The business program of the III International Northern Forum on Sustainable Development continues in Yakutsk. Rector of North-Eastern Federal University Anatoly Nikolaev was a speaker at the panel discussion on Russian-Chinese cooperation in the Arctic.

NEFU’s new development program aims to strengthen its positions in the Arctic and the Asia-Pacific region. “By 2030, we strive to become one of the leading universities providing real assistance in solving global issues of humanity and life in the northern territories. The international agenda and projects of NEFU contribute to the achievement of these goals. We study environmental pollution in the Asian part of the Arctic and adjacent territories together with our key partner university in China - Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). Besides scientific research, Arctic schools for the countries of the Arctic Council are held twice a year in cooperation with HIT. An excellent result of our cooperation was the opening of NEFU Representative Office on the basis of Harbin Institute of Technology in 2019,” said Anatoly Nikolaev.

NEFU is actively working with Chinese partners within the framework of the Association of Sino-Russian Technical Universities, which the university joined in 2015. As part of the ASRTU, NEFU is one of the coordinators of Russian-Chinese interuniversity cooperation in the field of Arctic research. In 2018, the university hosted the first forum of the Association for Arctic Research, which brought together leading experts from the two countries. The next ASRTU Forum is scheduled for September 2022. The event will take place within the framework of the IV Northern Forum on Sustainable Development, which is included in the program of Russia's chairmanship in the Arctic Council.

According to Anatoly Nikolaev, it is difficult to imagine the Arctic international cooperation between Russia and China without the participation of the University of the Arctic. “Our and a number of Chinese universities have been members of the UArctic since its establishment in 1998. Together with HIT, we lead a Thematic Network on POPs and Chemicals of Emerging Concern in the Asian Arctic. Several expert workshops have already been held within the framework of the Thematic Network. In addition, there is an academic mobility program, which includes Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Dalian Maritime University, including NEFU and HIT. I hope that the projects between NEFU, HIT and the UArctic will continue to develop,” concluded the rector.