TOIVO – Toimivilla sopimuksilla sujuvaa ja vastuullista TKI-toimintaa

Successful research, development and innovation (RDI) is a prerequisite for business growth and development. The TOIVO project aims to promote RDI in South Ostrobothnia. The project focuses on proactive contracting and sustainability. Law, and contracts as part of it, have typically been past-oriented and dispute resolution-focused - who is to blame and who should compensate for damages? From a business perspective, this starting point is not very fruitful. Proactive law and proactive contracting have, especially in recent years, become key trends in legal education and research as well as among practitioners. The role of contracts is seen as much broader than before: they serve as common rules and strategic tools which can also play a key role in guiding RDI activities towards the achievement of common objectives. 

In addition to being dispute-settlement oriented, contracts have also typically been plagued by a lack of clarity. They have mainly been documents written by lawyers for other lawyers, not read or understood by their actual users - the business operators. A key aspect of proactive law and contracting is legal design. It helps to make contracts user-friendly and understandable, so that they can be better harnessed to serve practical RDI activities.

This project will develop RDI contracting in cooperation with businesses and respond to their needs. The project will provide a completely new type of perspective and tools for RDI activities. In order to allow a more in-depth examination, the project has selected two sectors for a closer look: the food and the textile industry. These sectors are of considerable importance in South Ostrobothnia.