April 29, 2013 ended with a joint creative journey of students of Karelian College of Culture and Arts (Russia) and Professional College in Outokumpu (Finland). Members of the international project «Dancing whirlpool», funded by a cross-border program in the framework of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument "Karelia", presented residents of Petrozavodsk, Segezha and Kostamuksha an experimental performance which had been prepared by the students and teachers during a rehearsal session in Outokumpu (Finland). The coordinator of the project from the Finnish side Ulla Makinen noted that in the submitted performance the most important and valuable issue is the joint work of the students of two colleges, two different cultures. The participants created dance material, offering their own ideas on which they worked together. A central point in the process of setting the performance was developing the skills to be together, to be in one piece, one group, to feel each other in space and time. Mastering the basic principles of improvisation, the students tried to find different ways of how to make contact in the dance. The performance was warmly received by the audience. The viewers were interested in a mythological, philosophical theme of Norns - the universal forces that rule the world, control the cosmic energy, spin the whirl of human lives. The majority of the Finnish participants visited Russia for the first time - they first met with Russian culture, life, kitchen. The project enabled the Russian and Finnish students to experience cross-cultural interaction, to practice the knowledge of a foreign language. For Karelian College of Culture and Arts it is the first experience of a major international project. The first stage is over, a new creative session is to be held in autumn 2013 in Outokumpu, Kuopio and Kajaani.

Oxana Konopleva, Karelian College of Culture and Arts

LLW(Lifelong Wellbeing)-Projec tkick off took place in Kostomuksha 19.04.2013. At place were 16 representatives from 3 partner organizations. The budget was most discussed issue. Hopefull in next meeting 20.05.2013 everything will be ok.

KA408 The Biofuel Power in Kostomuksha - BIOKOS

BIOKOS-project organizes bioforum in Kajaani Kaukametsä (Address: Koskikatu 2-4) on Tuesday 18th of June at 9-16.

Final program will publish as soon as possible.

More information:

Sanna Nikola-Määttä Project Manager / BIOKOS Regional Council of Kainuu Mob. +358 44 410 0745

E-mail: sanna.nikola-maatta[at]kainuu.fi

BIOKOS project is tendering supplies for a combined heat power plant to be built in Kostomuksha. The call for proposals closes on 1st June 2013. The announcement can be found from HILMA.

Additional information:

Project manager Sanna Nikola-Määttä

Regional Council of Kainuu

tel. +358 44 410 0745

sanna.nikola-maatta[at]kainuu.fi

The first training seminar for the project participants of Developing Cross-Border Knowhow on the Prevention of Social Exclusion of Children and Youth -project was held in Petrozavodsk on April 11-12, 2013. The training seminar was organized by the Karelian State Pedagogical Academy (KSPA) in collaboration with the Oulu University Extension School. The purpose of this seminar was to provide training for teachers and other professionals working in the participating schools. The seminar aimed to increase participants' knowledge and expertise about preventive mechanisms and good practices to prevent social exclusion of children and youth.

The seminar consisted of three elements. There were lectures given by experts of psychology, sociology, education and youth research. The topics of the lectures were ‘Social Wellbeing and Life Control’, ‘Social Exclusion’ and ‘Psychosocial Support on the Development of Children and Youth’. The second element was workshop, where the participants started creating the developmental projects in their schools. Third element of the seminar was familiarizing with the Karelian educational system by a visit to a local school.

The seminar provided fruitful environment for networking and collaborative activities. The seminar highlighted the importance of child-centered approach when supporting children’s and young people’s life management and preventing social exclusion. Understanding the children’s and young people’s life should always be the basis of support offered to them.

On behalf of the ENPI KA179 project team we would like to welcome you to the 2nd seminar on e-Tourism in Karelia and Oulu Region, held in beautiful capital of Russian Karelia, Petrozavodsk, April 23-25, 2013. Seminar “e-Tourism in Karelia and Oulu Region” provides great opportunity to foster dialogue between tourism and ICT industry representatives from Russia and Finland. The seminar is aimed at creating a platform for knowledge and expertise sharing to strengthen cross-border collaboration, exchange experiences and best practices of using perspective approaches and latest information technologies for the development of e-tourism services and infrastructures in Russian Karelia and Oulu regions.

The seminar will consist of presentations given by invited industrial and academic experts and round table discussions; besides trainings on Geo2Tag open source platform and 3D Internet will be organized.

We warmly welcome you to contribute to the seminar by participation in interactive discussions and experience sharing. The seminar is free of charge. Registration to seminar by April 15, 2013, at the seminar web page: http://www.fruct.org/e-tourism2  Please visit the seminar web page for more information and to follow latest updates.

Looking forward to see you at seminar!

On behalf of the ENPI KA179 project team we invite you to take part in the ICT week and 13th FRUCT conference (www.fruct.org/conference13) that will be held in Petrozavodsk on 22-26 April 2013. The event will include a number of educational and scientific modules, advanced courses and seminars and demo session. For example you have a chance to free of charge take part in professional training on Windows 8, Geo2Tag platform, 3D Internet and so on. The event brings together the top academic and industrial experts in ICT and should be seen as a great opportunity to learn more about potential and get new best practices for development of the region in ICT field. In addition to educational and scientific sessions there will be a number of presentation on cooperation activities between Russia and Finland, presentations of ongoing FRUCT projects and status reports from a number of universities from Russia, Finland. Thanks to funding of ENPI Karelia program, contribution of FRUCT community and industrial partners the event and all educational sessions and trainings are free of charge for the participants.

