The seminar was launched in the Institute of Europe RAS in 2022. The main goals are to expand and deepen knowledge of socio-economic, cultural and military processes in the Arctic region, and to develop ties with universities and research centers on Arctic issues. The seminar is dedicated to the memory of Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valentin Petrovich Fedorov, a prominent statesman (Governor of the Sakhalin Region, Deputy Minister of Economy of the Russian Federation) and a scientist, who worked in the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences from 2000 to 2021 and made a significant contribution to the development of economic science and formation of innovative approaches to development of the Arctic.

The seminar brings together researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, representatives of federal and regional authorities and management, and practitioners. The seminar covers strategic issues of development of the Russian Arctic zone; projects of socio-economic development and ensuring national security; ways to overcome the EU and US sanctions against Russia in the Arctic region; problems of indigenous peoples and conditions for improving the quality of life and protection of the population in Arctic territories; new directions for the development of international Arctic cooperation with European and Asian countries.

The scientific supervisor of the seminar is Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences V.P. Zhuravel.