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KarRC RAS Director General Olga Bakhmet took part in the 20th All-Russia Forum “Strategic planning in regions and cities of Russia: strategists in an age of turbulence” in St. Petersburg on October 31 – November 1. The director talked about the experience of the Karelian Research Centre RAS in international collaboration for promoting regional development at the strategic dialog session “Cross-border and interregional cooperation: results and best practices of the subjects of the North-western Federal District of the Russian Federation”.

Participants of the strategic session discussed the outcomes of the programs of cross-border and multilateral transboundary cooperation between regions of Northwest Russia and regions in neighboring countries.

As Olga Bakhmet explained, Karelian Research Centre RAS is one of the leading scientific organizations in Northwest Russia. A lot of the studies implemented by the Centre are done in collaboration with Russian and foreign colleagues.

KarRC RAS’s experience of international interactions includes a wide thematic range of projects, basic and applied research, participation in cross-border and regional cooperation programs, interactions with government authorities and key organizations in major areas of cooperation, availability of human resources and competencies.

In the period from 2018 through 2022, KarRC RAS implemented 103 international projects, of which 24 were within cross-border and transnational cooperation programs. The international programs to particularly mention here are ENI CBC Karelia, ENI CBC Kolarctic, ENI CBC South-east Finland – Russia, and Interreg Baltic Sea Region. Within the latter, the projects “Baltic Sea Underground Innovation Network” (BSUIN) and “Empowering underground laboratories network usage” (EUL, 2021) were implemented at the Ruskeala Mining Park jointly with scientists from KarRC RAS. The project “Water management in Baltic forests” (WAMBAF-Tool Box) focused on promoting the forestry practices that reduce the input of hazardous substances to regional and coastal waters. The objective of the “SEMPRE Accelerators for Service Co-creation” project was empowerment of socially vulnerable groups of citizens.

This experience will be utilized in new spheres of international activities. Olga Bakhmet told about interactions with the National Committee on BRICS Research. In October, a cooperation agreement was concluded between NCR BRICS and KarRC RAS. Karelian Research Centre RAS has already established professional links with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. KarRC RAS’s Institute of Geology and Institute of Applied Mathematical Research cooperate with Indian universities. There are joint activities with educational organizations in Brazil. The Centre is a partner in the Russian-African Network University Consortium.

– The multidisciplinary approach, which has proven effective in dealing with many scientific tasks, will be increasingly used in our research in the future, creating a solid footing for the fullest possible utilization of the Centre's scientific potential in the interests of science, the region, Russia, and BRICS countries, - Director General noted.

In conclusion, speaking of future prospects, Olga Bakhmet pointed out the demand for working out a new regional development program for Northwest Russia to apply the available skills of cooperation between research and educational institutions, government authorities, businesses, NGOs, as well as to create the conditions for interregional interactions within CIS, BRICS, SCO, and ASEAN frameworks in science and education.

Photo by Strategists Forum 2022 press center