Service innovations for the
Southern Finland
(Espinno I and II)
– work, equality and social
responsibility
CAREA Kymenlaakso health and social care services;
EKSOTE Southern Karelia health and social care
services;
Diaconia University of Applied Sciences (DIAK);
LAUREA University of Applied Sciences

Service innovations for the Southern Finland
• Citizen’s municipality of domicile is
responsible for arranging public social
and health services in Finland
• Demand for institutional and home care
services continues to rise due to an
increasing need for more versatile
service provision for the elderly, people
with disabilities, and families with
children.
8.1.2015 Riitta-Maija Hämäläinen Espinno 2

The objectives of the ESPINNO project are to
– find and analyze service innovations,
– develop service products, and
– improve the image and competitiveness of
social enterprises in creating employment
opportunities and providing human
resources to meet the increasing service
needs through social criteria in public
procurement
8.1.2015 Riitta-Maija Hämäläinen Espinno 3

SOCIAL ENTERPRISES
AND SERVICE INNOVATIONS
• The aim is to provide services and human resources for auxiliary
tasks and support services in the health and social care field
• Municipalities facilitate service innovations and (social) enterprises
by using social criteria in their procurements which have helped to
boost the number of (social) enterprises
• Results:
– handbook on using social criteria in procurement
– handbook on how to produce employment process descriptions
and task profiles of support services and auxiliary tasks and how
to put these to use in the welfare services
– Available in Finnish at www.espinno.fi
8.1.2015 Public procurement for local employment/email: riitta-maija.hamalainen@thl.fi 4

Management and decision making in the municipalities
• Council is the highest decision-making power (elected)
• In case of various municipalities together the municipal councils
of the participating municipalities appoint members to the Council
for the duration of their term in the office based on the population
of the municipality in case on.
• The council’s tasks include appointing the administrative board,
audit committee, and managing directors and approving the rules
of procedure, financial statement, budget, and financial plan.
• The administrative board manages operations.
• The Managing Director is responsible for operative
management; supported by a committee of municipality
managers, particularly in relation to planning of the financial
operational conditions of the joint authority.
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PUBLIC SECTOR AS
RESPONSIBLE BUYER
Why bother?
8.1.2015 Public procurement for local employment/
email: riitta-maija.hamalainen@thl.fi
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REQUIRING CONTRACTORS TO
DELIVER SOCIAL
REQUIREMENTS MEANS
– Municipalities can get more both directly
and indirectly for tax payers money
– Creating skills and training opportunities
(e.g. apprenticeships or on-the-job-training)
– Creating employment opportunities for the
long-term unemployed
– Encouraging equal opportunities for all,
regardless of gender, race and disability
– Supporting SMEs and social enterprises
8.1.2015 Public procurement for local employment/
email: riitta-maija.hamalainen@thl.fi
7

BENEFITS OF SOCIAL PROCUREMENT
• Promoting fair and ethical trade – think globally
– act locally
• Driving innovation in design or build
• Protecting the environment
• Community ownership of public assets
– social and sustainable procurement into
public sector practices: social sustainability for
economically disadvantaged areas.
8.1.2015 Public procurement for local employment/
email: riitta-maija.hamalainen@thl.fi
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