entirely unproblematic due to the funds’ different target groups, selection criteria and result indicators.
The joint programme included several benefits. The starting point for the cooperation can be jointly identified challenges and opportunities alike. However, it is crucial that the objectives are shared. A joint development programme can be an excellent tool for implementing the organisation’s own strategic objectives. Furthermore, collaboration pushes the organization to be more ambitious in setting goals. Doing things together is the best way to gain new knowledge. The organisation can learn different modes of operation and receive practical tips regarding how others have resolved the same issues. Moreover, an extensive network will feature plenty of know-how and implementers. Participants can receive peer support and colleagues from outside their local environment. A joint programme will also make more resources available for the benefit of all parties involved. For example, the organisations involved can make joint procurements. With a join programme, regional or local networks become part of a larger whole. Their implementers are also potential future cooperation partners. As a  broad scope generates interest, the cooperation can attract the interest of businesses, funders and new partners. This will generate visibility and effectiveness for the operations.

As a whole, the Six City Strategy and its implementation was a major learning process. The implementation of the strategy was unique on a European scale, as it was based on a common strategy of several cities and implemented in a network-based manner. The strategy and its implementation had a major impact on the rise and normalisation of the culture of experimentation as part of the cities’ development activities, and furthermore provided significant added value to the cooperation with companies

We have gathered our experiences in a publication from the Six City Strategy for the preparation, implementation and management of joint programme-based or development activities in networks. A joint development programme cannot replace an organisation’s own strategy or be identical to it. But with a joint programme, organisations can take on jointly identified challenges and opportunities, as long as the vision of the programme is established jointly and all parties are committed to the measures therein. Creating a shared vision requires time, negotiations and an atmosphere of trust. It is important for every organisation to identify in advance what kind of things the joint development programme is good for from their own perspective and what should be left outside the programme. However, a joint programme can be used to
gain visibility and resources for purposes such as researching and developing themes that could otherwise be left marginal or the tackling of which is not, as a rule, the job of just one organisation. In the Six City Strategy, such themes included autonomous traffic trials in an urban space and a change in the operating culture regarding cooperation between city organisations and businesses.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RnGDxrmVakrT02uZjWBGlpgpTbn3q5AF/view?usp=sharing