New infrastructure and buildings are continuously constructed despite the Northern Periphery and Arctics being scarcely populated areas. Moreover, thanks to a surplus of electricity large investments into the green industrialization are currently taking place in Northern Sweden (about 1000 billion SEK) and Northern Norway (copper mine Nussir in Finnmark, Aker Horizons in Narvik, the Smelteverket in Finnfjord and hydrogen projects in Berlevåg and Hammerfest. Mo Industripark, Freyr, Alcoa and Gen2 Energy in Mo i Rana and Mosjøen). In order to align with new trends in the building industry, environmentally friendly materials, secondary raw materials recovered from waste streams or materials with reduced carbon footprint are used. However, their use must be much more monitored than standard concrete as they are exposed to extreme climate conditions such as freeze-thaw cycles, seawater or high relative humidity.  

Concrete is one of the most used materials in the area, and in order to reduce its carbon footprint, new types are being produced and utilised in structures, although it is widely known that „low carbon concretes“ can struggle in harsh climate conditions. With this in mind, leading research institutes together with local industries came up with a project idea and succeeded in the first Northern Periphery and Arctic programme 2021-2027 call. Project Ar2CorD „Low Carbon Concrete for Arctic Climate with Excellent Sustainability and Durability“, no. NPA0100039, with a budget of 1,4 mil euros, started on the 1st of January 2023.  

Project main partners from UiT, The Arctic University of Norway (NO), Lulea University of Technology (SE), University of Oulu (FI), Reykjavik University (IS), NORCEM AS (NO), Betongindustri AB (SE), BM Vallá ehf. (IS), Permagreen Grønland A/S (GL) and associated partners Betongfokus (NO), Betong Norge – Betongelementforeningen (NO), Ruskon Betoni Oy (SE), Suomen betoniyhdistys ry (SE), Húsnæðis- og mannvirkjastofnun (IS) met during hybrid kick-off meeting organised by Iveta Novakova from UiT, campus Narvik. The kick-off meeting lasted for two days, and besides discussions about planned activities, all participants got to know each other and established closer contact. During the meeting, an excursion to Narvik harbour was also organised as one of the planned actions is establishing a long-term durability test facility there. Preliminary discussions with harbour authorities took place before the kick-off meeting, and the idea of the test facility was enthusiastically accepted.  

All present partners find common research grounds and feel positive towards the project execution and planned activities.