Consisting in representatives from the local industry, the Mayer of the Oktemsky Municipality, professors from the North East Federal University, the group was accompanied by the coordinator of the relations between Norway and Russia at the County Governor of Finnmark. Wenche Kjæmpenes, Dean of the Faculty of Tourism, Sports and Social Work at UiT campus Alta welcomed the Russian delegation at UiT’s campus in Alta. The guests from Russia came to share experiences and to develop collaboration possibilities in the field of Tourism.

Representatives from the Department of Tourism and Northern Studies at UiT such as Bente Haug (head of the Department) and Associate Professor Tor Gjertsen participated in the meeting. The meeting had a special focus on the development of Indigenous and Farm Tourism in the Arctic, comparing the situation of the Sami in Norway with the indigenous population from Yakutia.

Another topic of discussion with the head of UArctic’s Thematic Network Local and Regional Development in the North Oksana Romanova was how the thematic network best could contribute in the development of agriculture in the Sakha region.

The fourth International Indigenous Voices in Social Work Conference taking place in Alta between 11 and 14 June 2017 was also presented during the meeting.