For registration and additional information about the event please visit the conference web site www.fruct.org/conference13.

Looking forward to see you in Petrozavodsk!

On the 1-st of March, 2013 Karelian College of Culture and Arts launched a project «Dancing whirlpool», which is financed by cross-border cooperation in the framework of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument "Karelia" (PPP ENPI "Karelia"). The project is being implemented in partnership with North-Karelian college in Outokumpu (Finland) and the NCO "Karelian Resource Center of Public Organizations" (Petrozavodsk, Russia). The main aims of the project are: development of cross-border cooperation in the field of contemporary dance, developing a network of contacts between educational institutions in the field of culture and involvement of children and young people to participation in cultural events. The first activity of the project was the arrival of teachers from professional college in Outokumpu to Petrozavodsk. Ulla Mäkinen, Head of the Choreography Department, and Vera Lapitskaya, college instructor, conducted two master classes on contemporary dancing for Karelian students. Being experts in the field of contemporary dance, Finnish teachers made Russian students acquainted with the peculiarities of this direction of modern dance which combines the elements of western dance and eastern art movement. And this is the sort of dance that has no peculiar form of style, because the main thing in it is self-expression. Specialists insist that contemporary is an intellectual dance that balances the state of body, mind and soul. The master classes were attended by more than 50 students from Karelian College of Culture and Arts. Finnish teachers mentioned a good level of Karelian students.

Euregio Karelia: Museum Hypertext project is taking off with the Opening Karelia workshop that will take place on March 20-22, 2013 in Petrozavodsk.

The workshop participants will start discussion about the museum hypertext which is a new approach to creating a modern exhibition and a promising and flexible model of building effective relationships between the museum and the visitor in the era of mobile communications and the Internet.

One of the goals of the workshop is also to establish partnerships between museums of the Euregio Karelia region, which have similar exhibition themes in order to develop a common vision of the Euregio Karelia region as a multicultural, natural and historical phenomenon.

KA426 on Facebook at www.facebook.com/museumhypertext

KA346 Promotion of low-cost and youth tourism in the cross-border areas | Tourism training course in Petrozavodsk Text by Yulia Kuzmina

In February 2013 five days tourism training course took place in Petrozavodsk and in Urozero Center, 25 km from Petrozavodsk.

Representatives of hostels’ administration of the project partners as well as teachers and experts in tourism gathered together in order to learn more about the on-growing development of the low-cost tourism and corresponding ways of accommodation on both sides of the border.

First two days were devoted to the Finnish experience of this question. Guests, trainers and experts from Finland (Centria University of Applied Sciences, University of Oulu, City of Kalajoki and Kalajoki Vocational College) shared informative experience and statistics of Tourism in their region, Tourism studies (university and vocational college levels), Marketing and IT in Tourism.

In the third and fourth day there were following subjects, which were presented by the specialists from Russia (Karelia): Economics of tourist destinations; Law aspects of the tourist activities, entrepreneurship; Working with personal data in tourism; IT technologies in tourism, experience of the Russian side; Hotel industry (hostels). Lecture on Event management as a way of promoting youth tourism industry was followed by a creative group work of all the participants.

On the fifth day there was a chance to participate to the conference of the ENPI CBC project “Cities by the water: new opportunities for business development”, which consisted of several thematic sections.

Participants of the training course expressed their gratitude, because they updated information and knowledge of some essential aspects of the tourist industry. Foreign experience was very important: both general tourism situation and the system of tourism studies across the border. Participants mentioned that there were lots of differences in facts, statistics, courses and strategies. All this new ideas and information they will use in their future work and in fulfillment of this project.

Further information on the project: Project Manager: Merja Heikkilä/ merja.heikkila[at]oulu.fi

Project website: http://www.hostel.karelia.ru/

The Aquatic resources for green energy realisation - AQUAREL focuses on developing energy production from fish waste and aquatic organisms, with simultaneously improving the state of environment and reducing the load on ecosystem. AQUAREL is realised in Finnish-Russian collaboration with the Oulu-based Oy Culmentor Ltd. acting as the Lead Partner (see more: http:/www.culmentor.com/aquarel).

AQUAREL’s opening seminar was organized 31^st January 2013 in Petrozavodsk at the Karelian Research Centre of Russian Academy of Science. The seminar gathered together total 50 participants representing fish farmers and fish processors and businesses from other sectors, research organisations and public authorities. During the day the seminar participants had an opportunity to hear presentations covering a wide spectrum of topics from the special characteristics of White Sea to technology solutions suitable for processing fish waste. The presentations and discussions also allowed the participants evaluate more deeply and clearly the future use of the White Sea biological resources for generating additional energy.

The main conclusions of the seminar were that activities to be realised in AQUAREL are essential for identifying the potential for better utilization of fish waste as a raw material for energy production and ways to develop small scale energy production solutions for remotely located fish farms and processing plants.

Further information on the project:

Contact person: Heidi Ruuska / heidi.ruuska(at)culmentor.com

AQUAREL website:  http:/www.culmentor.com/aquarel

The opening seminar will take place on 20.-21.02.13 in the Legislative Assembly of Karelia in Petrozavodsk. During the project the development of mediation services will be supported in municipalities in the Republic of Karelia and new mediation offices will be established in Petrozavodsk, Pryazha and Sortavala. An informational campaign will be launched and cooperation between officials and mediators will be strengthened. New volunteer mediators will be recruited and trained. Training includes e.g. lectures on restorative justice, multicultural issues and communication skills as well as practical training periods in Finnish and Russian mediaton offices.

