The Northern Dimension Institute participated in the 30th Northern Dimension Steering Group meeting held in Bodø, Norway, on 18 November 2019. Director Riitta Kosonen gave an overview on the activities of the ongoing EU co-funded project NDI Think Tank Action, which aims at serving information needs of the ND partnerships and other stakeholders and raising awareness. NDI will continue close collaboration and dialogue with the ND partnerships to ensure coordination and synergies among planned activities and welcomes new topics to be jointly identified for relevant research within the project.
The ND SG meeting was held adjacent to the 6th Northern Dimension Parliamentary Forum hosted by the Norwegian parliament on 19-20 November 2019. During the Forum several speeches were held highlighting that the Arctic has long been an area of constructive international cooperation and stressing the importance to keep the Arctic as a low-tension area. A wide variety of topics were discussed, such as international transport cooperation and maritime security, environmental cooperation, sustainable tourism and improving health and social wellbeing through cooperation. The discussion brought up the positive effects of increased cross-border cooperation and people-to-people programmes to promote sustainable growth and social development in the ND region.
The ND Parliamentary Forum is a biannual event gathering the members of parliaments, governmental institutions, councils of the North, indigenous peoples’ representatives and regional inter-parliamentary organizations to discuss the development and progress of the ND cooperation. The next ND Parliamentary Forum will be organized in Russia in 2021.
Encounter of the two generations; the former Prime Minister of Finland Paavo Lipponen in discussion with the representatives of the youth; Rosa-Maren Magga, Enontekiö, Finland, Daria Makhotina, Murmansk, Russia and Sebastian Henriksen, Tromsø, Norway. Photo: The Storting
