Russian and Foreign Students Take Part in Arctic Council Youth Creativity Festival in Arkhangelsk

Arkhangelsk hosted the 14th Arctic Council’s International Youth Creativity Festival on 22–25 November. The festival was held as part of the plan of events of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023, which are organized by the Roscongress Foundation

“Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council supports cultural initiatives and views the development of human capital in the northern latitudes as a fundamental priority. In particular, our country is working on an initiative to submit a project proposal called ‘Creative Industries as a Factor for Sustainable Development’. The Arctic offers great opportunities for us to develop a unique humanitarian space based on the culture and history of the people living in the region,” said Nikolay Korchunov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Arctic Senior Officials.

The festival programme includes lectures, master classes, and training sessions within three parallel thematic areas: Art School, Brand School, and Content School. The participants in the first platform – artists, architects, designers, and lovers of applied arts the Art School – considered ways to develop and promote applied arts among the peoples of the North by interpreting it in a modern format. As part of the second platform, the Brand School, specialists from the cultural, business, and tourism sectors discussed how to enhance the appeal of the Arctic for young people and worked on case studies that aim to brand the Arctic space. For their part, the photographers, videographers, journalists, and bloggers who took part in the Content School came up with ways to promote the Arctic in the media and social networks and created three social videos.

The main goal of the festival is to bring together creative young people from Arctic Council countries as well as further develop their collaboration. The festival was attended by undergraduate and graduate students of Russian and foreign universities, as well as experts and cultural figures. The event was attended by 100 students, including 37 from other regions of Russia and 30 from other countries. By participating in the event, they were able to exchange experience, identify current trends in art, and discuss joint cultural projects.

The International Youth Creativity Festival was held at the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov in Arkhangelsk and was organized by the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Russia is chairing the Arctic Council in 2021–2023. In this role, Russia aims to promote the potential of young people in the Arctic, ensure they have access to education, as well as expand and strengthen youth exchanges in a wide range of areas, including volunteering, entrepreneurship, the development of creative industries, the environment, and the improvement of urban areas. Russia supports the Arctic Council’s educational projects for Indigenous children ‘Children of the Arctic’, ‘Nomadic School’, and ‘International Arctic School’, and others and advocates for greater cooperation and the exchange of experience in such issues. In addition, the Russian chairmanship is in favour of creating and implementing special programmes, professional championships, and training sessions that focus on Russia’s northern regions.