Tampere Ambassadors: concept reinvention
Pekka Pernu, Program Manager of the Welcoming City program at the City of Tampere and Tampere Ambassadors program coordinator for 2020-2025, states:
-There is a strong emphasis on internationalization in Tampere's city strategy, and the Tampere Ambassadors concept was recognized as being well-aligned with those goals.
A substantial change was proposed: by taking over the Tampere Ambassadors concept, the City of Tampere would turn it into a program, allocating permanent funding and coordination.
However, the original concept had a number of limitations and could not be directly transferred. Being quite general, it covered too many areas and activities for the sake of structure. Additionally, in its early years, the Tampere Ambassadors Network expanded very quickly, reaching a scale that was difficult to manage with the proposed budget.
As of the end of 2018, a process to discuss the reformation of the Tampere Ambassadors concept was initiated. The aim of the reformation was to retain the strengths and experiences accumulated over the previous years while taking the concept to a new level of sustainable funding and alignment with the city’s strategy.
-It was proposed by the reformation team that the renewed Tampere Ambassadors program would help the City of Tampere to reach its strategic goals in different fields of attraction, for example, attraction of international workforce, students, academic congresses and business, Pekka Pernu says.
In order to increase the efficiency, it was decided to form the Tampere Ambassadors program consisting of five subprograms and to assign the coordination of each subprogram to different stakeholders. For example, the Talent Ambassadors subprogram would be assigned to the International House Tampere, the Business Ambassadors subprogram to Business Tampere, the Alumni Ambassadors subprogram to the Tampere University, and the Congress Ambassadors subprogram to Visit Tampere.
Nuppu Suvanto, Service Manager at International House Tampere, Tampere Ambassador 2016-2019, points out:
-The reformation allowed us to concentrate on a smaller Tampere Talent Ambassador network to more efficiently be able to work together towards the goals of the city.
The concept was extended, and the new stakeholders stepped in.
It is worth mentioning that Business Tampere, the former owner of the concept, remained the coordinating unit for the Business Ambassadors subprogram, while the Talent Ambassadors subprogram retained the original concept and even some of its members. This caused neither a loss of expertise nor human potential and made the reformation feel smooth and thoughtful.
Kelly Keodara, USA, Tampere Ambassador 2019, 2020- now, affirms:
-The change felt like a significant opportunity to deepen our engagement and expand our impact in a more structured way. The introduction of specialized subprograms allowed us to focus on areas that aligned with our individual strengths and interests, making our contributions more targeted and meaningful. With the City of Tampere’s structured coordination, we gained a stronger foundation to develop long-term initiatives. This evolution empowered us to use our skills and networks more effectively, ensuring that Tampere continues to grow as a dynamic, globally connected city.
Dixit KC, Nepal, Tampere Ambassador 2017-2019, 2020-now, remarks:
-The old Talent Ambassadors concept was open for all whoever enrolled, but that could not create enough ownership as the goal was loosely defined.
The experiences gained from managing the Ambassadors Network in its early years were integrated into the concepts of the new subprograms.
Mari Taverne, Director of Talent Attraction and Migration at the City of Tampere, the founder of Tampere Ambassadors concept tells:
-The prior goal of the Tampere Ambassadors project was to push forward the international awareness of Tampere. Later on, we realized that in addition to promoting Tampere, the Talent Ambassadors network offered a new way for the city to reach out to internationals moving to Tampere.
In this way, a new purpose emerged for the Talent Ambassadors subprogram: international talent integration. With a focus on attracting opportunities, it was decided to mainly invite local professionals to become Ambassadors.
-In the beginning, the idea was to reach out to people who have moved from Tampere to live abroad. The lesson learnt with this idea was that actually the international people living in Tampere are the most motivated and interested to be involved with the Ambassador activities, Mari Taverne says.
The old Tampere Ambassadors concept and Network activities were officially closed in May 2019. At the honorary Mayoral event on 11 December 2019, a new concept was presented along with gratitude to all Tampere Ambassadors. In this way, the old chapter closed to make way for the new one.
