The Nordic countries united in St Petersburg

From 23 September to 10 October 2011, the Nordic Weeks will be taking place in St Petersburg. For the second year running the city will be filled with the spirit of northern Europe, when the city’s inhabitants will be able to become closer to their northern neighbours while discovering new and exciting things about them.

The Nordic countries are not just a treasure trove of culture and tradition, but also a leading region of innovation, especially in the sphere of climate change and environmental protection. That is why cooperation with the countries of northern Europe, exchanging experience, and cultural affinity is so important for the development of Northwest Russia.

The start of the Nordic Weeks coincides with Europe Day in St. Petersburg, an international festival during which Russian-European debates and a bike ride through the city centre will be held, as well as a common European venue for exhibitions, language lessons, art competitions, and a European gastro-festival. After 24 September, the programme of the Nordic Weeks keeps its momentum and diversifies to include a wide array of exhibitions, lectures, master classes, concerts, and film screenings.

Sweden will draw attention to the environment with an exhibition of satirical cartoons called “Facing the Climate”. Norway will introduce the audience to the life and expeditions of national hero, polar explorer and politician Fridtjof Nansen, and for children there will be a meeting with popular children’s illustrator. Finnish comics will be presented as part of the “Boomfest” festival along with a master class, and a Finnish documentary will be shown at the 21st International Film Festival “Message to Man”. At the beginning of October Helsinki days in St. Petersburg will kick off with a great deal of interesting things out on the streets.

Denmark will present several photo-exhibitions about the Danish Queen Margrethe II, and about Princess Dagmar who became the Russian empress Maria Fedorovna. The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Information Office is organising a seminar on creative industries and an international conference promoting gender equality within the Knowledge Building and Networking Programme and the Finnish chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2011. The NGO Exchange Programme will be promoted during the Nordic Weeks. The deadline for applications is on 10 October. And this is only a small selection of the over 30 events planned for the Nordic Weeks!

The Nordic Weeks is a joint initiative of the Information Office of the Nordic Council of Ministers in St Petersburg, the Consulates General of Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden in St Petersburg, the Embassy of Iceland in Russia, and the Danish Cultural Institute and the Institute of Finland in St Petersburg.

The official website of the Nordic Weeks: www.nordicweek.ru

Nordic cooperation – the formal cooperation between the five Nordic countries – Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden – is amongst the oldest and most extensive regional cooperation in the world. Political cooperation is built on common values and a willingness to achieve results that contribute to dynamic development, and increasing Nordic competencies and competitiveness through the activities of the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council.

Source: http://www.norden.ru/NewsPreview.aspx?id=606&lang=en