The project has been initiated by the Barents Regional Council and follows up an evaluation of regional co-operation in the Barents Region 1993-2000. The Barents region consists of thirteen regions and many different ethnic groups in four countries, which have a lot of common problems. Differences in culture, legal framework, etc create problems and hamper fruitful co-operation. Almost all parts of the region are losing population and it is alarming that the young generation is leaving the region. There are many organised co-operation activities and several programmes financed by the EU (Interreg, Tacis), the Nordic Council of Ministers and national aid organisations. However, all of them lack sufficient data for preparing long-term programmes for co-operation.The main goal of this project has been to develop a “Strategy and action plan” for future co-operation within the Barents region. In parallel with the development of the strategy and action plan, a number of work packages has been undertaken.Creation of a long-term Strategy and Action Plan for the co-operation in the Barents region – Barents 2010 - was the central objective of the project. Analyses of ongoing tendencies and expectations in terms of problems and options in the Barents region were to form a starting point for the strategy work. Challenges in specific sectors such as mining and minerals, forestry, oil and gas, tourism, education, environment, logistics were to be analysed and developed further by the project partnership mainly consisting of regional development organisations and authorities. Promotion of cross-border industrial cooperation projects in key industrial sectors was also one key objective. Achievements: The Strategy and Action Plan for the Barents Region until 2010 was adopted by the project Steering Committee in March 2006. The strategy is building on the already institutionalised regional co-operation in the area. Its overall goal is to “generate growth and social development through a knowledge driven and sustainable exploitation of the region´s natural resources, and to make the Barents region competitive on the world market”.Five main sector programmes have been formulated, and these programmes are all defined according to a principal framework for concerted actions in the co-operation area. Accordingly, the actions to be taken should focus on industrial development including transport solutions, research and development, environmental protection, and education & training. The triple helix approach (collaboration between public authorities, private sector and research) is also an important element of the framework and also during implementation of the proposed actions. The sector programmes identified are; 1) Mining and Minerals 2) Forestry 3) Oil and Gas 4) Tourism 5) East-West logistics (Barents Link). In addition, sector programmes for both education and environment were considered but not yet formulated by the project.For example, the Forestry programme points out the importance of providing educational and training courses on topics like differences in culture and business environments and ways of co-operation across cultures and countries. Training programmes could also be used as a tool to handle social aspects related to the mechanization of forestry. Another example related to environmental protection is provided by several of the sector programmes: according to the strategy specific “Barents standards” should be developed based on a combination of international standards and the regional features of each sector. As a more concrete output in the environmental field separate action plans were prepared concerning both water quality and biodiversity.The work on the tourism theme resulted in a three step approach. Firstly, a suitable mix of destinations and themes for various types of tourists should be developed. Secondly, conflicting interests must be handled across the regions, for instance, related to state borders or competition between companies. Thirdly, common marketing efforts should be made towards the European markets. A specific plan for the actions needed was compiled and four regions are involved in the follow up of the proposals on, for instance, developing products manuals, testing tours and other actions related to information and marketing.Both existing co-operation structures and networks created during the project implementation are responsible for the follow up of the strategy. A continuation of the industrial partnership meetings promoted by Barents 2010 may play an important role in this respect.