Contestants from 9 Russian Arctic Regions Take Part in First Professional Skills Championship in Northern Professions
Representatives
of nine regions of Russia’s Arctic zone took part in the first Professional
Skills Championship in Northern Professions, which took place on 10–14 August
in Murmansk. More than 100 experts from the Agency for the Development of
Skills and Professions evaluated the performance of 80 contestants aged 16 to
22 in competitions in 15 disciplines. The championship was held as part of the
main events of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023, which
are being organized by the Roscongress Foundation.
One unique feature of the
championship is that its organizers opted not to employ the typical foreign standards
for similar events, but instead created their own with a focus on professionals
who work in the difficult conditions of the Arctic. The championship promotes
the socioeconomic development of Russia’s Arctic regions and motivates young
professionals.
“The young
people were able to demonstrate their potential over the three days of the
competition. For me, each participant is a real hero, whose capabilities will
only increase with each passing year. The enterprises of the Arctic zone and
the country’s economy need such innovators of a new generation as well as fresh
ideas and unconventional solutions. Of course, the kids have a great future,”
Murmansk Region Deputy Governor Yury Fomin said during the closing ceremony.
Soslan
Abisalov, Director of the Department for the Development of the Arctic Zone of
the Russian Federation and the Implementation of Infrastructure Projects at the
Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic, noted that
developing the Russian Arctic is crucial to the comprehensive growth of the
country’s economy that ensuring the region is properly staffed is a key
challenge, since people are the main resource in this process. Consistent and
systematic work needs to be continued in the North to unleash the talent pool
of its citizens.
“The Northern
Professions Championship was another step down this path. The event will be
held annually, but its location will change in a different region of the Arctic
Zone of the Russian Federation. In Murmansk, we started with the youngest
participant beating a tambourine. Sixteen-year-old Denis Mironov from the
Krasnoyarsk Territory is a contestant in engineering design. Competitions were
held on unique expertise in reindeer herding, Arctic tourism, wood and bone
carving, and folk crafts of the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic. I’m certain
that next year the championship programme will be even more eventful, attract
the attention of young people, and provide an impetus for the development of
the professions that the Russian North needs,” Abisalov said.
The first
Professional Skills Championship in Northern Professions highlighted both the
traditional expertise of the Agency for the Development of Skills and
Professions, as well as other areas taking into account features that are characteristic
of the labour market of the Arctic zone, such as national cuisine, Arctic
tourism, and the folk crafts of Indigenous peoples of the north, among others.
“Industry-based
championships are extremely important. On the one hand, they help to demonstrate
a real production process and conduct an independent and open assessment of
specialists. On the other hand, it’s an important communication platform where
new demands for skills take hold and expertise changes. Brilliant results can
be achieved by introducing unified mechanisms for staffing the economy of all
Arctic regions, coordinating the needs of enterprises and the capabilities of
educational institutions, and pursuing a coordinated HR policy in the regions,
said Andrey Pivinsky, Advisor to the General Director of the Agency for the
Development of Skills and Professions.
Upon
conclusion of the official closing ceremony, Abisalov was presented with the
championship flag, which will later be passed onto the region where the
competitions will be held next year.
The
championship is being organized by the Ministry for the Development of the
Russian Far East and the Arctic and the Murmansk Region Government.
A
cross-cutting priority of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council is to
ensure responsible governance for the sustainable development of the Arctic,
which is largely determined by the quality of human capital. Priority attention
is being given to work to maintain the sustainability and viability of the
peoples of the North, promote measures to adapt them to climate change, improve
people’s well-being, health, education, and quality, and ensure sustainable
socioeconomic development throughout the region.