In order to achieve the overall objective of establishing an internationally competitive regional manufacturing industry, the project has the following objectives: • Conduct a number of high-quality seminars enabling the experts to meet representatives of small and medium Swedish and Finnish enterprises. The seminars should result into an “Agenda for the industrial future”. • Conduct a number of welding workshops with a view to instruct and train operators, develop new administrative forms, try various managing systems, create synergies with the other activities that will be implemented within the framework of the “Agenda for the industrial future”. • Implement 20 working programs, one for each enterprise as to try to apply the Agenda with the help of a trained operator. The objective is to improve the economic turnover by 15 % and to reduce the impact on the environment by 15 %. • Organise an international closing seminar. The project’s vision is to ensure that the region’s manufacturing industry can be seen as one of the most advanced in the world when it comes to ICT culture. Based on the advanced high technology, it is possible to develop innovative high quality products that also ensure ecological sustainability. The methods for gender equality are developed as to contribute to breaking the traditional skewed gender structure within the industry. Enterprises are competitive and generate both high revenues and a stable and growing labour market.