Five Interreg Arctic Clustering projects approved by the NPA
At its meeting in Copenhagen on 10th December 2025, the Interreg NPA Monitoring Committee approved five Interreg Arctic Clustering projects. With these approvals, eight NPA projects now work closely with six Interreg Aurora projects, strengthening cooperation across the Arctic and near-Arctic region.
The five newly approved projects receive just under 600.000 Euros in total funding. With this decision, 36,3 million Euros (around 77% of the programme’s total budget) is now allocated.
Each project has a budget just below 200.000 Euros. The Lead Partners come from Finland (2), Ireland, and Sweden (2). In total, 22 organisations from Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden take part in the projects.
One cross-border Interreg Arctic Cooperation project approved by Interreg Aurora
Earlier in November 2025, the Interreg Aurora Steering Committee for sub-area Aurora approved one cross-border Interreg Arctic Cooperation project. The project, called IHANAT will demonstrate how autonomous technologies can support biodiversity and invasive species management in Arctic and near-Arctic regions.
More details about each project can be found at the bottom of this article.
Strong partnerships across the Arctic and near-Arctic
All projects contribute to Priority 3 – Strengthening organisational capacity among NPA communities to make use of cooperation opportunities. They are considered Operations of Strategic Importance, because they reinforce coordinated work on territorial and Arctic strategies.
Here, the perspective offered by Ms Claude Véron-Réville, the EU’s Special Envoy for Arctic Matters, supports why the call carries strategic weight. As she underlined at Interreg NPA 25th anniversary conference, the Arctic is increasingly linked to Europe’s long-term resilience and global role: “The Arctic is not a peripheral issue for Europe. It is a region where we have both a responsibility and a clear interest to act. Our goal is a safe, stable, sustainable and prosperous Arctic and that requires deeper cooperation with our partners.”
She emphasised that the EU Cohesion Policy, and programmes like Interreg NPA, translate that ambition into everyday support for Arctic and near-Arctic communities: “In the North’s sparsely populated areas, Cohesion Policy has been keeping communities connected, resilient, and competitive. This is where Interreg makes Europe visible on the ground.”
In the context of this broader policy logic, the Interreg Arctic Clustering projects have the potential to contribute to the EU’s Arctic engagement through a more coordinated implementation. This explains why these projects are seen by the Interreg NPA as Operations of Strategic Importance (OSIs).
Voices from the Monitoring Committee
The Monitoring Committee commended the good quality of the submissions and the applicants’ considerable work in combining insights and resources from multiple projects, an effort beyond typical project development. They also noted the positive views from Regional Advisory Groups, leading to five approvals out of seven, while encouraging the two unsuccessful proposals to return in future NPA calls.
Mr Petri Koistinen from the European Commission’s DG Regio highlighted the call’s significance: “This is the first clustering call bridging transnational and cross-border projects – a genuinely innovative step for Interreg. Some may wonder how a relatively small budget can be considered strategic, but its strategic value is clear: it brings together coordinated insights and joint outputs that directly support the EU Arctic Policy and the goals of the two programmes. I congratulate the programmes and the approved projects.”
Ms Lisbeth Nylund, Norwegian Chair of the Monitoring Committee, welcomed the results: “I remember the launch of the call at Arctic Frontiers in January, and it is great to see so many interesting projects coming forward. The process has not been easy, and a lot of good work has been done by project applicants. Thanks to the programmes for the effort moving this forward.”
About the Interreg Arctic Clustering Call
The call was jointly developed by Interreg Aurora and Interreg NPA to encourage cooperation across programmes. Clustering enables projects to share knowledge, build on each other’s achievements, and increase their impact across Arctic and near-Arctic communities. It also supports the implementation of the EU Arctic Policy and raises the visibility of Arctic-related themes.
Next steps
All Interreg Arctic Clustering projects are invited to join a kick-off webinar on 29th January 2026. The contracting procedures will be finalised and the projects will be running for a period of 12 months.
Approved projects
The five newly approved projects receive just under 600,000 euros in total funding. With this decision, 36.3 million euros (around 77% of the programme’s total budget) is now allocated. Each project has a budget just below 200,000 euros. The lead partners come from Sweden, Ireland and Finland. In total, 22 organisations from Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway take part in the projects.
Autonomous Environmental Sampling for Enhanced Synergies and Scaled Impact
AUTOsense brings together unique experts and knowledge about digital solutions for agricultural purposes. Monitoring agricultural fields and gathering cohesive, reliable data is crucial to optimize processes and adapt to climate change induced phenomena, e.g. extreme weather events, in rural areas.
OATFRONTIERS works with farmers to gather data about the possibilities of oat farming in new locations. AUTONOMIC develops robotized solutions for environmental monitoring and RoboDemo connects industry and end users to bring possibilities to utilise robotics to wider audiences for higher acceptability.
