7 News
The Nordic Rural Youth Panel publishes 40 action points for making rural areas attractive for youth
Many rural municipalities are experiencing population loss as young people move away, without returning. Is there a way to attract young people to stay and move back to Nordic rural areas? Yes, if you improve public transportation, offer diverse housing options and dynamic educational opportunities connected to the local job market, says the Nordic Rural Youth Panel. There’s a belief among youth that success and a good life are only achievable by moving to a city, which can make rural places feel less valued. However, there’s a growing interest in changing this narrative and showing that rural areas are full of opportunities. To combat stagnation in Nordic rural areas, 25 young people from the Nordic Region came together in a Nordic Rural Youth Panel to discuss key solutions for making rural areas more attractive to youth. They offer concrete action points for policymakers and decision-makers in rural areas and push for changes that would make young people want to stay and build their lives there. “We believe their suggestions can play a part in bringing life and vitality back to these rural communities”, says Research Fellow Mari Wøien Meijer who has been leading the project at Nordregio. The Nordic Rural Youth Panel is calling for affordable and efficient public transportation, advocating for diverse and affordable housing options, and demanding dynamic educational opportunities with clear pathways to the local job market, including innovative remote work solutions. They also highlight the need for public spaces and activities that bring people together, helping to create strong community ties. The panel’s recommendations are unique and represent a great opportunity for policymakers to get first-hand information directly from young people. The young people themselves have been involved in setting the agenda from the beginning and have worked together on the themes and recommendations during several…
- 2023 November
- Nordic Region
- Demography
- Labour market
- Rural development
Introducing PREMIUM_EU: A new project to prevent brain drain in Europe
Can research and AI-generated policies counter migration trends that tend to harm vulnerable regions? A new project kicks-off an ambitious attempt to find out. People are no longer bound to their birthplaces and are instead choosing to move to other parts of the world in search of better opportunities. In Europe, this has led to a phenomenon known as brain drain, where highly skilled workers leave their home regions in search of better jobs and quality of life. This has left behind areas of Europe that are struggling to maintain their population and attract new talent. PREMIUM_EU is a project that seeks to enlighten and find alternative ways to turn this imbalance around. Why study migration’s effect on remote regions? Migration is a contentious issue in many parts of Europe, and policies that are seen as too favorable to migrants often face opposition from local communities. Shifts in labour sectors, housing shortages, integration tensions. These are some of many concerns receiving countries have about migrant flows. On the other hand, many remote regions face the opposite reality. People are moving and no migrants are arriving to replace them. When highly skilled workers migrate out of a region this can have negative impacts on the economy and social fabric of the region. Loss of talent and expertise combined with an aging population leaves communities in crisis. PREMIUM_EU is built on the premise that spatial mobility, or the ability of people to move freely between different regions, can offer new opportunities to both sending and receiving regions. Europe’s population would shrink dramatically without migration. This project seeks to identify the positive effects of migration that are often overlooked. What is PREMIUM_EU? The lengthy acronym outlines the goal concisely: “Policy REcommendations to Maximise the beneficial Impact of Unexplored Mobilities in and beyond the…
- 2023 April
- Europe
- Demography
- Labour market
- Migration
- Rural development
Maps from the State of the Nordic Region at the 22nd Nordic Demographic Symposium
Dr. Timothy Heleniak, Senior Research Fellow at Nordregio, will participate in the 22nd Nordic Demographic Symposium in Norway to present the State of the Nordic Region 2022 report. The overall topic of the conference is Covid-19 demography. The scientific program of the Symposium demonstrates the generally relevant, multidisciplinary nature of demography and brings together a wide range of cutting-edge research on fertility, mortality, and migration, with links to broader socio-economic and health dynamics. “In the Symposium, I will be presenting a poster based on the State of the Nordic Region 2022, which focused on the impacts of Covid-19. I hope to bring a spatial perspective that is often lacking in demography,” says Heleniak. The poster features nine maps highlighting findings from the State of the Nordic Region 2022. The Nordic Demographic Symposium is the meeting of demographers, social scientists, and students in the population from the Nordic Region. It was initially planned to be held in June 2021 but had to be postponed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more about the event here. Read the State of the Nordic Region 2022 report here.
- 2022 June
- Nordic Region
- Covid-19
- Demography