The target group of the project was higher education institutions in Oulu and companies from the environment industry in North Finland. The goal of the project was to create preconditions for the increase and development of business cooperation in the nearby areas, and to significantly increase the amount of business activity of companies from the Oulu area in the Barents region. A goal was also to create a foundation for more extensive education and research cooperation between higher education institutions in Oulu and Petrozavodsk State University and the State Technical Universities in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. The intention was to create and develop networks which could be used by companies and higher education institutions in North Finland to implement operations related to cooperation with neighbouring areas as well as obtain contacts in Northwest Russia. A goal was also to organise operational models that would support cooperation of SME companies in the environment industry with the actors in Northwest Russia. In addition, the intention was to create plans for the research cooperation between the aforementioned educational institutions. As a result of the project, educational and research cooperation plans would be created for the aforementioned educational institutions in various disciplines.