HaparandaTornio is the organization for cross-border cooperation between cities. It was founded in 1987, and its primary mission is to develop, deepen and increase the cooperation between the cities and their inhabitants. To realize this HaparandaTornio works with different projects and both national and international partners.
The cooperation has achieved many milestones during its 30-year-period, here mentioning four of the major ones: The Travel Center, the Museum of Tornio Valley, Victoria Square and the Language School.
The Travel Center is situated on Swedish ground but is in common use. It is also base for the shared information office for Tourism of the twin cities.
The Museum of Tornio Valley opened as early as 1914, but underwent a massive renovation between 2011–2014. Since January 2014 The Museum of Torne Valley is a shared museum of Tornio and Haparanda. The museum showcases the history of the Torne Valley region on both sides of the Torne River.
Victoria Square is a common market place which was named after Sweden’s crown princess. The square was inaugurated in 2011 by the crown princess herself.
The Language School is TornioHaparanda´s common elementary school which started in 1989 and is located on the Swedish side, in Haparanda. Half of the school’s pupils come from Finland and the other half from Sweden. School follows the Swedish school system. The main goals are that pupils gain knowledge about their home region, the joint culture and the history of Torne Valley and thereby highlight, preserve and pass on the heritage of the Torne Valley. Teaching occurs mainly on student’s native language. The personnel is bilingual.