It’s mid-January in Brussels and the historic Palais des Académies buzzes with energetic chatter as over 100 attendees are gathered for the first-ever event organised in Brussels by the University of Vaasa and collaborators from the region. This memorable event was named “A Vaasa-Europe Conference, Sustainable Energy Reimagined”. The event, which was about to start marked the culmination of months of intensive preparation.
But how did we end up here, in Brussels, hosting such an inspiring afternoon?
The Vaasa region boasts the largest energy transition ecosystem in the Nordics. It is highlighted as a model for energy transition, focusing on sustainable energy and supported by strong research and innovation infrastructure, with the University of Vaasa playing a crucial role. The university, specialising in sustainable business, energy, and society, collaborates with regional public and private actors such as the City of Vaasa, the Ostrobothnia Region, and the Kvarken Council. High-quality collaboration is at the core of our university’s strategy.
In the university’s strategic goals for research, we also aim to access the most impactful funding channels in Europe. Achieving this requires becoming a well-known and respected academic partner within European and international networks. So, why not take our visions and solutions to the heart of the EU, straight to Brussels, where innovations to improve sustainable and competitive European industry are highly sought after?
Collaborating and Connecting
By joining forces with our regional partners—the City of Vaasa, the Region of Ostrobothnia and the Kvarken Council—we started planning a joint event to maximise impact. Each partner brought their expertise to the table and helped shape the agenda and targeted audience to best suit our joint goal.
Our goal was to inspire the audience through exploring various topics and highlighting the Vaasa energy transition ecosystem, through high-level speakers and experts. Fortunately, our shared vision allowed us to pack the afternoon with meaningful talks and three insightful panel discussions. The program featured a good mix of public and private, Finnish, Nordic, and European speakers and panellists, including industry leaders, universities, policymakers, and EU officials.
As a cherry on top, we received the exciting news that the City of Vaasa had received the prestigious “European Green Leaf 2026” award, an award that is granted to cities with fewer than 100 000 residents that have made significant strides in sustainability and green development. What better stage for the signature ceremony than our event in Brussels? This recognition also opens up new doors for all of us in the Vaasa region to drive for more sustainable projects in the future. We promised the attendees an opportunity to connect with thought leaders, industry experts, and innovators from across Europe. And to provide a platform for engaging in meaningful discussions, exploring new ideas, and collaborating on groundbreaking projects that will shape a sustainable future. With the help of collaborating stakeholders in Brussels, like WFEO and ERRIN, this is exactly what we accomplished with joint efforts, we were able to invite a diverse audience including future project partners, EU decisionmakers, public authorities and industry representatives to learn about and from us. Anyone who has ever organised an event knows how much time it takes behind the scenes to plan and polish every detail to create an event that flows effortlessly. As members of the planning team, it was great to see our plans come to life. Speakers like Tomas Kåberger, Muriel Attané or Signe Ratso were no longer just faces in photos on the website created for the event, but professionals taking the stage. Taking the same stage that we had only seen in photos until the day prior to the event.
We could finally see the results from choices in details we had made for making the event a sustainable one; they were noticed and effectful! Especially the choice of using digital and reusable name badges instead of traditional badges printed on paper or plastic, created positive reactions among the attendees.
Looking Ahead
Our journey to Brussels was a successful showcase of the Vaasa region’s capabilities. We succeeded in putting Vaasa on the Brussels map! Results are visible in a row of spin-off events and positive outputs for the region. Together with the event partners and all individual experts and professionals contributing to the programme and expert talks of the day, we succeeded in creating an impactful event for the research and business energy transition ecosystem in the region, with University of Vaasa in the very core.
Based on relations built at the event, we have already welcomed and hosted several delegations from the EU policymaking machinery for visits to Vaasa this winter. A follow-up event on the same topic, Sustainable Energy Reimagined, was also organised on campus in connection to the Vaasa Energy Week. This time Brussels was invited to Vaasa.
Later this spring, the University of Vaasa is invited to the EU Commission to continue discussions on the unique regional ecosystem on Energy Transition. During the visit, the university will also present its first-ever EU position paper to DG Research and Innovation; a position paper on the forthcoming Framework Programme 10 on research and funding for the next 7-year funding period, developed as an output from the discussions at the Brussels event.
This is just the very beginning of our EU advocacy journey, but results are already visible. Organising the event “A Vaasa-Europe Conference, Sustainable Energy Reimagined”, helped us taking a huge leap forward in raising awareness about the capabilities and joint activities in research and innovation in the region. The strategic goals of the university will be achieved together and through collaboration, and from the event organising team’s perspective; one event at a time! We are well on the track towards an impactful and sustainable future in business, energy and society.
Authors: Linda Westerlund, Katja Marttunen and Malin Wikstedt
