This year’s categories are “Arctic Entrepreneurial Spirit” and “Overcoming Critical Mass”, which have been aligned with one of the themes of the 30th anniversary of Interreg: youth cooperation. Among all project entries, only one winner will be selected in each category.

Projects submitted in the “Arctic Entrepreneurial Spirit” focus on supporting businesses based on Arctic opportunities and cultural heritage, on boosting young entrepreneurs’ abilities to create successful business opportunities and on developing the necessary skills to grow and diversify a business.

In the category of “Overcoming Critical Mass” there has been great interest from projects developing technological solutions and working on increasing opportunities for young people to grow business across borders.

A judging panel composed of representative of all five programmes will assess all candidates and select the two winners. It was initially planned that the winners were going to be announced and celebrated at the NPA Annual Event on 23rd September in Oulu. However, present circumstances forced a change of plan.

The Arctic Awards winners will be announced at the Interreg Botnia-Atlantica Annual Event on 2nd and 3rd December 2020 in Bodø, Norway. An award ceremony will take place where the Arctic Award trophy and a project infographic will be offered as a prize to the two winners.

Meanwhile, the Arctic Cooperation programmes decided to thank all projects who submitted an entry by highlighting them in a social media campaign running between August and December, with the hashtag #ArcticAward2020. One by one, all projects who applied for the award will be featured on the Arctic Cooperation Facebook page, where their Arctic spirit, innovative ideas and inspiring actions will be promoted widely.

Save the hashtag and follow what cooperation can do for the Arctic!