Background

The Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) was established in 1993 as the body of intergovernmental interaction of Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and the European Commission in the interests of sustainable regional development securing, broadening of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the field of economics, business, science and technology, environment, infrastructure, education and cultural exchange, tourism, and realization of the projects aimed at improvement of the Northern indigenous population straits. Biennially the BEAR sessions at the level of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs are held in the chairman country. The last, the 11th, Minister Session took place on November 14-15, 2007 in Rovaniemi (Finland). From this point onwards the Russian Federation is the chairman of the Council. In the course of this session "THE PRIORITIES OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN THE BARENTS EURO-ARCTIC COUNCIL IN 2007-2009" were settled. In this document it is accentuated that the "participation in the regional cooperation in the North and the Arctic is one of the important constituents of the Russian foreign policy". Russia regards "such an interaction as a wholesome and effective channel of forming the area of stability, trust, and sustainable development in the North".

The main priority of the Russian Chairmanship is securing of the BEAR sustainable development with the accent on social and economic factors in close connection with observance of environmental requirements and natives support.

In particular, during its chairmanship Russia intends to "liven up cooperation in the sphere of education, to hold the joint conference of the BEAR and the EC countries on higher professional education. The realization of the arrangements for academic and scientific mobility development, specifically in the framework of the project "Northern Cross Border University" with the participation of the universities of the Russian part of the BEAR, is planned, that they will render assistance in conducting regular forums on education and research on the basis of the BEAR universities".

One of perspective directions is the realization of the international frame project on creation of regional pilot zones of higher education systems "harmonization". The present suggestions are in order of the EU initiatives in the sphere of higher education and science, especially in the framework of the Bologna Process and the "European Zone of Higher Education". The possibility of creation of the pilot zone in the BEAR, which unites the countries of Northern Europe and Russia, may be regarded as the perspective cooperation direction.

Under the aegis of the BEAC and the Barents Regional Council 4 Joint Working Groups, including Joint Working Group on Education and Research (JWGER), are working in the present. However, the cooperation in the sphere of education has been temporarily suspended because of the validity expiration of the Working Group mandate and can be resumed primarily in the form of large conferences and forums.

In November 2007 the Russian Government suggested the Action Program for the period of its chairmanship, which includes the holding of the "Conference of the Member States of the BEAR and the EU on Cooperation in the Field of Higher Professional Education", aimed exactly at stirring up the joint work in the sphere of education and research.

Conference Objectives and Expected Outcomes:

The overall objective of the conference is to stir up the cooperation of the universities and other education and research institutions of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region (BEAR) in the framework of the main guidelines of the Bologna Process. For the goal achievement the following topics were preliminary offered for discussion during the conference:

• The BEAC capabilities utilisation at the universities of Russia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland in development of pilot projects on supporting the academic mobility within the framework of the European program "Erasmus Mundus" and the Russian Presidential Scholarship Program for studying abroad.
• The BEAC capabilities usage in realization of joint projects on preparation of new curriculums in the framework of the projects of the European program for cooperation in the sphere of higher education "Tempus".
• The realization of the distance learning concepts for the BEAR universities network.

Expected Outcomes:

• Broadening and consolidation of the partnership between educational and research institutions from BEAC member countries;
• More efficient usage of the opportunities in the sphere of academic mobility which are suggested by such programs as Tempus, Erasmus Mundus (EU), CIMO, FIRST (Finland), and others;
• Working new cross-border projects out in the framework of the existent cross-border networks using the new European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI);
• Activity intensification in realization of the working long-term cross-border projects such as the Finnish-Russian and the Barents (Northern) Cross Border Universities.

Prospect

Generalization and spreading of experience and acquaintance with the main progress and prospects of international cooperation development during the conference should bring to creation of the permanently active BEAC Working Group on education, to creation of educational and research institutions consortiums and networks, which will hasten higher education and research internationalization both in Russia and in the European countries. Practical usage and application of the project results lie in the plane of human capital assets development for the increase of their competitive capacity on the international level and for acceleration of social and economic development of the BEAR.