Cross-border CARE governance concept for youth wellbeing

Reserach area: Smart Society

Project code: 20379687

Language: Finnish, English

Project Description

CARE Aurora is a nine-month preparatory project (August 2026 to May 2027) designed to establish the governance and institutional foundations for cross-border youth wellbeing cooperation between Finland and Sweden. The project is implemented jointly by Vaasa University of Applied Sciences (VAMK) and Mid Sweden University. It builds on the Finnish Code of Caring (Huolimerkki) model, which has been developed and tested in Finland and is now being adapted to a cross-border Finnish-Swedish context.

The project focuses on identifying legal and administrative barriers that hinder cooperation between authorities supporting children and young people across national borders. Particular attention is given to GDPR-related issues, cross-border data sharing, and professional confidentiality regulations.

The work is carried out through comparative analysis, expert interviews, two workshops (in Vaasa and Östersund), and joint concept development. The main output will be a bilingual CARE Code Concept Paper, outlining shared principles, procedures, and responsibilities for supporting youth wellbeing across borders.

The project is funded by the Interreg Aurora Programme and the Regional Council of Lapland. The total project budget is €39,998, of which €19,999 is allocated to Vaasa University of Applied Sciences (VAMK).

Objectives

The main objectives of the project are to:

• identify legal and administrative barriers to cross-border cooperation supporting youth wellbeing between Finland and Sweden;
• identify one to two key obstacles, particularly those related to data protection and confidentiality;
• develop practical and legally compliant solutions to these challenges;
• create a joint Finnish-Swedish CARE governance concept for cross-border cooperation;
• strengthen collaboration between authorities, research institutions and other stakeholders; and
• lay the groundwork for a larger-scale Nordic CARE Code project.

Results

The project’s key outputs include the identification of two legal or administrative barriers that impede cross-border cooperation and the development of solutions to address them. These solutions will focus particularly on information exchange, data protection, and cooperation between authorities in Finland and Sweden. In addition, the project will produce a joint bilingual CARE Code Governance Concept / Strategy Paper defining the principles and operational framework for cross-border youth wellbeing cooperation. The project will also strengthen collaboration between VAMK and Mid Sweden University, which will act as formal cross-border partners in developing the concept.

The expected impacts of the project include the adoption of the developed strategy by at least one organisation as a basis for future implementation. Two key legal or administrative barriers are expected to be clarified or alleviated, improving the conditions for cross-border cooperation in youth wellbeing services. Collaboration between VAMK and Mid Sweden University is intended to continue beyond the project period and will be formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding. The project’s findings will be disseminated to approximately 50 stakeholders through an online seminar, and the project will establish the foundation for the preparation and implementation of a larger Nordic CARE Code initiative.