Kari Puumalainen is the director of Ylä-Savo Municipal Federation of Ecucation and also the principal of Ylä-Savo Vocational College. He has worked over 25 years in different positions in development and management of vocational education. He has worked in several national and European level projects as a project leader or member of steering groups. Formerly he has worked as the development director of Upper Savo Development Company Ltd where his responsibility among other things was to activate the use of different Structural Funds programmes in the Region of Ylä-Savo.
Kari Puumalainen has a master’s degree in philosophy (M.Sc.) from the University of Eastern Finland. His majors were computer science, business economics and vocational education He is specialized in vocational education and training and the role of VET in regional development and economic strength of enterprises. Kari Puumalainen is a Finnish representative in the EFVET Steering Committee since October 2016.
