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SMALAND MED OARNA
GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY
 Småland med öarna (literally Smaland and Islands) is a region situated in the South-Eastern part of Sweden, that covers an area of 33, 244 square Km . The region is made up of consists of the counties of Jönköping, Kronoberg, Kalmar and Gotland and encompasses areas of different character: the mainland of Småland and the two big islands of Öland and Gotland.

The region accounts for 8% of the national territory. About two thirds of the region is forested and one sixth is agricultural land. There are plains of predominantly agricultural land on the southeast coast and on the islands. The region has a population of 708,896 (2004). The North-Western part of the region is the most densely populated one. The average population density is 24.1 inhabitants per km² , which is comparable to that of the whole country (21.6 inhabitants per km²). Most of the population (77%) is found in urban areas, while the countryside is sparsely populated.

INFRASTRUCTURE
 Communications in the region are fairly good in the west and the central mainland, where there are major roads and railways. The eastern part has poorer internal communications but there are fairly good harbours along the coast and on Gotland, where air transport ranks first in importance.

The region had 167 kilometres of motorways and 13.6 thousands kilometres of other roads in 2001. 474 thousands vehicles were registered in the region in the same year, of which 383 private cars.

ECONOMY
 In the western part of the region, successful small and medium-sized enterprises in the metal and furniture industries have been of prime importance for economic development. In the central part, the manufacture of prefabricated wooden houses, together with joinery, was formerly the economic mainstay of the area. Over a short period, however, many of these industries closed down as a consequence of the sharp decline in the domestic demand for small houses. Only enterprises with enough capital and viable export markets have survived.

The supply of timber is good, and this favours the existing wood processing industries. Job opportunities are decreasing in spite of increasing production on account of rationalisation in the industry. New investment has created very few additional job opportunities.

Several larger towns are dependent on the public service sector for jobs. In the eastern part, many of the coastal towns formerly had shipyards and a prosperous heavy mechanical industry, but industrial restructuring has hit these enterprises and caused a general decline. These towns are centres for trade in raw materials and processed products from the hinterland.. Småland and Islands is a region in transformation. The large number of small and medium-sized enterprises and the large number of enterprises limited to the domestic market are crucial to the transformation.

Småland and Islands has a lower GDP per capita than the other Swedish regions. The region per capita GDP in relation to the European Union (EU-25) average (100) is 104.2. This is due to the relatively large share of industry and the low share of the service sector. A typical feature of the larger companies is their location in urban areas and their strong concentration on production. Only a few companies in the region have R&D departments. On the east coast there is a nuclear plant.

LABOUR MARKET
 The activity rate in 2001 was 71.4%, with a clear difference between males (74.0%) and females (68.8%). The unemployment rate was 3.9%, the second lowest of all the Swedish regions, after Stockholm (2.7%). The unemployment rate among young people in the region was high in 1996, reaching 16.8%, but since then it has been falling, registering 8.6% in 2001. The rate of long-term unemployment has also fallen from 29.5% to 25.1% between 1999 and 2001.

In 1999, 63% of people employed were occupied in the service sector and 32% in industry. On the island of Gotland, 7% were occupied in agriculture and forestry and only 14% in industry. These figures show the great variation between the counties in the region. For many years the industrial sector on the mainland has provided more employment than the rest of the country as a whole. On the other hand, Gotland has had the largest share of jobs in the public service sector, much higher than the national average.

The proportion of those employed in industry has decreased during the last 25 years to 30% in 2001. The number of jobs in industry is slightly decreasing. The number employed in the Primary Sector (Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing) represents 16% of total employment. As the raw material processing industry and small and medium-sized enterprises are very important in the region and normally do not recruit many highly educated personnel.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
 The region spends more than 2% of its GDP in Research and Devolopment.
DATA RELATED TO REGIONAL STRUCTURAL FUNDS MECHANISMS
 Parts of the region, (i.e. the two islands) belong to EU objective 2, for the period 2000-2006.
REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS (RPIA)
 During the period 2002-2003, Småland med Oarna implemented the RPIA “ISMIS - Innovative Smaland and Islands” with total resources of Euro 6.0 million (EU - Euro 3.0 million, public Euro 1.735 million, private Euro 1.265 million. The programme was approved on all three strategic themes, with priority to Regional economy based on knowledge and technological innovation.

The ISMIS programme aimed to promote an innovative perspective in the Regional Growth Agreements of the four counties involved. It focused on the transfer of new techniques and knowledge to traditional manufacturing industries, new ways for people and companies in remote areas to take part in the information society, technical solutions for network access as well as examining new strategies for waste recycling and the reuse of energy. In addition, the programme offered the chance to test new public-private partnerships and new forms of co-operation for actors involved in cultural and natural tourism. The following main actions were implemented:

  • Development of the regional innovation system: to create structures to co-ordinate a sustainable and need-oriented development of the region´ s innovation system;

  • Mutual Guarantee System development: to improve the possibilities to finance the start and managing of SMEs in combination with activities for the exchange of experience and establishing networks for the entrepreneurs in the region. Support can also be given to pilot projects to establish, new and unconventional solutions like Mutual Guarantee Societies;

  • Digital tests as a strategy to develop a region: a systematic search for solutions or applications in the public sector related to education, infrastructure, health care or a higher level of democracy;

  • Rings on water - new forms for developing tourism: to promote the unique natural and cultural heritage;

  • A social and cultural sustainable region: to stimulate people at local level to become more involved in strategic planning of tomorrow's society. Discussions in different networks with participants from different groups in the local society will be the main activity under this theme;

  • Reclamation of industry and small-scale energy solutions: to find methods to recycle material from e.g. construction industry for production of new sustainable products e.g by co-operation between the academic institutions and private companies to find innovative small-scale solutions creating new employment possibilities;

  • Quality aspects in small scale natural and cultural tourism: to develop a new business sector focussed on the well being of stressed clients who need to relax: this new market is based on calm places near nature, local food, physical activities for well being and culture activities;

  • Network activities for exchange of experiences: seminars, exchange programmes between ISMIS and other innovative actions programmes in the European Union).