Six of the ten finalists for the European Capital of Innovation Award 2017 are from the Baltic Sea region countries.

The Baltic Sea region cities are Aarhus (DK), Berlin (DE), Copenhagen (DK), Helsinki (FI), Tallinn (EE) and Tampere (FI). The other finalists are Nice (FR), Paris (FR), Tel Aviv (IL) and Toulouse (FR). The winner will be announced on 7 November 2017 in Lisbon Web Summit.

The winning city must prove how they improved the quality of life in the locality by experimenting with innovative concepts, processes, tools, and governance models as a test-bed for innovation, engaging citizens in the innovation process and ensuring the uptake of their ideas, expanding the city's attractiveness to become a role model for other cities and empowering the local ecosystem through the implementation of innovative practices.

Six out of ten finalists being from the Baltic Sea region is a strong signal of the region and its countries being among the most innovative ones in Europe. Within the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, Policy Area (PA) Innovation is working for this goal. PA Innovation strives to promote a globally competitive position within research and innovation for sustainable economic growth in the Baltic Sea Region. More about the goals and results of PA Innovation on its website.

More about the European Capital of Innovation Award 2017 on the contest's website.