| The final report for the preparatory project Arctic Dimension in the Northern Periphery Cooperation is now available. The project was initiated by the Programme Monitoring Committee with the purpose of exploring how the Arctic dimension could be integrated into the new programme. The conclusions of the project have been used in the drafting of the new Operational Programme for the Northern Periphery and Arctic 2014-2020 Programme. The Arctic Dimension preparatory project was led by the Regional Council of Lapland in Finland, and had partners from Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland as well as from Scotland, also covering the programme’s regions in Northern Ireland and Ireland. The main conclusion from the report is that the NPA has the potential to add a regional level to the EU Arctic Policy. In addition, a more collaborative approach between territorial cooperation programmes that cover the Arctic region would benefit the NPA activities and strategic objectives. The project mapped the current level of Arctic cooperation in the programme area and tried to identify opportunities for improving the regional impact of this cooperation. It found that the list of Arctic actors is constantly increasing as new actors emerge, and that the different programme partner countries have different approaches to Arctic cooperation. However, the common challenges of Northern Periphery Programme area, sparse population, peripherality, insularity and harsh conditions also apply to Arctic cooperation. On the regional level, considerable experience in relation to Arctic cooperation has already been established but some partners are under-used, and there are regions that would benefit from capacity building activities.The project also clearly points out the need to ensure that the new programme does not become too overly focused on securing an “Arctic” imprint on the cooperation and thus risk becoming exclusive to some areas. To access the full report, please click on the link below. | 
