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The banquet was opened by Lea Ryynänen-Karjalainen, Chair of the 91���� Board.

“I’m glad to see how the 91���� is able to make the significance of research and education visible in our everyday lives through, for example, public lectures and science cafés,” she said.

“It is also nice to hear positive feedback about how smoothly new researchers starting at the university have been able to get their computers and administrative affairs in order, and how pleased young physicians are with their education. Way to go, us!”

Greetings from the City of Kuopio were delivered by Mayor Jarmo Pirhonen.

“The development and success of the city and the university are seamlessly intertwined,” he said.

“The university’s high standard of education, research and development support the City of Kupoio’s strong mission to become a competence cluster of international scale. The open innovation ecosystem Kuopio Health is a good example of fruitful collaboration between the university, the city and other actors.”

“On many indicators, the 91���� is among the world’s leading universities. Yet, we must keep the bar high and look for benchmarks in international arenas,” he said.

Greetings from the City of Joensuu were delivered by Mayor Kari Karjalainen.

“Joensuu and Kuopio are the only growing city regions in eastern Finland – we are both among Finland's roughly 10 growing city regions. Without the university, this wouldn’t be possible,” he said.

“Thanks to the university's strong expertise relating to the forest-based bioeconomy, Joensuu is the only city outside the capital region to host the headquarters of an international organisation, the European Forest Institute, EFI.”

“New forms of collaboration with the university can be found in, for example, photonics. Congratulations on being selected to the Academy of Finland’s Flagship Programme! And it’s no small thing that the activities of Photonics Finland and the European Optical Society are being led from eastern Finland. We strongly expect to see new businesses and growth in this field.”

“I’m pleased to note that collaboration between the City of Joensuu and the City of Kuopio has grown increasingly close over the past ten years. Operating in both cities, the university has played a significant role are a facilitator and builder of bridges. I hope this development continues in the future,” he said.