More about the project: http://www.aducate.fi/mediation

Info about the opening seminar and progam in Russian language: http://youth.karelia.ru/index.php/politic/inf/3236-prim

January 22-23, a kick-off seminar of Matka.ru for Finnish partners took place in the Hyvärilä youth center (Nurmes, Finland).

Representatives of Oulu, Liperi, Kontiolahti and Joensuu gathered together on a seminar. A delegation of youth work specialists represented the City of Nurmes. Members of the Managing committee of the project came to the seminar from the Republic of Karelia.

The goal of the seminar was to introduce Finnish experts to the Matka.ru project and launch development of the Finnish part of educational tourism network.

The seminar started with introduction of participants. It turned out that Karelian and Finnish organizations have plenty of common issues for discussion and exchange of experience, such as: ecology, adventure pedagogics, tourism, youth participation, IT, psychology, and social work with the youth.

On the first day of the seminar experts from the Hyvärilä presented their center and described the Finnish system of youth centers. Jukka Kuhanen, the Director, gave a tour around the center and told the story of step-by-step reconstruction of once abandoned premises from 1980 and how they created conditions for youth programs outside the city.

Tuija Hurri, school camps coordinator, informed that Hyvärilä receives somewhat 70 school groups per year. Students come in big groups together with their teachers. Some of them organize events themselves, and some rely on expertise of the center and its staff.

Tuija’s colleague Maija Jeskanen coordinates international youth camps in the Hyvärilä. She presented project cycle from the stage of idea and search for partners up to fund raising and implementation.

During the seminar Maija prepared project application for financing of international photography and nature youth camp that is scheduled for June. One of ideas was to join the forces of Network members and organize an international youth camp on a topic of common interest in August in the Hyvärilä center.

Read more at the project web pages: http://matkachi.ru

Joensuu hosted the coordination meeting of  "Eco efficient tourism" project partners that took place January 14, 2013. The partners has summarized the results of implemented activities like gathering of information and assessment of the current situation in the pilot areas, or study of the Finnish experience in management of recreational areas.  The implementation of upcoming activities such as publication of the guidebook on the tourist infrastructure along the “Blue Highway” and brochures on regional specificity information has also been discussed. But most of the time was devoted to the discussion of project Communication and visibility plan. Finnish partners have presented the project networking scheme.

First of all, The North Karelian Biosphere Reserve reported about launching the page of "Eco efficient tourism" project on their official web-site - http://www.kareliabiosphere.fi/in_english/eco-efficient_tourism/: it provides both basic information about the project and direct links to the official project site.

Secondly, the project has also got its Facebook page  - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Enhancing-the-Quality-of-Life-Through-Eco-Efficient-Tourism/215194715273913#!/pages/Enhancing-the-Quality-of-Life-Through-Eco-Efficient-Tourism/215194715273913. This network can have a great long-term result in terms of creating a community of people interested in the project's topic, engaging stakeholders, attracting tourists and development of transboundary grass-root level actions.

Thirdly, "Eco efficient tourism" project will also be presented in FLICKR. This is an image hosting and video hosting website. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to host images that they embed in blogs and social media. This resource is believed to give a good visibility of the project and contribute to tourism development on project pilot sites.

After all, Finnish partners made a commitment to update Communication and visibility plan in accordance with discussed changes and hold several of on-line (skype) conferences for the discussion of current issues in February and March.

 Elena Cherniakevich

Project manager

January 15-16 kick-off seminar for the new partner organizations from the Republic of Karelia was held.

Representatives from schools, colleges, children’s arts centers, palaces of culture, children and youth organizations came to the seminar. They arrived from different parts of Karelia, namely: Landenpokhsky, Suoyarvsky, Pitkyarantsky, Olonetsky, Muezersky and Loukhsky districts and Petrozavodsk.

The purpose of the two-day seminar that gathered 30 experts from 25 organizations was to launch establishment of the Network of educational tourism in Karelia.

The traditional opening speech part was skipped this time and work began right away. Participants divided into several groups in order to prepare own tips of successful international cooperation.

Each group had a task to think about some issues and present own vision in a sketch. Issues for consideration were the following:

5 barriers. Why organizations do not develop international cooperation? What are the obstacles? 5 advantages. What are the advantages that international cooperation brings to the youth? 5 resources. What additional benefits does international cooperation bring to organization? 5 mistakes. Why international programs do not live up to expectations sometimes? What are the mistakes that lead to disappointment? 5 recipes. What are the recipes for successful international cooperation?

READ MORE about the event at the project web pages: http://matkachi.ru

Applications from organizations from the Republic of Karelia for joining Matka.ru were evaluated and new partners were selected.

10 non-governmental organizations, 3 state educational institutions, 8 schools, 4 institutions of extended education for children and 2 cultural organizations joined the project. In total there are now 27 organizations from 8 municipalities of Karelia participating in the project.

By the end of December partners from Finland will be selected as well.

Starting January 2013 organizations will develop cross-border network for youth educational tourism in Karelia. Kick-off seminars for representatives of Russian and Finnish organizations will take place in January 2013.

