Kainuu Chairmanship in Barents Regional Council and the Regional Committee Mr. Pentti Malinen Region Mayor of Kainuu

November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen

November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen Territory and Population of Barents Area Total population: approx. 5.2 million people The surface area of the Barents Region, sq. km, equals the combined area of France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. The population density is on average 2,9 inhabitants per square kilometre. Territory and Population of Kainuu Total population: approx people The surface area of the Kainuu Region, 2400 sq. km, equals the area of Belgium. The population density is on average 4,0 inh. per square kilometre

November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen The Barents Programme

November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen JWGC Helena Aaltonen (co-chair) JWGT Tuomo Tahvanainen JWGER – Mikko Keränen JWGHS - to be nominated RWGTL Hannu Heikkinen (chair) RWGIEC Paavo Keränen RWGE – Jouni Ponnikas Representatives from Kainuu

November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen Karelia CBC Programme AreaKolarctic CBC Programme Area

Thematic objectives of Karelia CBC 1.Business and SME development 2.Promotion of local culture and preservation of historical heritage 3.Environmental protection, climate change adaptation 4.Promotion of border management, and border security The promotion of local cross-border people-to-people actions will be included to all the priorities special focus being on young people. Also innovations, research and education are considered as enabling cross-cutting themes. November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen 1.Business and SME development 2.Environmental protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation 3.Improvement of accessibility to the regions, development of sustainable and climate-proof transport and communication networks and systems 4.Promotion of border management and border security, mobility and migration management. Promotion of local cross-border people to people actions and support to education, research, technological development and innovation are considered as horizontal modalities. Thematic objectives of Kolarctic CBC

The brochure of the Chairmanship Priorities of Kainuu Region is available in three languages. The electronic versions may be found at: Council/Chair-Region council-of-kainuu November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen Chairmanship Priorities of Kainuu Region

Chairmanship Priorities of Kainuu Region 1. Strengthening and Streamlining Regional Cooperation 2. Promoting Economic Co-operation 3. Co-operation on Transport and Logistics 4. Good Practices and co-operation in the Social and Welfare sector 5. Environment and Climate Change 6. Education, Research and Culture November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen

1.Strengthening and Streamlining Regional Cooperation November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen Improving functional interaction with the partnerships and EU organizations related to Northern Dimension. Enhancing interaction with the regional EU offices (esp. NSPA) in Brussels. Promoting the networking, project planning and utilization of the opportunities offered by the funding programmes will be improved by developing co-operation between the programmes and improving the flow of information to the regional committee, with the aim to prepare co-financed projects. Reinforcing the visibility and recognition of Barents cooperation through local and national media as well as the social media (Communication Plan)

Finding new ways to boost large scale investment projects in the Barents region and to ensure availability of labor force. Drafting a joint tourism development programme until 2030 based on the Action Plan for Barents Tourism, resulting as a joint marketing programme supported by national governments. Combining the regional marketing activities to profile the Barents/ arctic area as a single tourism destination for global markets. Visit Arctic Europe co-operation should expand for the whole Barents region. Renewing bureaucratic visa processes and enhancing the flexibility in acquiring visas. November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen 2.Promoting Economic Co-operation

Improving large-scale cooperation with Regional Working Group on Transport and Logistics (RWGTL) and its various collaboration partners as well as promoting the existing plans Focusing investments in developing the safety and functionality of existing border-crossing connections and removing the bottlenecks hindering the traffic connections. The main focus is east-west traffic connections. Continuing the development of the existing east-west traffic corridor Narvik- Haparanda-Tornio-Oulu-Vartius-Kostomuksha-Archangelsk-Komi. Improving regular air traffic connections to and between the centers of the Barents region. Continuing the development and investigation activities concerning the Northern Sea Route, northern telecommunication and smart connections. NOTE: Transport and logistics is also priority of the Russian chairmanship! November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen 3.Co-operation on Transport and Logistics

November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen

© Joint Barents Transport Plan

Finnish municipalities and regions will undergo extensive reforms in the coming years. The specific features of the Barents region set specific challenges for organizing services. New operations models serving the regional purposes should be actively developed, for example, utilizing remote technology. The co-operation in social and welfare sector should be developed especially in the border regions. The experiences gained and good practices developed in different regions should also be made more widely known and put into practice in neighbor regions. The Kainuu Region will emphasize the following aspects of Barents cooperation: Promoting health and developing new ways and techniques for producing services as joint projects. Organizing joint events under the theme of good practices on arranging social and welfare services. November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen 4.Good Practices and co-operation in the Social and Welfare sector

November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen 5.Environment and Climate Change Fitting together the livelihoods and sustainable development in the Barents Region in order to gain sustainable profit from the natural resources potential as well as the arctic appeal for tourism. Reinforcing the tools needed for implementing climate policy in the Barents Region and for the co-operation between the Barents Region and the European Union, for example, via the Covenant of Mayors. Promoting the development of nature tourism in the area of the Green Belt of Fennoscandia. Views of Paljakkavaara. Photo: Arja Korhonen

November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen 6.Education, Research and Culture Strengthening the exchange of students and creating other connections between universities and higher educational institutes in the Barents region. Founding new, joint Master’s programmes, Doctoral programmes and research programmes in order to boost the development of livelihoods and to increase the mobility of researchers in the northern regions. Improving the mobility, visibility and cross-border co- operation of cultural actors. Increasing the activity of young people and their influence groups in exchanging experiences and supporting their internationalization. Supporting new products of culture, as well as for cross- border cultural and sport events, esp. for the needs of tourism. Promoting the cultural co-operation between the Finno-Ugric peoples and indigenous peoples in the Barents region. Sommelo Folk Music Festival Photo: Janne Seppänen

Some Forthcoming Meetings… RC meeting on February 16 th, video conference CSO Meeting March 2016, Arkhangelsk, Russia BRC and RC Meetings May 2016 Kainuu, Finland + some of the working groups CSO Meeting June 2016, Petrozavodsk, Russia Meeting of Ministers of Transport of the BEAC member states in Arkhangelsk June 2016, Arkhangelsk, Russia Meeting of Steering Committee of the Barents Euro-Arctic Transport Area, June 2016, Arkhangelsk, Russia Meeting of Ministers of Culture of the BEAC, summer 2016, Arkhangelsk … XVI BEAC Ministerial session, October 2017, Arkhangelsk November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen

November 25th, 2015 Regional Council of Kainuu / Pentti Malinen Thank You for Your Attention! Pentti Malinen Regional Mayor Chair of RC Regional Council of Kainuu Kauppakatu 1, Kajaani, FINLAND Phone