104 Norwegian funding, particularly in a setting where the Russian economy has improved significantly and the budgets of local administration has increased. The true impact of projects like this will be seen if Russian authorities are willing to give priority to allocate own resources to these projects.
3.11
Barents Plus
#Institutions involved and funding. The Barents Plus programme is coordinated by Finnmark University College in Alta. The international secretariat of the college is responsible for the programme and has a staff of two that dedicate a substantial amount of their work-time to the programme. Collaborating partners are all the institutions of higher education in the Norwegian and Russian parts of the Barents region. The international secretariat is responsible for disseminating information about the programme, such as running the web-site. It also makes all the programme documents, and takes the final decision on grants and for economic reporting to the Barents Secretariat. The other partners (international offices at the institutions) disseminate information about the programme in their own institutions, establish links with the host institutions and set up a prioritized list of scholarship candidates to the Finnmark University College. There are regular (at least annual) meetings with coordinators from the universities/university colleges on the Norwegian side. A greater effort is now being put into establishing more formalized meetings and contacts with the Russian institutions. The Barents Plus exchange programme has been administered by the Finnmark University College for more than a decade (see more on this below). The annual funding of the programme has varied. From 1999 the programme also included administration of a new programme area: the participation of Russian students from the Barents region at Norwegian folkehøyskoler (Svanvik and Øytun). Folkehøyskoler offer one-year courses, have no set academic curriculum, no grades nor exams. The idea is that the students learn through experience and social interaction. This method of teaching is a part of the philosophy of these schools.
NIBR Report 2008:4
