The Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres, fi, elinkeino-, liikenne ja ympäristökeskus, ; sv, Närings- trafik- och miljöcentralen, ) are local offices of the

Finnish government sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , coun ...

placed in each of the

regions of Finland Finland is divided into 19 regions ( fi, maakunta; sv, landskap)., smn, eennâmkodde, and sms, mäddkåʹdd. The regions are governed by regional councils that serve as forums of cooperation for the municipalities of each region. The council ...

. Finland has a total of 15 ELY Centres, which are tasked with promoting regional

competitiveness In economics, competition is a scenario where different economic firmsThis article follows the general economic convention of referring to all actors as firms; examples in include individuals and brands or divisions within the same (legal) firm ...

well-being Well-being, or wellbeing, also known as wellness, prudential value or quality of life, refers to what is intrinsically valuable relative ''to'' someone. So the well-being of a person is what is ultimately good ''for'' this person, what is in th ...

and

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The ...

and curbing climate change. They are distinct from

Regional State Administrative Agencies The Regional State Administrative Agencies ( fi, aluehallintovirasto, avi, sv, regionförvaltningsverk) are a set of top-level regional organs of the state of Finland, mainly in charge of basic public services and legal permits. Six agencies took ...

, which cover multiple regions and are tasked with law enforcement and related duties instead. ELY Centres have three areas of responsibility: *

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separ ...

and industry,

labour force The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...

, competence and

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.T ...

activities *

Environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

and

natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...

Transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

and

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

The Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment steer and supervise the activities of the TE Offices (Employment and Economic Development Offices, Finnish: ''työ- ja elinkeinotoimisto''), which have similar tasks as Job Centres have in the UK. Not all ELY Centres deal with all three areas of responsibility as they can also manage duties on each other's behalf.

References

External links

*
Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment - Prosperity, competitiveness, sustainable development (pdf, brochure)

ELY Centres create sustainable well-being - strategy for 2012-2015 (pdf, brochure)
Government of Finland {{Finland-gov-stub