International Summer School in Karelia (ISSK) “Resource geopolitics and energy security in the Barents Euro-Arctic region” Has Been Conducted in Petrozavodsk State University

The School is organized within the framework of the project “Establishing the EU Centre in the Barents Region of Russia”, implemented under the financial support of the European Union, theUniversityofLaplandand the Aleksanteri Institute of theUniversityofHelsinki. More than 70 people participated in the School. Russian representatives were fromPetrozavodsk,St. Petersburg, Apatity and foreign representatives were fromIceland,CanadaandFinland.     

Students of five PetrSU faculties (the Faculty of History, Philology, Economics and Faculty of Political and Social Sciences) as well as students ofKarelianStatePedagogicalUniversityactively participated in the work of the School.   

The programme of the School included two main kinds of work: lecturers before noon and discussions within work groups after noon. While working in the groups, students and lecturers could discuss thoroughly all questions connected with the main topic of the day and which was interesting for the participants. This kind of work allowed to examine the essential questions from different perspectives, to see different approaches and to share opinions to all participants.

In the framework of the School such issues as resource geopolitics and energetics in international relations, energy resources in the Russian Arctic Policy, energy dialog between the EU and Russia, renewable natural resources in the Barents Region, legal aspects of energy security, were illuminated. 

The lecturers of the School were Lassi Heininen, doctor of sciences, professor of Arctic policy, the University of Lapland, Tapani Kaakkuriniemi, the head of educational programmes department of the Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki, Jussi Huotari and Hanna Lempinen, researchers of the University of Lapland, Natalia Loukasheva, firstly invited Nansen professor of Arctic research of the University of Akureyri, Ludmila Ivanova, senior research fellow of Institute of Economic Problems named after G.P. Luzin of Kola Research Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Sergunin, professor of Department of Theory and History of International Relations of the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, and Gleb Yarovoi, associate professor of International Relations Department of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of PetrSU.   

On April 26 the participants of the School also had the possibility to visit Karelian Research Centre of theRussianAcademyof Sciences where they listened reports “Euroregion Karelia” by Dmitry Kislov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of theRepublicofKarelia, “Energy Security and Modernization of  Economy of Remote Border Region” and “Conception AQUAREL. Cross-Sectoral Approach under Condition of Sustainable Use of Natural Resources” by Igor Shevchuk, leading specialist of General Committee of Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, director of the non-commercial partnership “North-Centre”, “Increasing of the Share of Local Renewable Recourses”, “Turf Resources for Biofuel Production in Karelia” by Oleg Kuznetsov, Deputy Head of Swamp Ecosystems Laboratory of the Institute of Biology of Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences.     

On the closing day the participants shared their impressions connected with the School. Their opinions are the evidence that the School was successful. They pointed out significance and relevance of the School topics, high level of organization, the quality of the content of the programme and lecturers, and active discussions of questions. This School confirmed the importance of annual arranging international summer school in Karelia.