The goal of this legislation is to promote regional development initiatives and regional balance and in so doing, to promote environmentally sustainable development. The Council draws up plans and programmes in cooperation with State and local government and with businesses and organizations within the region, in which the environmental impact of the programmes is taken into account as well as the regional and economic objectives. The Regional Council leads regional development work by concluding programme agreements with the State, the business community and non-governmental organizations. Programme agreements present schemes for the development of the region in practice and define the financial responsibility of the signatories. Regional policy is implemented in different ways in different parts of Finland on the basis of these programmes.
Activity is focused according to the requirements of the particular characteristics of each region.
Intensive interaction with the inhabitants, local authorities and sub-regional units is an essential requirement for success. The basis for regional planning is the Building and Planning Act. The regional plan consists of a general plan for the use of areas for different purposes which steers local authority planning and other land-use planning. Regional plans contain areas reserved for recreation and conservation, for example, and for built-up areas. Traffic, technical services, farming and the use of the shore-line have also been important planning topics.