Jukka Vornanen, MA, elected as Director of Turku City Region

Turku’s core city region forms a dense and borderless commuting and service area where the vitality, attractiveness and competitiveness of the region should be developed as a larger whole. Today, the Board of Turku City Region unanimously elected Jukka Vornanen, MA, as the Director of Turku City Region.

Inter-municipal cooperation can be used to develop and improve the services offered to residents in a cost-effective and sensible manner. Through the activities of the joint municipal authority, common operating methods can be found to facilitate the municipalities’ current and future challenges. This can also mean better and more accessible services for municipal residents.

One of the goals is to intensify cooperation in the core city region to achieve better and more impactful results. To this end, the six municipalities of the core city region have established a cooperation forum.

Jukka Vornanen, elected as the Director, currently works as the Special Adviser to the Minister of the Interior Krista Mikkonen. He has strong knowledge and experience of lobbying and advocacy, and he knows the Turku region extensively. He is an excellent communicator and familiar with the activities of the municipalities and the state. In addition, he has extensive networks both regionally and nationally.

The Director of Turku City Region is responsible for strengthening cooperation between the municipalities and developing the region’s opportunities.

“I’m very pleased that we are getting a competent and well-networked director to strengthen the cooperation, joint work and the creation of a shared regional vision, which have gotten off to a great start,” says Minna Arve, Chair of the Board of Turku City Region.

“The municipalities have high expectations of joint and close participation in the preparation of matters that are important for the region and in strengthening trust. I believe that Jukka Vornanen is an excellent choice for this work,” adds Niina Alho, Vice Chair of the Board of Turku City Region.

“There is a long history of cooperation in the Turku City Region. There have been many successful joint projects. After the health and social services reform, it’s a good idea to assess how cooperation could be developed in the future. Cooperation is key in the competition between city regions,” says Jukka Vornanen.

“The success of the Turku City Region is important to me, and I look forward to returning to work in the city region from my current position at the Government,” he continues.

Vornanen will begin his work in March 2023 by forming an overall picture of the strengths and development areas of the Turku region and by familiarising himself with key actors, networks and future factors in the municipalities of the core city region.