MASU develops cooperation within the framework of Russia's chairmanship in the Arctic Council

• 10.06.2022
• 1323

Mikhail Uksusov, an Advisor of MASU International Cooperation office and a Russian Youth Envoy for International cooperation in the Arctic, visited the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to participate in several events.

The ‘Arctic: Territory of Development' Conference on Ensuring a Comfortable Urban Environment, which took place on 22−25 May in Yakutsk, gathered leading Russian experts in tourism, creative industries, urban planning and architectural design to share their experience in developing the Arctic territories, creating a comfortable and motivating environment, as well as on involving society in planning the transformation of public spaces. The Conference took place as part of main events being organized by the Roscongress Foundation for Russia's chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021−2023.

Mikhail gave a speech at the conference and presented the interim results of his research on topic of Arctic Youth. The presentation received a wide response from the participants of the conference, as well as proposals for cooperation in the field of social design from the Yakut non-profit organizations.

‘‘The perception of Arctic Youth as a social group community as opposed to a demographic category will allow us to develop policy for supporting youth initiatives more efficiently — it will become more meaningful and targeted at solving specific issues, for example, related to the migration attitudes of young people,'' said Mikhail Uksusov. ‘‘However, this perception is complicated by the fact that young people in the Arctic are very diverse and, as a community, they still lack a wholesome internal identity,'' Mikhail summed up.

The project on modeling the category of Arctic Youth as a social group community was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and sent as a grant proposal to the Project Office for Arctic Development.

Besides, as part of the trip, Mikhail visited the North-Eastern Federal University named after M. K. Ammosov and met with the Acting Head of the Department of International Studies of the Institute of Foreign Philology and Regional Studies Daryana Maksimova and with an Executive Director of the Northern Forum Secretariat Vladimir Vasiliev. The meeting was dedicated to the promotion of interregional and international projects for the development of the Arctic communities under the Russian chairmanship of the Arctic Council.

Another issue was discussing the possibility of considering Mikhail Uksusov for the position of Deputy Chairman of the Youth Northern Forum and possible prospects for membership of the Murmansk region in the Northern Forum.

The Northern Forum is a non-profit international organization consisting of 14 regional governments of 5 countries — Iceland, the USA, the Republic of Korea, Finland and Russia — founded in November 1991 in Alaska. At this stage, Russia is represented by the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Kamchatka and Magadan Regions, the Khabarovsk Krai and the Chukotka Autonomous Region.

‘‘The prospect of developing cooperation between the Murmansk region and MASU with the Northern Forum and NEFU will significantly expand the opportunities for interregional domestic and international dialogue in the form of joint projects, events and other socio-cultural, research, educational, and entrepreneurial initiatives, '' Mikhail commented on possible cooperation and membership in the Forum. ‘‘The cooperation in planned not only with the above mentioned countries, but also with India, China, Japan etc.''