The Second Session of the BRIDGE Project in Vardo 2019
On November 26 and 27 in the framework of the Flagship University Development Program and the international project ENI KO1013 BRIDGE – Barents Region Initiative for Developing Growth and Employability, the Institute of Economics and Law hosted the final video conference, at which the participants presented their solutions to 10 business cases for the Norwegian city of Vardo.
Among the participants of the BRIDGE video conference were representatives of 5 partner-universities: the Arctic University of Norway (Lead Partner), Lapland University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Murmansk Arctic State University, ITMO University (Saint Petersburg), and Petrozavodsk State University.
Altogether over 65 people took part in the presentation, including representatives of small businesses and administration of the city of Vardo and Finnmark County. PetrSU was represented by the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree students of the Institute of Economics and Law: Polina Golomydko, Yana Kochergina, Dariya Pavlik, Aleksandr Saraev, Vera Shikhalova, Lidiya Yurchik, and Aleksandr Yakushevsky, guided by the Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Theory and Management Oksana Prokhorova. The project included 10 cases, 8 of which were worked on by the students and teacher of PetrSU: Vardohus Fortress, Vardo Tourism, Vaganer Cook, Vardo Hotel, Varanger View, Vardo Port, Seafood Center, and Culture Pilot.
The online format of presentations allowed all participants and their coaches to present the results of their week-long work, while commissioners and project coordinators evaluated the solutions to the business cases. The participants of the project suggested practical solutions for the development of the city of Vardo and Finnmark County. The solutions focused on the development of attractive tourist tours to Vardo in cooperation with China, Russia, and Finland, development of social networks and the historical and cultural capacities of the north of Norway, which is the main objective of the cooperation and development of this project with the administration of the city.
“Participation in these projects enables promoting results of collaborative studies at the international level, facilitates learning and understanding of the cultures of the countries represented by the participants, such as Norway and Finland, as well as provides students with an opportunity to apply for international contracts. Besides that, within the project the students took the course “Cross-border cooperation as a factor of economic growth” developed by Oksana Prokhorova,” said Vera Shikhalova, the 2nd year Master Degree student of the program Economics and Finance.
The BRIDGE project implemented with the financial support of the EU countries will be continued in 2020 in Russia. In the middle of March, representatives of the universities and organizers of the international cooperation plan to visit Murmansk, the northernmost seaport of Russia.
