6th Call for projects

In sparsely populated northern regions, the population is ageing, increasing the demand for healthcare services while a smaller population is available to fund them. Safeguarding services requires new approaches. Digital technologies and remote services are widely seen as potential solutions to these challenges. However,particularly in smaller hospitals and health centres, the adoption of new technologies is often perceived as difficult and slow. At the same time, SMEs report challenges in getting their products properly considered for adoption and in meeting the customer requirements, such as those related to pilot use and testing.

To support procurement, technology assessment processes have been developed. The more harmonised technology assessment practices are, the more efficiently technologies can be compared and adopted in practice. CONNECT streamlines and accelerates the adoption of new digital technologies in healthcare and promotes SMEs’ access to dialogue with healthcare actors

Across sparsely populated NPA regions, climate change increases forest disturbance risks (windthrow, pests, drought–wildfire interface), while biodiversity loss and fragmentation reduce ecosystem resilience. Authorities and land managers lack planning-ready spatial indicators to prioritise prevention and ecosystem-based adaptation.

BIOGUARD (SO2.2) will co-design and validate an operational toolkit combining UAV LiDAR and multispectral data (including under-canopy where feasible) with MSPA connectivity analysis to deliver GIS-ready risk and opportunity layers. Six transnational pilots will demonstrate scalable solutions such as corridors, buffers, climate-smart retention and restoration pathways. Uptake is secured through at least six adoptions into plans, guidelines or SOPs. Pilots in FI, NO, IS and IE ensure comparability and an NPA-ready, policy-embedded solution benefiting authorities, landowners, NGOs and infrastructure operators.

BRIDGES connects five regions with complementary strengths—Vestfjord (Iceland), Oulu (Finland), Tromsø (Norway), Norrbotten (Sweden) and Cork (Ireland)—to accelerate the transition to a circular economy by turning cross-border collaboration into concrete business opportunities for SMEs.

The project builds a transnational innovation network linking SMEs with support organisations and providers of circular solutions, enabling faster development, testing and uptake of circular products and services. Through mapping of regional strengths, company needs, and tailored one-to-one support, SMEs strengthen circular business models, resource efficiency and digital capabilities.

The network is activated through knowledge exchange, sector collaboration and matchmaking. Long-term impact is ensured by supporting market entry and scalability, facilitating partnerships with clusters, public actors and investors, and establishing a governance model for continued cooperation beyond the project period.

Rapid wind-energy growth in the NPA region is driving more end-of-life wind turbine blades, especially in remote, cold-climate areas where disposal, transport, and recycling options are limited. These thermoset composite structures are a shared territorial challenge and a chance to strengthen the circularity of renewable energy systems.

The project will develop and pilot circular decommissioning pathways, prioritizing repurposing blade sections into public infrastructure, supported by recycling and material valorization routes. Activities include mapping and forecasting blade waste streams; demonstrating NPA-adapted logistics and pre-processing; blade repurposing pilot; and assessing recycling options.

Key outputs are pilot demonstrations, a decision-support tool, capacity-building actions, and a transnational circular decommissioning blueprint for stakeholders. A transnational approach enables transferable solutions for infrastructure reuse and decision support suitable for NPA region.

CIRCULATOUR addresses shared challenges across the NPA, where climate change and overtourism elsewhere are driving growth in “coolcation” tourism. While creating new opportunities, this growth increases pressure on ecosystems, infrastructure & community wellbeing. Many NPA regions have strong traditions of circular practices, but they are fragmented and not transferred across regions

The aim is to accelerate the transition to a circular, resource-efficient tourism economy in the NPA by developing, testing & transferring practical solutions that improve visitor flow management, reduce resource use & support adaptation to changing tourism patterns.

CIRCULATOUR will deliver three key outputs: visitor flow prediction model, circular smart destination maps & transferable circular tourism guidelines benefiting authorities, DMOs, SMEs and visitors.

The project applies a transnational, living-lab approach, jointly piloting solutions in diverse Arctic, island, coastal, and rural contexts.

The project develops and demonstrates solutions that reduce peak electricity loads in 6 pilot communities. Grid capacity bottlenecks and rising energy transition costs make international cooperation essential for adapting innovative solutions to diverse local conditions and sharing effective practices.

Building on earlier pilots, the project applies tested concepts that form a foundation for further development to solve the growing peak load problem, and rapid scaling across different regions. It will deliver open source software, practical toolkits, and community driven solutions enhanced by results from previous projects.

A key focus is the involvement of young people in designing, developing, and testing the pilots. Their participation provides fresh perspectives and valuable hands on experience for our energy transition.

Expected impacts: reduced peak loads, lower energy costs, deferred grid investments, and improved youth participation in remote regions 

NPA regions share climate change challenges of biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation & limited capacity to safeguard wild plant genetic resources in remote regions. Conserving a species outside of a natural habitat (i.e. ex-situ conservation) creates an ark for survival. Ireland, Iceland & Finland share vulnerable coastal, peatland & arctic-alpine species, but ex-situ conservation capacity is fragmented.

PLEDGE will strengthen climate resilience by building an ex-situ conservation network, resulting in better preparedness to restore threatened plant species. Jointly developed & implemented conservation action plans & ex-situ conservation solutions will result in long-term preservation of species of transnational importance. Beneficiaries are conservation bodies, land managers, policymakers & NPA communities, as well as the species & ecosystems at risk.

Transnational ecological challenges will be met by applying innovative ex-situ conservation solutions as climate adaptation tools.

Volunteer ecosystems are essential for climate adaptation and disaster risk prevention in the Northern Periphery and Arctic, yet they are increasingly overstretched, fragmented and weakly supported as climate change and nature-based tourism intensify risks.

