The Winter School of the Russian-Finnish Cross-Border University at SPbU

The Russian-Finnish Cross-Border University was established in 2007 on the initiative of the Ministries of Education of Russia and Finland. Currently, within the university there are Master programs in the field of Health, International relations and Forestry. The program in International Relations has been successfully implemented every two years.

To get the partner university’s diploma, participants of the school, write their master's thesis in English, so a significant part of time during the School was given to an analysis of their research papers under the guidance of professors of St. Petersburg State University, Petrozavodsk State University and the University of Tampere.

The main theme of the Winter School 2016 was the development of international relations in the Baltic Sea region in the light of conflict between Russia and the EU that have arisen after the events of 2014.

Associate Professor of St. Petersburg State University Dmitry Lanko told the participants of the School about the interaction between the countries of the Baltic region after 2014. Earlier, in the region there was a hegemon. In the XV century it was Denmark, and in the XVII century - Sweden, which contributed to the unification of states. ‘Modern theories of international relations argue that the region is a society in which a threat can lead to the strengthening of cooperation between the countries. At the same time for the countries of the Baltic region, in the field of security it is not terrorism that is priority but environmental issues’, stressed Dmitry.

Lecturer of the University of Tampere Matti Pesu gave a lecture on politics in Finland and Sweden in the field of security. He invited the students to discuss what role can play Finland and Sweden in the normalization of relations between Russia and the European Union and whether favorably to these two countries joining NATO.

The work of the Winter School completed a lecture of Associate Professor of Petrozavodsk State University Yarovoy Gleb and Professor of the University of Tampere Tuomas Forsberg. According to Professor Forsberg, both Russia and the European Union have always been interested in the developing of cooperation, but contradictions between them have remained and were brought to the surface during the Ukrainian crisis.

School also allowed the participants to establish a youth dialogue, to present their research topics at the Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg, as well as to visit the Institute of Finland, which holds a variety of events, presenting for the residents of St. Petersburg Finnish culture. During the visit to the Institute students were able to visit the library, which contains publications in Russian, Finnish and English languages, as well as daily newspapers in Finnish.

Graduates of Bachelor may be interested in the fact that, having applied in the summer of 2017 on the master's program "Studies of the Baltic and Nordic countries", they will be able to study on the program of "two diplomas" and after defending the master's thesis will receive a diploma of St. Petersburg State University, and the University of Tampere .

For information:

Within the framework of cooperation in the field of education, the project "Cross-Border University» (Finnish-Russian Cross-Border University), which is currently attended by four Russian University (Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg Forestry University, Petrozavodsk State University, Moscow State forest University) and two Finnish university - the University of Tampere and University of Eastern Finland.