The Arctic Summer School of North-Eastern Federal University and the Northern Forum, an international organization of northern regions, received grant support of 1 million rubles from the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund. This year the school will be held from July 25 to August 12 in Yakutsk in a hybrid format.

Receiving a grant from the Gorchakov Fund will help raise the status of NEFU Arctic Summer School, develop the university’s international cooperation between the northern regions of the Russian Federation and Asian countries, as well as conclude new partnership agreements and develop academic mobility, according to Alexandra Ponomareva, head of the Department for the Development of International Cooperation with the Countries of the Arctic region of NEFU International Relations Office.

“We plan to use the grant funds to pay for the travel of participants of the Arctic Summer School, to attract leading experts on the Arctic and for organizational expenses. At the end of the school, videos of all the lectures will be prepared, and publications in NEFU scientific journal are also planned. Among the participants, we want to attract potential students to our university to study in the master's program "Arctic Studies" in English," shared Alexandra Ponomareva.

The Summer School is held for the Arctic Council countries and the countries of Asia and is one of the communication platforms for young people in order to draw attention to the problems of the Arctic. Due to the complex and constantly changing geopolitical situation in the world, the work of the school will be focused on Asian countries, with which it is possible to build a model of international cooperation “Arctic-Asia”.

Since May 13, 2019, 8 regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) are in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation, and this means that 49% of Yakutia is part of the Arctic region, emphasizes Alexandra Ponomareva: “Thanks to the Arctic Summer School, participants have the opportunity to attend a lecture course on the Arctic regions, being directly in the Arctic. The program of the school is not limited to lectures and includes educational field trips to strategic points of the regional development, as well as to popular tourist destinations.”

Also, the participants will be able to visit the Permafrost Institute, Yakutia IT Park, the secretariat of the international organization Northern Forum, where they will learn how diplomacy is carried out in the Arctic, what opportunities for cooperation exist.