More information: http://matkachi.ru

On October 9-10 in the Kalevala settlement was organized seminar "Implementation of pilot projects in the Kalevala region to organize the local water supply and sanitation services in small communities." It took place in the framework of the meeting of Heads of municipal administrations "The role of local authorities in the preservation and development of national culture and national language." Heads of the municipalities of Priazha, Kalevala and Kondopoga districts, representatives of "Energy Efficiency Centre", the representatives of the construction company-subcontractor of the KA255 project participated in the seminar. During the seminar, participants were presented a pilot object - Kindergarten № 2 in Kalevala, where they met with fully reconstructed systems of water supply and sanitation in small wooden typical building. It is worth noting that the design and pilot sites were presented to heads of small settlements of the mentioned above areas of Karelia (16 people), so we can say that the dissemination of project results was partly achieved. In addition, one of the representative of the project KA192 Partner - Karelian Regional Institute of Management, Economics and Law, had participated in the seminar with the purpose to be acquainted with the results obtained in KA255 project. It is good example of interaction between the two projects, working in the same region. It is important that the KA192 project can use the KA255 project results in the implementation of its own pilot in Kalevala district. One of the possibilities could be further upgrading of the same social object in terms of electricity and heat.

Project experts and other specialists of Petrozavodsk Municipal Services College developed, published and included into the educational process 11 various training courses in the field of water supply and waste water treatment in the beginning of October.

As it was planned by the KA255 project, the new systems of water supply and sanitation in the Kinder Garden #2 in Kalevala settlement and the brand-new public well in Borovoi settlement were constructed by the end of September 2012. It is important to mention that the general architecture, internal facilities and equipment of the Kinder Garden are very typical for existing ones in Kalevala and other small settlements of Karelia. Thus the demonstration project implemented in Kalevala could be and we hope will be replicated in other settlements and districts. Also its worth to mention that such plastic items as septic tanks for canalization in Kinder Garden and special PE-plastic inner pipe for the well in Borovoi have been produced in Borovoi by the local manufacturer OOO "Al Hola" (subsidiary company of Finnterrus OY). The next steps according the Action plan are pilot projects in Prjazha district. The selection of the objects (Kroshnozero,Chalna, Essoila) and estimation of expenses for construction works and materials are going on.

October 18-19, the Matka.ru project held a series of information meetings in Finland.

Project coordinators Denis Rogatkin and Dina Kouzmitcheva informed potential partners of opportunities of participation in the project. Information meetings took place in Joensuu, Kuopio and the Hyvärilä Youth Center.

Representatives of youth organizations, projects, centers and educational institutions participated in presentations, including Youth Service of Finland, Joensuu Youth Department, Kuopio Youth Central House, Youth to youth project, project of improvement of Russian language teaching, projects of street social work, youth workshops and others.

In the nearest future the Matka.ru project will announce opening of call for applications for Finnish organizations interested in participating in the project and development of educational tourism. Registration of Russian participants has already started. During information meetings potential Finnish partners evaluated the project as a good opportunity for brightening up cross-border youth cooperation.

See details and pictures at the project web pages: http://matkachi.ru

October 10, Youth influence group meeting was held in Matkachi. High school students and students of the Center of ecology and biology, Youth union Doroga, Pedagogical team Paralleli and Karelian center of volunteerism formed the Group. The purpose of the trip was to collect ideas on what the future Youth international center should look like. Students divided into small groups, got territory maps, examined the territory of Matkachi base and proposed their plans for reconstruction. The Group came up with quite a few original ideas, such as: - provide a space for tent camp to accommodate more young people in summer; - build a rock-climbing wall; - provide place for skating rink in winter as well as for a summer playground; - create a mini-farm; - build a greenhouse or a small garden; - landscape the territory and build walking paths; - build a pierce for boats; - to equip buildings with rooms for trainings and seminars, fireplace room, cinema and connect two buildings with a passage; - provide access to wireless Internet in the camp. Each group presented their own plan for placement of buildings and equipment. All proposed ideas will be considered when drafting a construction plan. You can watch a short film about the trip of Youth influence group on the Sampo TV channel website. See http://matkachi.ru

On September 29 the environmental action took place in Matkachi. The event was run by the Head of the Republic of Karelia Alexander Hudilainen. The action was initiated by the RK Ministry of Land use and Ecology. In the framework of a Month of cleaning forests from litter, Government officers, members of environmental organizations and volunteers participated in environmental events. Only a few steps away from the Matkachi camp there is a popular beach. After summer period this territory and adjacent forest was much polluted. Volunteers led by the Governor gathered dozens of garbage bags. After the litter pick the Head of the Republic examined the camp territory and was shown a presentation about the Matka.ru project. Plan of reconstruction and launching of an International youth center drew attention of the Cabinet officers. The First Deputy of RK Head Alexander Chazhengin, Deputy Head Valentina Ulich, Minister of Land use and Ecology Viktor Chikaluk, Minister of Education Irina Kuvshinova, Minister of Sport Alexander Voronov participated in the discussion. The Matka.ru project coordinator Denis Rogatkin told that in the framework of the project by the summer of 2014 it is planned to put in operation two new buildings that would work year-round as a base for international sessions, recreational programs, extended education for children and young people. Alexander Hudilainen highlighted that there are issues that need to be thoroughly worked out and considered for successful implementation of a good project idea. Thus, the reconstruction plan has to be feasible, it should be worked out considering that resources allocated for project implementation are limited. Another important issue is further maintenance of the Center; this aspect should be clarified now in order to ensure proper functioning of the Center after launching. After the presentation an informal discussion with representatives of Karelian Government continued. Exchange of opinions will help organize fruitful cooperation. See the pictures at: http://matkachi.ru

