What is the connection between resilience and cooperation? How can sustainability go hand in hand with innovation and digitalization?  How can South Ostrobothnian food companies stand up, react and become empowered in such a difficult pandemic time?

These are just some of the questions that the YDIRE (Cooperation and digitalisation towards resilience in short food supply chains) project will try to address.

The project is brand new – it was launched on the 1st of January 2022 –  and it has nearly 18 months (until July 2023) to come up with interesting initiatives and ground breaking (digital) tools that can support the regional food ecosystem – made up mostly of micro enterprises. The funding agency is the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia in the framework of the Finnish Structural Funds Programme.

YDIRE is promoted by 3 academic actors – University of Vaasa, Ruralia Institute (University of Helsinki) and Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK) – but the idea is to make it a participatory initiative with the involvement of the main regional stakeholders in the field of food. In order to be effective and make an impact,  the project will have to start a dialogue with local food companies, specifically food producers, processors and restaurants – the categories mostly affected by the Corona virus pandemic- and develop for them and with them cooperation and digital solutions.

At the center of the project there will be the creation of an action model in the form of a platform, not another “business-as-usual” platform- but a tool that that will truly enable companies to focus on business to business collaboration and develop new operating models, services and products. As a cascade effect, the platform is expected to have positive and tangible results on the enhancement of the companies’ resilience, sustainability and innovation potential. Preparatory work on the platform will start in the coming months.At the moment the project partners are mapping the food companies in the region and preparing a survey which will be sent out in March to collect data and info on the current level of resilience, sustainability and cooperation in South Ostrobothnian enterprises. Therefore, if you are running a food company and will receive an email or a phone call from YDIRE team, please do not disregard it! The success of YDIRE depends also on your availability to answer a few questions! The project is expected to bring out a new perspective on resilience- as situations of change and crisis can also be seen as opportunities- and strengthen the image of Southern Ostrobothnia, a region where innovation takes place and entrepreneurs play a proactive role in the economic ecosystem. As an indirect effect, the project may also contribute to create new job opportunities, support the smart specialization strategy of South Ostrobothnia and impact regional decision-making so to generally improve corporate resilience in crisis situations.

Silvia Gaiani

Senior Researcher at Ruralia Institute

Silvia.gaiani@helsinki.fi