Between the official closure of the old Ambassadors Network and the launch of the new Tampere Ambassadors Program, there was a one-year gap, a transition period. During this transition period, the community continued to function and sustain itself through different activities.
Yulia Shumilova, Russia, Tampere Ambassador 2015-2019 and 2020- nowadays, recalls:
-My brightest memories from the transition period activities are about the trip to Mänttä, where we had a guided interactive tour of the Serlachius museums, which was so much fun! And the visit to the solid waste management plant ECO3. It was amazing to learn firsthand about the plant's profitable business model.
Transition period activities were self-directed by the former Talent Ambassadors. These included city branding, education, and community-building events that took place every month and remained as popular as before. Additionally, during this time, a new concept was actively discussed by the Ambassadors, and the key points of these discussions were communicated to the City.
-The transition period was marked by active collaboration and engagement within the community. As Ambassadors, we came together to navigate the changes, sharing ideas and insights on how to shape the future of the program. There was a strong sense of commitment to ensuring that the network remained impactful, and this collective effort helped maintain momentum, even as the structure evolved. The shift brought both excitement and adjustment, but overall, the community remained engaged and motivated to embrace the new direction, Kelly Keodara says.
The transition period ended in the summer of 2020 when the new Tampere Ambassadors program was launched. Based on the new concept, selection criteria were introduced, and the new Tampere Ambassadors recruitment round began in autumn 2020. All subprograms, except for Talent Ambassadors, used an invitation-based recruitment process, while the Talent Ambassadors coordination team launched an open application round in autumn 2020.
Dixit KC reflects:
-The reason I decided to enroll back to the renewed project-based concept was the opportunity to make a real impact with a team of extremely talented fellow ambassadors and give back to the city that I call home. We were quite successful in designing and delivering a successful monthly event like Pulla Perjantai.
The number of Tampere Ambassadors was reduced from over 120 to 40, with 20 being Tampere Talent Ambassadors and 20 representing other subprograms: Business, Culture, Alumni, and Congress Ambassadors.
The official start of the newly reinvented Tampere Ambassadors concept took place in the midst of the pandemic, when the entire world was reinventing communication channels and work formats.
-Oh, that was quite a ride, to say the least! To launch something new, which is highly human-centric and leans heavily on interaction between people. And not having a chance to meet face-to-face for more than a year wasn’t ideal, of course. We tried organizing a few events under the existing rules, but ended up cancelling time and time again because of the changing and tightening limitations for events. Not ideal, of course, but that’s how we lived our lives during those couple of years in every walk of life. At the same time we truly learned to appreciate the value of face-to-face interaction, Pekka Pernu recalls.
Yulia Shumilova recalls:
-The Tampere City Hall receptions are always a highlight of the year! And even when the Covid-19 pandemic started and the reception was moved online, we all dressed up behind the screens and were then sharing pictures of beautiful outfits in our group chat. We kept the community spirit even online!
Nuppu Suvanto says:
-The most important thing that Tampere Talent Ambassadors managed to keep through the reformation is the spirit of commitment and motivation, and willingness to tell their stories and be the representatives of international Tampere citizens!
The progress evolves, pushing constant changes in global and local strategies. In line with these changes, Tampere's experience in managing the Ambassadors concept has proven to be advanced by launching the concept and through its timely and wise improvements. These improvements have increased efficiency. Over the 10-year period, they have helped the Ambassadors program gain the trust of both local and international communities and build a sustainable, role-model collaboration.
In the next publication, we will focus on the current concept, diving deeper into each subprogram's experience. Additionally, we will provide examples of cross-sectional, voluntary-based, win-win activities that happen in Tampere Ambassadors program on a regular basis, with ease and joy, supporting the city's internationalisation strategy.
Tampere Talent Ambassadors speaking about Tampere
Below, in the first video, Tampere Talent Ambassador Kelly Keodara is speaking about Tampere as the Most attractive city in the World on NDTV, India, 19-th minute, in July 2024.
In the second video Talent Ambassador Dixit KC is participating in the video project “Tampere in the eyes of international professionals”, in summer 2023.
More information on Talent Ambassador program and activities:
Natalia Gromova
Tel. +358 44 2370 594
Email: [email protected]
