Self-sufficient Lapland -seminar with its three themes – food production, green economy enterprise, municipalities as development actors – is a forum, where we introduce the main results of EU development projects run in Lapland during 2007-2013. By this choice we wish to reflect possibilities and expose weaknesses when utilizing Lapland’s natural resources. The issues in development of utilization Lapland’s natural resources, like harsh environment, long distances and aging population, are similar to those in EU’s mountainous and sparsely populated regions, as County Governor Mika Riipi notes. Purity is one of the key arguments when marketing the foodstuffs made in Lapland, as well as Lapland as a region. Associations are the most important tools for marketing. For example, association about bilberry is a combination of characters; tasty food, wild and pure nature, old culture and local traditions and northern fronteers. Despite of these positive associations attached to the raw material, Lapland is self-sufficient only in reindeer meat, mutton and turnip due to low rate in production of upgraded products. Mankind is entering to new era, where fossil raw materials are replaced by renewable natural resources. Finland’s biocapacity per a citizen is the fourth biggest in the world. In future, it is a profitable business for a farm to practice green economy in Lapland and produce bioheat, bioelectricity and biofuels for its own demand and sell the surplus. Self-sufficiency in energy production decreases dependency of farms and communities on import and price fluctuations. It is essential for the development of rural areas in Lapland that people with different roles understand the economic potential, which is produced by natural resources and knowledge of extreme conditions. Furthermore, new demands can be met through combining of traditional livelihoods in innovative and resource- wise way. For example, reindeer herding is still vigorous livelihood, on which people can lean their economy while they try new business ideas or work as part time.