Authors

TERESA CHEN

a Senior Lecturer at, and coordinates the BRIDGE project for, Lapland University of Applied Sciences. She also functioned as a coach throughout the project and was responsible for the first BRIDGE session in Tornio during spring 2019.

PETER FISCHER

an Assistant professor at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Department of Tourism and Northern Studies who has been teaching Entrepreneurship and Innovation studies. He was the BRIDGE Project Manager and Lead Partner representative. He coached students in BRIDGE and was responsible for two Norwegian BRIDGE sessions in Vardø and Alta.

PETRI HANNULA

a fulltime lecturer at Lapland UAS with main expertise in game technology who coached in the BRIDGE project and guided in programming and technical solutions. In the project he also worked with digital communication tools.

ESA JAUHOLA

a Principal Lecturer at Lapland UAS whose main responsibility included the coordination of a master degree programme in Digital Business Management. He has been active in several educational Barents projects since 1990’s, including the BRIDGE project.

IGOR KUPRIENKO

Head of Project Development Division, ITMO University was one of the designers of the BRIDGE project and actively involved in the mentoring of students’ teams. He specializes in drafting and implementing the interdisciplinary projects. His division is a part of Technology Centre of ITMO University, which is contributing to the entrepreneurial activities of the university.

MINTTU MERIVIRTA

a Senior Lecturer of Finnish language and communications at Lapland UAS who has worked in national and international projects as an editor of publications, which was her role in the BRIDGE project as well.

ANTHONY OKUOGUME a Senior Lecturer in Digital Business Management at the Digital Solution Unit of Lapland UAS and a digital technology enthusiast with key interests in digital business, digital customer experience, innovation and digital entrepreneurship and start-ups.

OKSANA PROKHOROVA an Associate Professor of Economic Theory and Management Department at the Institute of Economics and Law at Petrozavodsk State University, who teaches and conducts research in the fields of marketing, project management, microeconomics and cross-border cooperation. She fulfilled the roles of the BRIDGE Project Coordinator from PetrSU and as coach or co-coach of international student teams in solving cases. She was responsible for the 4th BRIDGE online session in Autumn 2020 hosted by PetrSU.

NATALIA PULAKKA

Project Manager at Lapland UAS, Digital Solutions Expertise Group. As an assistant in BRIDGE she was responsible for promoting the project within Lapland UAS.

ALLA RASPOPOVA

an Associate Professor of the Economics and Management Department, Head of the Youth Center for Technological and Social Entrepreneurship at Murmansk Arctic State University, who teaches Finance and Project Management, conducts research in Entrepreneurship Development, and was the coach of the international students’ teams in the BRIDGE project.

ANI RUUSILA

a Senior Lecturer of information processing at Lapland UAS who participated in the BRIDGE project as a coach and instructed in technical areas and digitalization.

YULIA SHESTOVA

the Head of International Cooperation Office at Murmansk Arctic State University whose research interests include internationalization of higher education, student academic mobility and intercultural competence development. She has worked as a BRIDGE project manager at MASU.

TATIANA TOKAREVA

Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Technological Management and Innovations at ITMO University, who leads the international cooperation and project management at the faculty. The education and training processes of the faculty are practice-oriented and include the cooperation with Russian and international partners from the business community, government bodies, public organizations and other Institutions.

TUOMAS VALTANEN

a Project Manager at FrostBit Software Lab, Lapland UAS, who manages, designs and implements web and mobile software projects as well as educates on various subjects related to software development. He was responsible for managing the selected communication and collaboration platforms throughout the BRIDGE project.

The BRIDGE project’s objective has been to facilitate youth employment and economic growth. The goal was to develop a learning environment as a sustainable platform for the interaction of local companies and HEI which benefits both innovating business and education.

Over three years, 2018-2021, teachers and staff from five universities in Russia, Finland and Norway established bonds for innovation and education in the Arctic North of Europe. More than 50 small private and public firms participated assigning around 250 students with business life challenges.

In this publication the BRIDGE project team shares their knowledge and experiences gained through the years. The focus of the articles is on the main three goals of BRIDGE: 1) Growth development of businesses in the Barents region, 2) Employability of the students, and 3) Institutional interactions.

www.lapinamk.fi/publications

ISBN 978-952-316-412-3