Through this project we wanted to create a forum for young people in Northern Norway and Northern Finland to discuss the future of the Arctic region. By bringing them to the Arctic Frontiers conference, they were exposed to the current political discussions as well as up-to-date research and knowledge about the region. Furthermore, the goal was to create an arena for discussion and exchange of ideas among the group, as well as give the students the opportunity to engage with the around 1000 participants at the conference. In addition, we wanted to build career skills among youth in the north through the mentoring activity as well as through the networking opportunities at the conference.
We applied to this project to support and to develop Arctic Frontiers Student Forum, a forum for Arctic youth during the annual Arctic Frontiers conference. The Student Forum had previously been organized for six years with participants from Northern Norway and Northwest Russia, a collaboration that could not continue because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The regional councils of Oulu Region and Tromsø and Finnmark County connected Arctic Frontiers and Oulu Business School to collaborate. Together, we applied for this project to organize two Student Forums with participants from Northern Finland and Northern Norway. In addition, we planned to strengthen the Student Forum by implementing a mentoring program, an idea based on feedback from participants of previous editions of the Student Forum. The needs this project addressed was primarily the lack of capacity-building opportunities for young people in the northern parts of our countries, as well as lack of inclusive and international arenas for youth to discuss the future of the region.