On September 21 Karelia ENPI project Matka.ru started with a meeting in the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Karelia. For two years the Matkachi project will be working for development of youth educational tourism on both sides of the border. The funding is provided by the Karelia cross-border cooperation program. Project title stems from the name of a former children camp in Matkachi village that will be reconstructed within project. Cooperation of Karelian and Finnish experts started with examination of the camp. Further information on the project web pages: http://matkachi.ru

On behalf of the ENPI KA179 project team we invite you to take part in the ICT week and 12th FRUCT conference (www.fruct.org/conference12) that will be held in Oulu on 5-9 November, 2012. The event will include a number of educational and scientific modules, advanced courses and seminars and demo session. It brings together the top academic and industrial experts in ICT and should be seen as a great opportunity to learn more about potential and get new best practices for development of the region in ICT field. In addition to educational and scientific sessions there will be a number of presentation on cooperation activities between Russia and Finland, presentations of ongoing FRUCT projects and status reports from a number of universities from Russia, Finland. Thanks to funding of ENPI Karelia program, contribution of FRUCT community and industrial partners the event and all educational sessions and trainings are free of charge for the participants.

For registration and additional information about the event please visit the conference web site www.fruct.org/conference12.

Looking forward to see you in Oulu!

In the beginning of September the project KA255 "Improvement of Environment and Living Standards on the basis of Modern Rural Development" has started implementation of two demonstration projects in Kalevala National District. The first one is rehabilitation of water supply and sanitation systems in the kinder garden #2 in Kalevala settlement. The second one is reconstruction of central well in the Borovoi settlement. Both the demonstration projects will be implemented with the use of modern equipment and materials. The completion of reconstruction works is expected by 20th of September. The next set of demonstration projects is to be implemented in Prjazha district during September and October this year.

27-29.03.2012 the next field seminar titled "Study of the Finnish experience in solving problems of organizing the local water supply and sanitation in small towns" within the project KA255 was held in the city of Hyrynsalmi (Finland) . The third workshop brought together, as the first one, representatives of the Administrations and communal utility companies of the pilot settlements. Workshop participants have got the opportunity to go to the Administration of a small Finnish municipality and to obtain information about how they work especially in the field of sanitation and water supply, visited the local facilities (water intake and treatment). The participants of the seminar became acquainted with fully autonomous decentralized water supply and sanitation object, which complies with all environmental regulations, but at the same time meets all the requirements of modern living standards and is a low-cost for the consumption of energy and funds. Also, the project participants had the opportunity to discuss in details the pilot projects to be implemented within the framework of the project before the end of the year in the pilot settlements.

Renovation in two wooden buildings of the creative incubator is in full swing. It is located in the historic downtown Petrozavodsk by Onego Lake in Malaya Slobodskaya and Neglinskaya streets. To date, the house in Malaya Slobodskaya street is ready to welcome its first residents. In the nearest future furniture and equipment will be purchased and the first craft workshops will be opened. Renovations in the second building in Neglinskaya street will start in late May 2012. In the meantime the Traditional Crafts Center in Kirov Street is being converted into a modern exhibition and presentation center of the creative cluster. Doors of the renovated center will open this spring 2012 with a new crafts store, weaving workshop and an exhibition.

More information: http://crafts.karelia.ru/incubator

On April 11-12, 2012 Petrozavodsk hosted an international seminar on designing new products based on cultural heritage of Karelia. It was opened by the Minister of Culture of Karelia Elena Bogdanova. Dmitry Bazegsky, the head of the ENPI CBC Karelia office in Petrozavodsk also gave his welcoming speech to over 60 participants. Among them were local practicing craftspeople, representative of creative businesses, the Administration of Petrozavodsk, local and Finnish designers. During the two intensive days a new assortment of craft and souvenir products was drafted under the themes Wood, Stone, Ceramics and Glass, Gifts, Textile, and Historic Petrozavodsk together with potential producers of souvenirs and experts. A separate agreement was signed with each designer from Finland on technological design of a specific number of new products or re-design of existing products. The first designs of new craft and souvenir products will be ready in May 2012.

More information: http://crafts.karelia.ru/incubator 

The process of rebranding of the city's waterfront areas will receive follow-up in the form of changes to the existing Rules of land use and construction, which will be made basing on the proposed concepts.A set of measures, proposed within the Old City concept aims at developing this corner of Petrozavodsk into an object of tourist attraction, which would demonstrate urban lifestyle of late 19 and early 20 centuries. 
The concept City by the Water pursued the main aim of opening the city towards the water: create conditions for a comfortable life of the citizens, including possibilities for residential housing, sport facilities, parks and recreation facilities. The set of measures, recommended by the concept, significantly increases the quality of the urban environment. 
Task, set out by the project to the team of 8 architects, included elaboration of two architectural concepts - City by the Water, covering the whole waterfront territory of the city, and Old City, a more detailed concept of the historical quarter of Petrozavodsk, located nearby Onega lake in the center of Petrozavodsk.  Results of a one year work on elaboration of new approaches to spatial development of waterfront territories and city marketing have been presented at a round table Old and New in Urban Space, which took place in Petrozavodsk on April, 11 2012.