AUTOsense combines outputs and best practices for broader transnational dissemination to target groups in rural areas, especially end users like farmers, providing institutional capacity building and opportunities for cooperation. AUTOsense organizes engaging workshops on innovative digital solutions, real use cases in agriculture and the environment, and policy implications for authorities.
Total budget: 199.998,11 Eur
Partnership:
- Savonia University of Applied Sciences (FI),
- Luleå University of Technology (SE),
- Teagasc- the Agriculture and Food Development Authority (IE),
- Agricultural University of Iceland (IS)
Clustering inclusive territories driven by digital innovation
INCLUDE addresses the common challenge of unlocking the potential that communities have in shaping prosperous, sustainable and resilient territories. This brings implicit the need to overcome factors like skills gap, limited engagement of youth and minority groups in decision-making processes, need for climate change adaptation and the challenging task of creating the conditions to foster place-based economies.
The overall objective is to enhance the capacity of public authorities and their communities to jointly shape and develop their territories.
The main output of the project will be a Community of Practice (CoP), targeted to public authorities and their communities and focused on using digital innovation as the foundation to actively involve the society in the definition and implementation of actions leading into sustainable, prosperous and resilient territories.
The CoP will be initially formed by 24 partners previsouly involved in the MINDSET, InnoGS and Innovation in urban planning projects.
Total budget: 199.873,15 Eur
Partnership:
- European Regions Network for the Application of Communications Technology (IE),
- Savonia University of Applied Sciences (FI),
- The Municipality of Härnösand (SE)
From Lessons Learned to Regenerative Tourism Futures
The project takes a value-based approach to regenerative tourism, tackling fragile ecosystems, seasonal cycles, and fragmented institutional capacity across the NPA and Aurora regions. Building on REGGAE, REGENERATE, and related projects, it clusters and validates outputs into a practical toolbox and a joint strategic framework for Destination Management Organisations.
Through structured cooperation between national and regional actors, the project maximises impact across borders, ensures transfer of proven solutions to practice, and increases awareness of the added value of cooperation.
By piloting regenerative practices in project events and using clear, motivational communication, it improves uptake of results and embeds regeneration, equality, and resilience into long-term tourism strategies across the programme area.
Total budget: 197.808,52 Eur
Partnership:
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (FI),
- Visit Reykjanes Iceland (IS),
- Gold of Lapland (SE),
- Business Kristinestad (FI)
From Waste to Worth: Advancing Sustainable Composites via Natural Fiber Screening
This transnational project aims to accelerate the uptake of circular composite solutions across NPA and Aurora regions by co-developing regional action plans, engaging stakeholders, and showcasing scalable innovations.
Through coordinated mapping, joint strategy development, and targeted dissemination, the project strengthens institutional capacity and fosters regional innovation ecosystems.
Uptake of solutions and strategies by public authorities and SMEs will demonstrate feasibility and support future funding potential. Communication plays a central role, with a lean structure ensuring visibility, stakeholder engagement, and compliance with programme requirements.
Clustering: BIO-2-PRINT and SUSBICO
Total budget: 199.991,99 Eur
Partnership:
- Luleå University of Technology (SE),
- University of Oulu (FI),
- FUTURECAST (IE),
- Centria University of Applied Sciences Ltd. (FI)
Cross-program Adoption and Transfer of Arctic Low-carbon Ice-resilient Solutions
The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of public authorities, research institutions, and infrastructure stakeholders across the NPA region to better plan for and manage durable, low-carbon concrete solutions for coastal and offshore environments in Arctic and Atlantic conditions.
By synthesising findings from the Ar2CorD and OFFwind projects, the partnership will produce short, accessible guidance on durability, testing, and material opportunities, complemented by a small-scale observational pilot and a joint roadmap for future collaboration.
The project will establish a lasting transnational network focused on concrete durability in harsh environments, aiming to support the uptake of practical knowledge and align decision-making processes with broader sea-basin and macro-regional strategies.
Total budget: 129.582,58 Eur
Partnership:
- Luleå University of Technology (SE),
- SINTEF NARVIK (NO),
- Novia University of Applied Sciences (FI),
- Tampere University Foundation (FI),
- University of the Faroe Islands (FO),
- The Arctic University of Norway (NO),
- University of Iceland (IS)
IHANAT, builds on the results of the Interreg Aurora funded project INSPIRE and the Interreg NPA funded project ROBODEMO. The project partners, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centre) of Southern Ostrobothnia in Finland and Luleå University of Technology in Sweden will demonstrate how autonomous technologies can support biodiversity and invasive species management in Arctic and near-Arctic regions. IHANAT is a small-scale project funded by the Interreg Aurora programme with a total budget of 40 000 euro and a duration of six months.
