Arctic Edge Lead Partner attends Interreg NPA Seminar in the Faroe Islands

Held in Klaksvík on 16 September, the seminar brought together Lead Partners, Communication Managers and project representatives from projects approved under the 4th, 5th and 6th Interreg NPA calls. The event provided an important opportunity for projects from across the Northern Periphery and Arctic region to share experiences, strengthen connections and explore how their work can deliver lasting impact.

Building strong foundations for Arctic Edge

As a project supported through the 6th Call, Arctic Edge is at the beginning of its Interreg NPA journey. The seminar therefore provided AIM Centre with valuable practical guidance on the responsibilities involved in leading and coordinating a transnational NPA project.

A dedicated Lead Partner Essentials session covered key areas of project implementation, including reporting on activities and expenditure, State aid, information and publicity requirements, horizontal principles and the use of the programme's Jems monitoring system.

These discussions provided useful insights that will support AIM Centre in its role coordinating the Arctic Edge partnership and ensuring that the project develops on strong administrative and collaborative foundations.

Learning and connecting across the NPA community

A key benefit of the seminar was the opportunity to meet and exchange experiences with other projects working across the Northern Periphery and Arctic region.

Alongside programme guidance, participants discussed common challenges, practical solutions and good practice through interactive sessions and peer-to-peer exchange. The seminar also created opportunities for direct discussions with the Interreg NPA programme team and for building connections with organisations facing many of the same opportunities and challenges across remote and sparsely populated regions.

These exchanges are particularly valuable for Arctic Edge. While projects may focus on different sectors and challenges, there is much to learn from the approaches, experiences and solutions being developed throughout the wider NPA community.

Looking towards long-term impact

Another important theme throughout the seminar was ensuring that Interreg projects create value that extends beyond their formal project lifetime.

Participants explored how project results can reach the organisations and communities that can benefit from them, and how communication can help turn project outputs into solutions that are understood, adopted and used in practice. Discussions across the NPA community also highlighted the importance of considering transferability, uptake and long-term impact from an early stage of project delivery.

For Arctic Edge, these conversations provide valuable food for thought as the partnership begins its work. Building lasting impact means not only delivering strong project activities and outputs, but also identifying who can benefit from them, how they can be transferred to other contexts and how the lessons generated through the project can continue to create value.

The visit to the Faroe Islands was a productive start to this journey, combining practical learning with new connections across the Interreg NPA community.

AIM Centre and the wider Arctic Edge partnership look forward to putting these insights into practice as the project progresses and to continuing to exchange knowledge and experience with projects and organisations across the Northern Periphery and Arctic region.

Photo credit: InterregNPA/AKHC Studio