On behalf of the ENPI KA179 project team we invite you to take part in the 11th FRUCT conference (www.fruct.org/conference11) that will be held in St.-Petersburg on 23-27 April, 2012. The event bring together the top academic and industrial experts in ICT and should be seen as a great opportunity to learn more about potential and get new best practices for development of the region in ICT field. The event will consists of a number of educational and scientific sessions, with many presentations about ongoing FRUCT projects and status reports from a number of universities from Russia, Finland and whole Baltic region. Thanks to funding of ENPI Karelia program, contribution of FRUCT community and industrial partners this event if free of charge for the participants.

For registration and additional information about the event please visit the conference web site www.fruct.org/conference11.

Looking forward to see you in St-Petersburg!

On February 20-22, another travelling seminar took place in the framework of the project "Improvement of the Environment and Living Standards on the Basis of Modern Rural Development" in the city of Oulu, Finland. The participants were the staff of the Federal State Educational Facility of Vocational Training "Petrozavodsk College Municipal Utilities" and the teachers from the department of "Water supply and wastewater treatment". The participants of the seminar started studying Finnish experience by visiting the water company of Oulu, where they listened to presentations on organizing water services in Finland, and they visited water and wastewater treatment facilities. Visit to the Oulu University of Applied Sciences was an important part of the program. The participants received general information about the training facility, got familiar with curricular on water-related subjects. When visiting the laboratory on testing technical water supply solutions at Oulu University of Applied Sciences, the participants learned about Finnish principles of facilitating research activities and principles of operating a pilot water treatment plant. Now, after exchanging experience in the area of teaching the course on water supply and wastewater treatment with Finish colleagues, the College of Municipal Utilities will embark on fulfilling its role in the project.

In December 2011 the project launched The KARELIAN STYLE creative business ideas contest to boost new creative businesses based on cultural heritage of Karelia in the following areas:

• Designer and souvenir products (souvenirs including gastronomic souvenirs, gifts, clothing, accessories, costume jewelry, interior design, etc.)

• Audio, video and media products for regional positioning (computer games, music, videos, clips animation, presentation programs, etc.).

The contest was held during December 10, 2011 - January 10, 2012 for the residents of the Republic of Karelia with the priority given to applicants from Petrozavodsk and Pitkyaranta and Sortavala regions which are the pilot regions of the project.

The finalists selected by January 24, 2012 will be interviewed and the winners will be announced by February 8, 2012.

Finalists and winners will be offered a free training course in business basics to transfer their business ideas into business plans.

Winners of the contest will get assistance in product design and packaging, registration as small businesses and preparation of applications for getting grants for small business enterprises from the Ministry of economic development of the Republic of Karelia and the Local administration of Petrozavodsk. Winners from Petrozavodsk will be offered production workshop premises in the creative incubator located in the historic part of the city. Winners from the pilot regions of the project will get assistance in creating local productions workshops.

On November 23-24, 2011 a seminar and a round table "Creative industries as an important vector of human capital development in Russia" were held in Petrozavodsk. The round table was part of the Karelian international forum "Investments into the Future" and was devoted to the creative industries role in human capital development.

Creative industries as a key sector of innovative economy make it possible to create attractive work places for young people, to trigger the creative energy of the communities and to shape environments that contribute to self-realization of the citizens. What kind of projects in the cultural field will contribute to the human capital development? Why do creative industries and design present the area not only for economic growth but also for human capital build-up? These questions were covered during the discussion.

Experts from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Petrozavodsk and Finland made presentations about design and creative industries development in Russia and abroad.

More information at http://crafts.karelia.ru/incubator/news_eng.htm or by email Sähköpostiosoite on suojattu roskapostiohjelmia vastaan, Javascript-tuen tulee olla päällä nähdäksesi osoitteen .

Project has been running successfully since May 2011. This week we had a pleasure to host our Russian partners, when they came to Eastern Finland to familiarize themselves with Finnish water treatment facilities and companies who has the experience and knowhow in this interesting field.

November 21 and 22 study tour participants visited different locations in Kuopio and Leppävirta. After the two-day study tour guests arrived to Joensuu. Seminar was held November 23 in Science Park, Joensuu. In seminar project’s Finnish partners, Pöyry and Keypro and presented their thoughts of the possibilities that could be done to improve water treatment in Sortavala. Komperon Vesiosuuskunta from Liperi presented how this little village has taken care of their own water supply and treatment with the help of modern technology.

Just before study tour and seminar project websites were published. From project’s websites everyone interested have a possibility to get information. Websites are also meant to improve communication between project partners that are geologically located on wide area and to guarantee that everyone has the same possibilities to get information about project progression.

Conversation forum on project’s website makes it possible to have a conversation that each partner has the possibilities to attend. And, of course, when everyone is working towards the same goal, sustainable development of Sortavala town’s environmental situation’s improvement, there are a lot to talk about.

Please visit our website www.projectsortavala.fi for further information!

On October 13, 2011, another seminar took place in the framework of the project “Improvement of the Environment and Living Standards on the Basis of Modern Rural Development” in Petrozavodsk. 17 persons participated. The leader of the project presented the overall project situation and further implementation plan. Project Partners, the Institute of Water Problems of the North under KRC RAS made the analysis of water supply situation in Kalevala and Pryazha districts. Project participants, the heads of the settlements from the two districts, presented the information on the current status in water supply and wastewater treatment in Pryazha and Kalevala districts collected during the project. Also potential investment projects in the settlements were discussed.

