The Interreg Arctic Clustering Call was officially launched during a side event at Arctic Frontiers 2025 in Tromsø, highlighting the importance of Interreg cooperation to get the best results for Arctic and near-Arctic communities.
The event recording can be watched at the end of the article.
Local capacity and cooperation beyond boders
Luleå Municipality Mayor Carina Sammeli opened the side event by sharing her experience as the mayor of an Arctic town and highlighting the importance of collaborating with other Arctic mayors across borders who face similar challenges.
In her keynote, Mayor Sammeli emphasised that “Interreg offers a great funding opportunity to cooperate across borders, and there are not so many.” In addition, she stressed how working together allows communities to save time and resources while finding more efficient solutions. She highlighted impactful projects like THREADS, which addresses textile waste management, Arctic Music Circles, providing enriching cultural experiences, and the Bothnian Coastal Route, which introduces a new sustainable tourism destination.
Launch of the first Interreg Arctic Clustering call
Interreg Aurora and Interreg NPA presented the Interreg Arctic Cooperation and the ambition of the Clustering Call. This is an opportunity for all Interreg Aurora and Interreg NPA projects to enhance their collaboration, reach a wider audience, and increase their impact.
Interreg Arctic Clustering projects will have to address one of three common themes identified by the programmes, they will be supported with targeted events and project consultations to develop their partnerships and projects, and they will receive a lump-sum grant.
All interested organisations were invited to join the webinar on 4th February 2025 to explore project ideas and potential partners, and to the Partner Search event in Cork (Ireland) on 19th and 20th March, 2025.
The call will open on 8th September 2025, with deadline for submission of applications on 6th October 2025.
Combining Interreg resources and skills to get the best results for Arctic and near-Arctic communities
A panel brought the event’s key messages to life by sharing lessons learned from past Arctic clusters and ongoing projects: Caitriona Strain (ERNACT, Ireland) shared insights from Arctic clustering projects, while Stian Larsen (Remiks Miljøpark, Norway) highlighted progress from the Interreg Aurora NOWA project. Tarja Kupiainen (Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Finland) and Davíð Jóhannsson (SSNV, Iceland), spoke about the opportunities of dark skies tourism investigated by the Interreg NPA Glow 2.0 project. The panel was moderated by Kirsti Mijnhijmer, Head of Secretariat Interreg NPA and Lisbeth Nylund, Chair of the Interreg NPA Monitoring Committee and representative of the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.
During the panel exchange, synergies and potential collaborations between their projects began to show. For example, discussions explored how light pollution affects both health and nature, and how waste streams during peak tourism seasons could be managed more effectively. These exchanges sparked new connections, showcasing the potential for clustering projects.
The Interreg NPA and Interreg Aurora teams would like to thank all speakers, panelists, moderators and participants on site and online.
The recording of the event can be watched here below and at this link.
