Welcome to the Barents Days 18-21 October 2007 in Bodø

The Barents region is a historic and colourful tapestry of cross-border cooperation. The Government’s High North strategy takes full account of this traditional pattern of contact, and seeks to strengthen and renew the ties that have played such an important role in this region.
 
With a view to making this regional cooperation more visible, we have taken the initiative to arrange annual Barents Days together with some of the municipalities in the three northernmost counties. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides financial support. It regards this initiative as a long-term effort that is in line with its High North strategy.
 
The Barents Days focus on cooperation in the research and business sectors, in addition to the numerous contacts and links that form the whole people-to-people network in the region, including the important cooperation between indigenous peoples in the area. The region’s rich cultural life naturally also has a key place.
 
This year Bodø municipality has set the spotlight on borderless development through cooperation, particularly in the areas of the environment, climate change, and education and skills development. Bodø University College is a highly relevant institution with its High North centre for the business sector and its High North bachelor degree course, and it is an important contributor to the programme.
 
This year as last, the youth programme will a major feature. The Barents Secretariat is also an important partner. The cultural input will be very varied with performances by Finish, Russian, Swedish and Norwegian artists within several genres. The cultural programme will culminate on Saturday 20 October with the Barents Friendship Evening in Bodø Cultural Centre.
 
On this website, you will find information about the Barents Days since they first started in Tromsø in 2006, as well as useful information about cooperation between the Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Russian parts of the Barents region – all the people-to-people contacts that make this region so rich in tradition, so exciting and so forward-looking. It is a region full of challenges and opportunities.
 
I would like to wish Bodø municipality every success with the preparations for this event, and to welcome everyone who would like to experience and take part in the Barents Days welcome to Bodø in October. 
 

For more information: www.barentsdays.no