A seminar “Studying Finnish Experience in Local Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment in Small Settlements” took place in Oulu on 30.05- 1.6.2011. Representatives of Administrations of Pryazha and Kalevala districts participated in the seminar. During the visit, the participants got familiarized with solutions for water supply and wastewater treatment in small settlements in Finland, they also visited a plant producing septic tanks and local treatment plants, water treatment plant, and a laboratory for testing technical water supply solutions of the University of Applied Sciences in Oulu. Finnish colleagues devoted the seminar to studying Finnish experience and knowledge in the area of decentralized low-cost water supply and wastewater treatment systems in small settlements.

On April 28, 2011, in the conference hall of Severnaya Hotel in Petrozavodsk the first information seminar took place under the project” “Improvement of the Environment and Living Standards on the Basis of Modern Rural Development”. Representatives of all project partners and Heads of Pryazha and Kalevala National Districts, representatives of the State Committee for Local Self-Government and Energy Sector took part in the event. The welcoming speech was made by Bazegskii Dmitrii Vasilievich, coordinator of Karelia ENPI CBC program in Karelia. Project goals, objectives and the implementation plan were presented at the seminar. The amount of work and people responsible for those works for the coming 6 months were identified in more detail.

On March 21 – 22, two working meetings took place with the project partners. The following issues were under discussion: project implementation plan, division of duties between the project participants, distribution of finances and use of resources, establishment of a project working group. Decisions were made to appoint a responsible person and participants of specific project actions, finalize and sign the contracts with the account for the notes from the partners, act within the framework of the budget agreed upon before, and when spending the money act under the governance of the principles and rules of the Joint Management Authority (JMA).

Project "Cities by the Water" invites all interested partners to paticipate in the international Round table "Water in Urban Space", which is to take place in Petrozavodsk on Nov, 29th from 10.00 to 16.00 in the City Hall (room 206).

Aim of the Round table - discuss the architectural concepts "City by the Water" and "Old City", which are under elaboration in Petrozavodsk.

Architects from Joensuu will present their plans for spatial developing of territories on the banks of Pielisjoki in Joensuu.

It is planned to discuss such issues, as marketing of waterfront territories, possibilities for business development, options for reconstruction of existing waterfront enterprises.

For more information please contact us at Sähköpostiosoite on suojattu roskapostiohjelmia vastaan, Javascript-tuen tulee olla päällä nähdäksesi osoitteen

On 28-29 September 2011 one of the key project activities was organized in St. Petersburg. It was an expert seminar on concept development for the Design center and the Craft business incubator.

During the two intensive days 16 experts from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Petrozavodsk, Helsinki and Joensuu plunged into presentations, round tables, discussions, suggestions and proposals. During the working group sessions the seminar participants concentrated on functions, structure, budget, funding and launching projects for the Design center and the Craft business incubator.

The Final Concept will be presented in public for the first time on November 25, 2011 in the framework of the Round table "Design and creative industries development in Karelia" within the investment Forum "Investments in Future".

For more information, please contact:

Natalia Sidorova, project manager, Creative Industries and Cultural Tourism Development Fund at Sähköpostiosoite on suojattu roskapostiohjelmia vastaan, Javascript-tuen tulee olla päällä nähdäksesi osoitteen or visit our website at http://crafts.karelia.ru/incubator

On behalf of the ENPI KA179 project team we invite you to take part in the 2nd Finnish-Russian Mobile Linux Summit that will be held in Tampere on 4-5 October, 2011 (http://fruct.org/MobileLinux2). The summit provides an unmatched collaboration and education forum for all matters Mobile Linux. The summit brings together the best and brightest that the Regional Mobile Linux communities have to offer, including core developers, administrators, end users, business executives, and operations experts - the best technical talent and the decision makers and industry experts who are involved in the community. The summit is targeted to scale up cross-border cooperation between ICT experts and mobile developers from Russian and Finland, with particular focus on Oulu region and Republic of Karelia.

The summit starts at noon of October 4th and continue for 1.5 days. The program consists of invited lectures provided by industrial and academic experts, community presentations selected from the open call and demos on MeeGo and other Mobile Linux systems given by the regional groups, invited FRUCT teams and selected from the open call. The key priority of this summit is community development so a lot of attention will be given to creation of cozy environment and possibilities for social interaction.

Looking forward to see you in Oulu!

On behalf of the ENPI KA179 project team we invite you to take part in the 10th FRUCT conference (www.fruct.org/conference10) that will be held in Tampere on 7-11 November, 2011. The event bring together the top academic and industrial experts in ICT and should be seen as a great opportunity to learn more about potential and get new best practices for development of the region in ICT field. The event will consists of a number of educational and scientific sessions, with many presentations about ongoing FRUCT projects and status reports from a number of universities from Russia, Finland and whole Baltic region. Thanks to funding of ENPI Karelia program, contribution of FRUCT community and industrial partners this event if free of charge for the participants.

For registration and additional information about the event please visit the conference web site www.fruct.org/conference10.

Looking forward to see you in Tampere!

RESEARCH of the Karelian market of unique local products and the potential of the conversion of the historical and cultural heritage into new businesses is in full swing in Karelia. Research is carried out by the team of experts from the Center for Strategic Research "North-West", St. Petersburg. On 14-20 June 2011 over 30 INTERVIEWS were held in Petrozavodsk with the representatives of small and medium-size businesses, design, food, arts and crafts, textile and other industries as well as the representatives of educational institutions and creative young people.

