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Russia’s Arctic territories are home to a diverse but highly vulnerable ecosystem and to traditional lifestyles lived by native peoples resident in the region. It is a region that boasts significant natural resources. So how can we expand our exploitation of these resources and develop the Arctic economy without negatively impacting either the region’s delicate ecosystems or the native people’s way of life? The Institute for Regional Research and Urban Planning at HSE and the Arctic Center for Strategic Research at NArFU held a round table to examine these issues. The round table discussion proposed a resolution for distribution to federal state agencies.

In October 2015 HSE and GS Group signed an agreement to work together on educational initiatives. One of its priorities is a student project to create working models for a smart city. The results could be used to make innovational infrastructures for small cities in Russia.

The 2015 Thorvald Stoltenberg Conference on Arctic Urban Sustainability in Russia was organized by the Barents Institute at The University of Tromsø and the Arctic University of Norway and took place on September 24-26 in Kirkenes, Norway. The event was dedicated to sustainable development of Arctic urban settlements and addressed issues ranging from the analysis and assessment of natural and climatic processes to socio-economic and geopolitical factors and the models of development. Leading researchers from the universities of the USA, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Finland and Poland took part in the conference. The Research School of Regional Arctic Studies, organized by the Institute of Regional Studies and Urban Planning and the Department for Spatial Development and Regional Studies represented HSE at the event.

The third Russian–Japanese Forum on Cooperation in Business, Investment and Sport took place in Tokyo, Japan. The event was organized by leading Japanese and Russian newspapers ‘Mainichi Shimbun’ and ‘Rossiyskaya Gazeta’. Sergei Naryshkin, Russian State Duma Speaker took part in the event.

The main aim of the expedition, which took place from May 11 to 14, 2015, was to study the international experience of how municipal authorities solve the environmental, economic, and social problems related to intensive resource development in Arctic regions.

On February 26^th and 27^th, 2015, the conference ‘Complex Research and Cooperation in the Arctic: Interaction between Universities and Research Institutions’ took place at the Lomonosov Northern (Arctic) Federal University. The event attracted leading researchers and university professionals who study the Arctic. Institute of Regional Studies and Urban Planning (IRSUP) researchers Irina Ilyina, Alexander Minin and Olga Khoreva participated in the conference.

“Technopolis GS” is a unique project for creative town organization which develops by investment and industry holding GS Group in Kalinigrad region. The tour includes the town infrastructure overview and experts round table. Here are realised the mechanisms of active involving of the population of the region and Gusevs in cluster development: the GS Venture fund and “Creative platform GS” social projects support fund operate, Immanuel Kant BFU campus creation project is ready to start, Technopolis GS and Gusev district Administration enter into cooperation in social and cultural sphere.

This report is a result of project made with the creation of an international team of researchers. The main aim was to assess the impact of the quality of governance on economic performance and well being in Russian regions, especially in resource one, from 2000 to the present.