Commission approves ECU 3.96 million in URBAN funding for Finland The European Commission has approved the grant of ECU 3.96 million to the town of Joensuu in Finland under the URBAN Community Initiative of the Structural Funds. This award is the first URBAN programme to be funded in Finland. The aid, which will be matched by the town and t... The European Commission has approved the grant of ECU 3.96 million to the town of Joensuu in Finland under the URBAN Community Initiative of the Structural Funds. This award is the first URBAN programme to be funded in Finland. The aid, which will be matched by the town and the central government, will go to improve living conditions in the Rantakylä housing estate. This estate of around 12,000 people has unemployment as high as 40%. The programme will tackle the problems by three means: - Training unemployed people for re-employment or to set up their own businesses; - Targeting special social help to multi-problem families and running community centres for self-improvement; - Improving the physical environment on the estate with the help of the residents themselves. Countries Finland
