Interreg Aurora’s selection committee approved 15 new projects on June 13, 2024 at its meeting in Bodø, Norway. More than 9 million euro was allocated to cross-border activities that will support sustainable development and improve our daily lives in various ways.
One of the approved projects is Torne Valley Dipnet Culture that aims to preserve and promote the hundreds of years old cultural heritage of Dipnet fishing for coming generations. The living cultural heritage is a vital part of the Torne River Valley identity.
Torne Valley Dipnet projects total budget is around 820 000 euros. The EU pays 65 percent of that, the Federation of Lapland and Region Norrbotten share about 25 percent, and the cities of Tornio and Haparanda share 10 percent. Project starts in August 2024 and ends in December 2026. In the project there is four (4) Work Packages that include activities from a safeguarding strategy to mobile exhibition, VR-tools and applications and making cross-border Dipnet fishing culture better known and interesting in various ways i.e. story telling events and podcast.
The project increases the knowledge and teach the skills to the younger generation. The project involves widely tradition practitioners, fishing communities, municipalities, various publics, private organizations from Sweden and Finland towards joint sustainable safeguarding work.
The project will be administrated by the Museum of Torne Valley. The whole project will be done in cooperation between the municipalities of Tornio and Haparanda and the stakeholdes as ProSiika ry, Novia University of Applied Sciences and Norrbottens Museum.
The project is continuation of the long-term safeguarding work of the unique Torne River’s dipnet fishing culture done by the tradition practitioners. ProSiika ry (ngo) is appointed as an official partner of the project. ProSiika and its community members represent the tradition community on both sides of the border. Total of seven associations (ProSiika ry, Kukkolankoski shareholder association, Korpikylän osakaskunta, Kukkola Fiskesamfällighet, Matkakoski Fiskeförening, Korpikylä Hembygdsförening, Kultur-Ekot) participate in the implementation and financing of the project. ProSiika’s role is to represent as an umbrella association for all of these associations.
All the goals in the project integrate the sustainable development, ecological, economical and especially the social dimension within UNESCO frame. It includes Agenda 2030 goals as key cornerstones in the safeguarding work.
Since dipnet fishing culture has been selected as a multinational candidate for UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list, the Finnish Museum Agency and Sweden’s ISOF (Institutet för språk och folkminnen) participate in cross-border cooperation as official partners for the UNESCO application. Interreg Aurora is the European Union’s cross-border cooperation program in 2021 – 2027. This EU funding, which has now been granted, therefore supports the application to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage 100%.
Photo: Pentti Laitinen.