Tyumen State University (UTMN) has obtained a grant for developing a concept to establish "smart" cities in the Arctic, according to the university website. The five million ruble project is to be implemented in cooperation with several foreign universities.

"The project's main goal is to study the relevant experience of developing and establishing "smart communities" (TN Smart North) in the Extreme North and promoting them, as well as establishing an international research and development network in this area. This is an entirely new direction in the development of Arctic regions," the university press service said in a statement.

In the long-term, the aim of this research network will be to promote knowledge in thematic fields: creation of "smart" cities and communities in the Extreme North and their development.

"For example, this implies human capital and the investment climate of regions, the creation of innovation clusters inside the regional economy of Arctic territories, collective governance or participatory governance during the decision-making process, as well as financial, social and environmental stability," the press service noted.

Project partners include such leading universities, as Norway's Nord University and Nord University Business School, Finland's University of Oulu, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, University of Alaska Anchorage and the Institute of Social and Economic Research in the United States, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Moscow State Institute/University of International Relations (MGIMO), Canada's University of Alberta, as well as The Arctic Institute and the Center for Circumpolar Security Studies, also in the United States.