From January 26th to 30th, the Arctic Student Forum was held in Tromsø (Norway) as part of the annual international conference “Arctic Frontiers”. It was attended by 30 students studying at universities in Russia, Norway, Iceland, the UK, France, China, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Germany and the United States. The forum was supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, and the University of Tromsø.
The Russian delegation included ten students of bachelor's and master's degree programs - the winners of a competition held by the Russian Geographical Society in conjunction with the Norwegian research company “Akvaplan-Niva”.
The students took part in the political, business, and scientific sections of the forum, where they were able to listen to the speeches of ministers, and parliamentarians of the Arctic Council member states, representatives of the business community of the region, as well as get acquainted with new scientific projects in the field of Arctic research.
The meetings of the forum participants with representatives of international organizations operating in the region were useful. So, the chairman of the Sustainable Development Working Group of the Arctic Council, Stefán Skjaldarson, told students about the priority areas of activity of his unit. During a conversation with the representatives of the Barents Regional Youth Council, young men and women discussed the participation of young people in the development of international cooperation in the Arctic, and the preservation of the identity of indigenous peoples living in the region.
In addition, students from different countries, during a trip to the campus of the University of Tromsø, got acquainted with the activities of one of the leading Norwegian universities that train specialists for work in the Arctic region.
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project defenses dedicated to the sustainable development of the Arctic region before the expert jury.
Cultural activities were organized for the forum participants. Students got acquainted with the history and the present of the region in the city museum, and also visited the “Polaria” Museum of Polar Research, where they got acquainted with the living inhabitants of the northern seas, watched colorful films about the Spitsbergen archipelago and the most beautiful natural phenomenon - the northern lights.
In September 2014, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Russian Geographical Society and the Akvaplan-Niva company. Since 2015, organizations annually carry out a joint initiative to hold a competition among students of Russian universities specializing in the study of the Arctic for the right to participate in the Arctic Student Forum.