Finland opens new portal to Arctic activities

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland have signed an agreement to develop a website maintained and updated by the Arctic Centre as an Arctic gateway for the international audience.

The website ArcticFinland.fi is now presenting Finland as an Arctic country also in English, said an official press release.

“The Finnish chairmanship in the Arctic Council has greatly increased the demand for Arctic information about Finland abroad. With this cooperation, we are responding to the growing need,” said Ville Cantell, director of the Unit for Communications on Europe and Neighbouring Areas at the foreign ministry.

The Arctic Centre has maintained the Arctic Finland website for several years, but until now the focus has been on information in Finnish.

“Now we can actively develop the English pages. We are creating new content and building networks with international partners,” said Markku Heikkilä, head of Science Communications at the Arctic Centre.

The site is not intended to replace the official chairmanship site or other existing sources of information but to consolidate a rather fragmented picture of Finland as an Arctic country.

On the site people can find information on Finland’s Arctic policies and on Arctic research and Arctic business in Finland. There are also news about Arctic events and activities in Finland, and longer articles with Arctic content.

The updated site was launched on June 5 Monday. New contents will be added to the site throughout the tenure of Finnish chairmanship of the Arctic Council.

The agreement between the ministry and the Arctic Centre will remain in force until May 2019. However, Heikkilä said, “We aim at continuing our cooperation even after this period.”