TransParcNet Meeting 2019

This year’s TransParcNet Meeting takes place from 11th until the 14th of June in Oulanka National Park, Kuusamo, Finland. It will focus on Management Challenges in Transboundary Parks.

Program details

You should arrive at Kuusamo on Tuesday the 11th and the programme will start on Wednesday morning the 12th. There will be two intense days both in a conference room and in nature and the meeting will end with a closing dinner on the 13th of June. On Friday the 14th you will either start your journey back home or join us to a post-trip to Paanajärvi National Park in Russia.

Venue

The meeting will be held at a wilderness hotel Basecamp Oulanka, Kuusamo, Finland and in Oulanka National Park.

Travel

Since Oulanka-Paanajärvi is situated on the edge of Europe, you need to take time to travel. We recommend you to come by plane firstly to Kuusamo or secondly to Oulu. There are one to two daily connections from Helsinki to Kuusamo and several connections to Oulu. Oulu is situated 220km from Kuusamo but there is a good three-hour-long bus connection from Oulu to Kuusamo. See the recommended timetables as an attachment. The shuttle will be organized between Kuusamo Airport, Kuusamo Bus Station and the venue.
If you wish to travel by train, one of the nearest train stations is also in Oulu. The bus station is situated right next to the railway station.
If you are planning to come by car, please find the route by using, for example, Google Maps.

There will also be an opportunity of joining a post-trip from 14th until the 16th of June in Paanajärvi National Park, Russia.

Getting to Paanajärvi National Park in Russia is not easy but is definitely worth the effort. Because of the border crossing formalities, long distances and bad condition of roads, it is impossible to organize a day-trip to Paanajärvi National Park. That is why the meeting will be held in Finland and visiting Paanajärvi NP is optional and organized as a post-trip.

Accommodation and costs

You will stay in a wilderness hotel right next Oulanka National Park. There is a restricted number of single rooms in the hotel.
Cost of accommodation per night per person:
• Single room 50e
• Double room 40e
Transboundary meeting fee will be announced at the time of registration.
There will also be an additional fee for the post-trip.

Registration

The registration will open at the end of March!

The deadline for registration is 28th of April 2019

Post-trip to Paanajärvi 14th to 16th of June

For a visit to Paanajärvi National Park in Russia, you need a Russian visa. We advise you to contact the Russian Embassy in your own country and start the process of applying a visa immediately. Unfortunately, Paanajärvi National Park cannot help you with the so-called Russian Tourist Visa Invitations. Please note that this trip requires long hours in a mini bus on quite bad gravel roads. We will visit the Paanajärvi Visitor Center in a small village of Pääjärvi before entering the national park. The accommodation in the park area is very basic with no electricity or running water. You get to feel the true wilderness around you and visit the most impressive sites of Paanajärvi National Park. There is a quota of maximum 20 persons for this trip. Please contact us if you are interested in attending the post-trip.

If you are interested in taking part and have any questions about planning your trip you can find all of the information here: TransParcNet Meeting 2019_invitation

Visit our TransParcNet page to learn more about the cooperation between Oulanka and Paanajärvi National Parks.