Nordic and Russian NGOs discuss opportunities for joint projects

The international conference “Nordic and Russian NGOs building bridges” took place in Arkhangelsk on May 30 -31. Its main goal was to enhance cooperation and networking among non-governmental organizations and to support development of joint projects. Representatives from Russian, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic NGOs as well as regional authorities and universities participated in the conference.

The panel session was devoted to funding opportunities for international projects. Bilateral grant programmes of Norwegian Barents Secretariat were presented by Andrey Shalyov, Norway’s Honorary Consul to Arkhangelsk. Olga Klisheva, Kolarctic CBC Programme coordinator for the Arkhangelsk region and Nenets Autonomous District informed the conference audience about thematic objectives of the Kolarctic Programme 2014-2020 and participation requirements to be met. One more funding sourсe was introduced by Ivan Ksenofontov, PR Director of A. Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund of Russia.

The conference continued by discussions of joint projects in three working groups, the draft project ideas were presented at the concluding session.