Building Capacity in the Nordic – with Team Nordic Arctic
ProTromsø invited our Nordic Arctic officials to Stockholm 22nd of January, to present our findings from our project Team Nordic Arctic
Julie-Helene
- 23. january 2026
This week we hosted our seminar in Stockholm with our Nordic partners, named “Builiding Capacities in the Nordic”.
The seminar was a part of “Västerbottenveckan”, a longheld culinary tradition which takes place yearly at Grand Hotel Stockholm. For three weeks, the region of Västerbotten is serving local delicacies and hosting several themes events related to Northern Sweden.
Along with our project partners Umeå kommun and BusinessOulu, the seminar invited the Senior Arctic Officials from the three Nordic countries, the Finnish and Norwegian embassy in Stockholm and the representatives from the University of Umeå and University of Tromsø.
The Team Nordic Arctic project is in its final project year, and the seminar highlighted some of the topics, activities and results from the last 2 years. After a warm welcome from lord mayor of Umeå Marie-Louise Rönnmark, the opening session focused on the geopolitical backdrop the North Nordic are facing. Professor Nils Eklund gave us an excellent 10-min introduction of the complex politics which makes Arctic so important. Professor Kari Aga Myklebost, with her expertise on Russian history, gave a detailed description of how one of our closest neighbours in the North is using propaganda and storytelling to rewrite history. Anne Rännali-Kontturi from the city of Oulu shared the local effects of the geopolitical tension, and how it is important to engage the cities and local communities to create resilience in the population.
Oulu is in 2026 the European Capital of Culture and invited the Nordic regions to join for the exciting events held this coming year, read more about their program here.
Brynjar Andersen Saus represented Tromsø as the European Youth Capital of 2026, which has been named True North – sharing the significance of Tromsø as a city prioritizing youth participation on all levels of society.
The second session we invited the Senior Arctic officials Helen Eduards (Sweden), Kalle Kankaanpää (Finland) and Solveig Rossebø (Norway) where they informed about the status quo on Arctic matters, how they work in the current diplomatic climate and how they work together solving matters in the Nordic countries.
The Team Nordic Arctic project presented the coming activities and events taking place in 2026, as well as doing a short summary of that we have experienced and achieved so far. Hosting the Arctic Business Matchmaking over 126 companies from the three Nordic countries have participated, over 20 successful business cases, business collaboration including employee transfers, market entrance, new customers and investors, cultural exchanges and innovation transfers. The project has hosted over 36 side-events with an estimated 1600 participants in total. The Nordic Arctic Youth summit delivered a document of Recommendations from youth in the Nordic Arctic, which was presented to the foreign ministries in the three Nordic countries, the mayors of the Nordic cities and the general secretary of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
After the seminar we were welcomed by chef and food ambassador Ella Nilsson who presented us the traditional Västerbotten buffet, including over 44 unique dishes from the region, which created the perfect setting for networking for the Nordic participants.
We wish to thank Umeå kommun and the Västerbotten region for welcoming us to Stockholm, the speakers, Senior Arctic officials and guests that joined us this week.
The Team Nordic Arctic is a project funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Arktis 2030. The goal of the project, led by ProTromsø, is to strengthen the North Nordic region through business collaborations. The project aims to enhance the cooperation between Norway, Sweden and Finland in the Arctic by applying Norwegian know-how on Arctic society, business, and knowledge.
The overall goal of the project is enhanced Nordic cooperation in the High North in difficult times. We aim to strengthen the Arctic communities in the Nordic countries through sustainable business development, recruitment of youth talents and the inclusion of indigenous people and minorities. One of the main work packages includes Arctic Business Matchmaking in each of the three partnering countries, held in Oulu, Finland, Umeå, Sweden and Tromsø, Norway.
If you wish to hear more about participating in the project or in the B2B matchmakings, please contact project manager Julie-Helene D. Sørensen at julie@protromso.com
