The goal of the project was the research and expertise exchange with the Republic of Karelia/ Institute of Geology – Karelian Research Centre RAS in order to assess commercial cooperation opportunities, identify training needs, and develop the shared use of natural stone information in the border region. The project plan was to implement expertise exchange through practical research of the natural stone deposits on both sides of the border. This included the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the known soapstone deposits. The project was assessed as enabling the assessment of the quality of the soapstone deposits in the border region in accordance with the requirements of modern industrial production. The assessment of commercial cooperation opportunities and training needs and the shared use of natural stone information was seen as supporting the creation of the foundation for the natural stone industry in the border region. The project was a follow-up project for the earlier ‘Developing Natural Stone Production in Soapstone Regions in Eastern Finland and Karelia’s Border Region’ project in 2001-2003’.