On June 20, 2011 the first SEMINAR "Entrepreneurship based on historical and cultural heritage of Karelia - to be or not to be" took place in Petrozavodsk in the framework of the Research. More than 30 participants that represent small and medium-size businesses, handicrafts and souvenir industry discussed the possibilities, problems and perspectives of the creative industries development in our region. The next seminar that will present results of the Research is scheduled for September 2011.

For more information please, contact:

Natalia Sidorova, project manager, Creative Industries and Cultural Tourism Development Fund at Sähköpostiosoite on suojattu roskapostiohjelmia vastaan, Javascript-tuen tulee olla päällä nähdäksesi osoitteen

In the framework of the study of the European experience in the field of state support to the creative sector of economy a joint study tour for the Russian and Finnish project experts took place to the Finnish and Swedish organizations presenting successful examples of using design and innovative approach to regional economic development.

The program was developed by the Finnish partners and included visits to more than 15 creative industries organizations in 7 cities – Joensuu, Tampere, Turku, Stockholm, Uppsala and Helsinki. Among them were such famous institutions as Taitokortteli in Joensuu and the Joensuu Science Park, Skansen Outdoor museum in Stockholm, Ulva Kvarn craft village in Uppsala, Fiskars village, Aalto Design Factory and Korjaamo in Helsinki. An important part of the trip was an opportunity to meet in person and talk straightly to designers about their work, problems and the way their businesses were set up. Mums, Tonfisk Design, Manilla, Gullkrona, Brinkkalan Outo Lintu, Klo Design, Kulmadesign, Design Torget, and Design House Stockholm are those places that shared their experience with the study tour participants. A special presentation was also given by Ristomatti Ratia, one of the most versatile and productive designers in Finland and the son of Armi Ratia, the founder of Marimekko.

In addition the study tour also turned into a great opportunity for all project partners to discuss and plan upcoming project activities through separately-organized meetings.

The Study Tour in numbers:

• 14 participants from partner organizations;
• 7 days;
• 6 cities;
• Over 3000 km traveled;
• Over 20 visits to creative industries organizations;
• Numerous work meetings of project partners.

Thursday, April 28th, 14.30 to 17.00 in room 206 of Petrozavodsk City Hall a presentation of the project will take place for the partners and all interested stakeholders.

The project "Cities by the Water: New opportunities for business development" aims at elaboration of integrate solutions in territorial development in the cities of Joensuu, Kitee, Petrozavodsk and Sortavala, which would combine business support and spatial planning.

The project is broken down into three work packages (WP). WP1: spatial planning is the central package of the project, which is interconnected with WP2 Business support and WP3 marketing.

More information:

Aleksaanteri Jääskeläinen, project manager, Josek Oy / Lead Partner Sähköpostiosoite on suojattu roskapostiohjelmia vastaan, Javascript-tuen tulee olla päällä nähdäksesi osoitteen

Vera Meshko, project manager in Petrozavodsk, Petrozavodsk City Adminsitration Sähköpostiosoite on suojattu roskapostiohjelmia vastaan, Javascript-tuen tulee olla päällä nähdäksesi osoitteen

On behalf of the ENPI KA179 project team we invite you to take part in the 9th FRUCT conference (www.fruct.org/conference9) and the 1st Regional MeeGo Summit Russia-Finland that will be held in Petrozavodsk on 25-29 April, 2011. The event bring together the top academic and industrial experts in ICT and should be seen as a great opportunity to learn more about potential for development of the region in ICT field. The event will consists of a number of educational and scientific sessions, with many presentations about ongoing FRUCT projects and status reports from a number of universities from Russia, Finland and whole Baltic region. Thanks to funding of ENPI Karelia program, contribution of FRUCT community and industrial partners this event if free of charge for the participants.

For registration and additional information about the event please visit the conference web site www.fruct.org/conference9.

Looking forward to see you in Petrozavodsk!

JAKELUUN

TULE OSALLISTUMAAN KARJALAN XI LÄÄKETIEDEPÄIVILLE!

Karjalan XI Lääketiedepäivät pidetään 20.- 21.10.2010 Lomakeskus Huhmarissa Polvijärvellä Pohjois-Karjalassa.

Lääketiedepäivät kokoavat Suomen ja Karjalan tasavallan terveysalan asiantuntijat ja kansalaisjärjestöjen edustajat yhteiseen tapahtumaan. Päivillä tullaan käsittelemään kahden Karjalan terveyshaasteita, vaihdetaan kokemuksia käytännössä hyviksi osoittautuneista terveysohjelmista sekä esitellään uusimpia kansanterveystilastoja ja tutkimustuloksia. Tapahtuman teemana on ”Keskeiset kansanterveyshaasteet Suomessa ja Venäjällä”.

Linkki tapahtumasivulle http://www.kansanterveys.info/

Lämpimästi tervetuloa Karjalan XI Lääketiedepäiville!

Päivien järjestäjät: Pohjois-Karjalan kansanterveyden keskus Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos Karjalan tasavallan terveys- ja sosiaalikehitysministeriö

Tiina H Vlasoff lähialuevastaava|Coordinator| M.Sc. (Public Health)

Pohjois-Karjalan KANSANTERVEYDEN KESKUS| North Karelia CENTER for PUBLIC HEALTH GSM + 358 50 579 0604| FAX + 358 13 227 192| Sähköpostiosoite on suojattu roskapostiohjelmia vastaan, Javascript-tuen tulee olla päällä nähdäksesi osoitteen Siltakatu 10 A 16| FIN-80100 JOENSUU

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