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3rd MARA Partner Meeting took place in Petrozavodsk, Russia

The MARA project ('Mobility and Accessibility in Rural Areas') partner meeting took place in the beautiful and snowy Republic of Karelia, Russia, between 5-7 February 2020.

s.Pro is coordinating the project as EPCO on behalf of the project lead, the Ministry of Energy, Infrastructure and Digitalization of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The meeting in the city of Petrozavodsk was the 3rd opportunity for MARA partners to meet each other in order to gain a common understanding of the project and its various activities.

All project partners presented mobility needs & challenges of their regions. They also introduced their regional stakeholder involvement strategies & touched upon the mobility cases they will pilot and test in the course of the project. Moreover, the partners reflected on ways to integrate the MARA findings to regional policy documents to benefit from the project far beyond its duration.

On the 6th of February, the partners visited the Zaonezhye district of Karelia and Velikaja Guba village to learn about the mobility needs and challenges of the inhabitants and potential new water routes that can be built within the frame of the MARA project. Partners also undertook an adventurous trip on hovercrafts (boats on air pillows) gliding on ice to the Kizhi Island (UNESCO Heritage).

During the intensive working sessions the partners agreed on next steps and deadlines for the implementation of the project and agreed to meet again in September 2020 in Vidzeme (Latvia) for the next partner meeting.

The partner meeting and the MARA project gained attention of the local media. Among others, the magazine "Karjalan Sanomat" interviewed our partners and published an article dedicated to the project --> click here to see the article (in Finnish language).

 To learn more about the MARA project please refer to its official website

 
   
s.Pro is founding and managing partner of the SUBMARINER Network, which brings together an unlimited range of public and private actors from all Baltic Sea Region countries in order to promote and realise activities necessary for using marine resources innovatively and sustainably.