jects and working seminars, where we had participants from Murmansk and Karelia. Sharing good experiences has been an underlying principle of the project.
Certified training The Pomor projects have cooperated with the creator of the Swedish criminal prevention program “Brottsbrytet” since 2002. In 2002 the manuals for the program were translated from Swedish to Russian. In 2004 12 participants from Arkhangelsk and Murmansk received their diplomas as instructors in “Brottsbrytet”. The head of the Mediation Board in Trondheim, Iren Sørfjordmo, has been involved in the Pomor cooperation since 2000. Eighteen participants from Arkhangelsk received their certificates as mediators in 2005. They have been trained and educated in mediation and restorative justice at three seminars. The Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Correctional Service of Norway Staff Academy, KRUS, have cooperated with the Pomor projects. One of the results of the cooperation was working seminars on the programme for women in problematic life situations, WIN. Marna Størkersen, head of the Østfold Clinic of Drug and Alcohol Abuse and Torunn Højdahl, senior adviser at KRUS, developed the WIN program together. Sixteen participants from Arkhangelsk and other parts of Russia received their diploma as instructors in Arkhangelsk in 2006. The participants work at clinics for drug and alcohol abusers, shelters for abused women and in prisons.
Professional networks The fi rst international conference of the project called “Prevention strategies in Social work” took place
in Arkhangelsk in 2004. 80 people from Russia and Norway attended the conference, which sought to promote an understanding of the role of prevention work and dissemination of knowledge amongst practical workers, university staff and researchers in Norway and Russia. The Pomor III Project and the Norwegian research institute FAFO (Institute of Labour and Social Research) also organised an international research seminar on family and social policy in Arkhangelsk. The closing conference of the project was held in Bodø in 2006 under the title “International Cooperation in Social Work and Social policy.” The conference had more than 50 contributions at plenary and parallel sessions. Participants from seven countries attended. A direct result of the cooperation project was the creation of a thematic network in social work within the framework of the University of the Arctic. Bodø University College is the host institution of the network.
Pathway on Dvina. Photo © Ståle Sårheim
Students and lecturers from the joint course in comparative social policy, Arkhangelsk 2006. Photo © Tatiana Nosova.
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