Vice-President Jane Morrice and Finnish EESC members in Finland

On 23 and 24 September the Vice-President Jane Morrice accompanied by the Finnish members Filip Hamro-Drotz, Pirkko Raunemaa and Thomas Palmgren visited northern Finland as part of the Going-Local initiative. They discussed the challenges which the Arctic region is facing today and found out more about the way of life, the traditions and the cultural self-government of the only indigenous people in the European Union - the Sami people.

The EESC delegation started its visit at one of the most important expert institutions in Arctic issues - the Arctic Centre in the capital city of Lapland Rovaniemi. In Rovaniemi Jane Morrice and the Finnish members also discussed the multidisciplinary programmes specifically geared to the North and the student activities at the northernmost university in Finland and the European Union - the University of Lapland.

The EESC members had the chance to admire the exhibition at the Sami Museum and Nature Centre in Inari - SIIDA. The Sami people who have inhabited the region for thousands of years have their distinct and unique culture and way of life which includes Sami handicraft and reindeer herding. The Sami people in Finland comprise three groups with separate languages and their own cultures - the Inari Sami, Skolt Sami and North Sami. In Inari the EESC delegation met a group of students at the Sami Education Institute where they discussed the role and tasks of the EESC and answered specific questions from the students.

The EESC members were welcomed at the Sami Parliament whose main purpose is to plan and implement the cultural self-government of the Sami.