PREPAREd fills this gap by strengthening volunteer ecosystems as climate-adaptation infrastructure. The project delivers PREPAREd Pathways training for volunteers and youth, a shared ecosystem baseline, sustainable funding and governance frameworks, and integrated visitor risk and preparedness guidelines.

Developed through transnational cooperation between volunteers, municipalities, civil protection, researchers and tourism actors, PREPAREd integrates emergency response, environmental stewardship and visitor management into one ecosystem-based resilience model.

Electricity systems across NPA region are increasingly shaped by high shares of renewable generation. While this transition is essential for decarbonisation, it also creates variability in electricity availability and prices SMEs struggle to manage. SMEs lack practical evidence on how much operational flexibility they can realistically provide, which processes can adapt without disrupting output, and how flexibility can deliver measurable GHG reductions.

RE:FLEX addresses this shared challenge. The project aims to demonstrate how energy-intensive SMEs can optimise business performance in renewable-driven electricity systems while reducing GHG emissions and maintaining outputs. The project tests how SMEs can align with periods of higher renewable availability, reducing reliance on fossil marginal generation and avoiding renewable curtailment.

Using AI-enabled modelling and pilot testing, project delivers transferable evidence on SME flexibility, operational limits and carbon impacts.

All 3 regions face common challenges on energy resilience, remoteness, obstacles to energy sharing, along with ways to reduce wastage of energy and resources.

The objective is to empower rural NPA communities to decrease energy wastage, enhance energy self-sufficiency, resilience & sustainability via pioneering of new innovative green energy integration opportunities.

We will demonstrate how sectoral integration with green hybrid combinations such as private wire, district heating and heat accumulators can be adopted across 3 NPA regions in Ireland, Finland and Sweden.

As output, rural actors will have much increased capacity for adoption. Pilots will test feasibility, providing awareness and evidence for replication across the NPA. Participating regions will develop adoption recommendations enabling deployment. Transnational skills and knowledge exchange, between the 3 NPA regions, will allow co-creation of more robust joint solutions/ toolkits and boost each region’s capabilities.

CHARGE will address heritage food governance across the NPA regions by enhancing institutional capacity and targeting those ambiguous regulations and interpretations that affect disproportionately artisan and heritage food products.

CHARGE will therefore embed indigenous and locally transmitted food knowledge into transnational regulatory processes and tools, promoting meaningful cooperation between food regulatory bodies.

The project will develop tools, guidance, and capacity‑building mechanisms for food authorities and heritage producers, while fostering a shared understanding among them through shared assessment pilots and transnational workshops. This will ultimately support heritage and artisan products, recognise indigenous knowledge, and align regulatory interpretations across EU and non‑EU NPA regions, contributing to the goals of the EU Arctic Policy of strengthening cultural identity and community readiness

DC NEST strengthens the capacity of NPA municipalities to attract, assess and manage sustainable data‑center investments, aligning with Priority 3.1 by enhancing institutional skills and cooperation across public authorities. The project highlights the DC sector as a driver of energy‑efficient, cold‑climate solutions, using place‑based energy surpluses, renewable integration and smart energy management suitable for remote communities.

Through jointly developed outputs—such as the Sustainable DC Development Toolkit, Local Capacity Building Framework and a shared NPA strategic vision—the project equips municipalities with practical methods for environmental assessment, energy integration, heat‑reuse planning and socio‑economic evaluation. Cross‑sectoral dialogues, expert networks and regional sub‑strategies ensure municipalities gain the tools and confidence needed to participate effectively in macro‑regional DC ecosystem development and the wider energy transition.

Northern Periphery and Arctic communities face shared challenges linked to remoteness, harsh climate, limited connectivity, and increasing climate-related risks such as wildfires and pressure on sensitive natural areas. These conditions make preparedness, situational awareness, and coordination particularly demanding for municipalities and public authorities.

The project strengthens the capacity of Arctic communities to plan and integrate effective preparedness and monitoring strategies suited to these conditions. It combines strategic analysis, real-world service demonstration, and exploration of autonomous monitoring approaches to generate practical knowledge on feasibility, organisational requirements, and limits.

Through transnational cooperation, the project delivers deployment roadmaps, demonstrators, teaching materials, and technical guidelines that support informed decision-making, climate adaptation, environmental monitoring, and future strategies across the NPA area.

Nordic SME Risk & Resilience strengthens public-sector institutional capacity in sparsely populated NPA regions by enabling public authorities and SME support organisations to take up and apply jointly developed, evidence-based SME crisis management strategies and tools within existing territorial strategies and daily practices.

Nordic SME Risk & Resilience (NSRR) addresses increasing crisis risks and limited institutional capacity in sparsely populated NPA regions by delivering jointly developed, tested and transferable SME crisis management handbooks through a transnational, place-based approach that combines shared analysis, real-life piloting and capacity building. These practical, evidence-based tools are embedded in public-sector strategies and daily practices, improving coordination, resilience and long-term crisis preparedness for SMEs and public authorities across the NPA area.

People living in sparsely populated regions in Finland, Ireland and Iceland face barriers to accessing healthcare due to diminished local services, long travel times and physician shortages. Nurses in these countries have varying authority to prescribe medicines, but remote nurse prescribing remains limited despite its potential to, e.g., improve access to healthcare.

This transnational project unites partners from three NPA regions to examine how remote nurse prescribing operates and what can be shared across borders. By comparing legislation, practical experience, and service models, the project will develop and test a safe, evidence‑based model suited to NPA conditions.

The project improves access to safe remote care in NPA regions, reduces waiting times, and uses professional resources more efficiently, supporting cost savings and more sustainable healthcare delivery reducing people's environmental footprint by saving travelling needs while ensuring timely, reliable treatment.