About Nordregio | Nordregio

Nordregio is recognised and respected as a leading Nordic research institute within the broad research fields of regional development, policy and planning.

We specialise in applied research that analyses and evaluates the latest development trends in policy areas central to Nordic regional economic growth, competitiveness and sustainable development.

Nordregio is officially recognised as a research entity by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, as well as the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet), Formas and Nordforsk.

Read our strategy and watch the video to learn about our focus in the time period between 2021-2024 to meet key global challenges at the local and regional levels in the Nordics.

Nordregio’s primary research focus and competence areas are:

Regional Development
Rural Development
Urban Planning
Demography
Governance

Other core competencies include mapping and GIS analysis, as well as communications and outreach.

Nordregio works on commissioned projects that help policymakers and practitioners tackle economic, environmental, and social, as well as more general planning and governance challenges. This involves active participation in European, Nordic and national research programmes (e.g. ESPON, Horizon 2020, Interreg, NordForsk, and national research councils in the Nordic countries). We develop new knowledge and data, perform territorial analyses on a transnational and pan-European level, as well as conducting evaluations of various European and national support programmes.

Operating at the international, national, regional and local levels, Nordregio’s research covers a wide geographic scope, with an emphasis on the Nordic and Baltic Sea Regions, Europe and the Arctic.

Our mission

Nordregio’s mission is to provide Nordic policymakers and practitioners with new knowledge and tools to support the formulation and implementation of effective socio-economic and environmentally sustainable regional development policies.

By facilitating cooperation between Nordic stakeholders, we generate Nordic added value and contribute towards meeting the Nordic Vision 2030 and the implementation of the Nordic Regional Cooperation Programme 2021-2024. These include the integration of horizontal perspectives on sustainable development, gender equality, and a youth perspective. Our research also contributes towards the implementation of global policy objectives, including those outlined in the United Nation’s Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the European Union’s Macro-Regional Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, Green Deal, Urban Agenda, Digital Agenda, and Circular Economy and Bio-Economy Initiatives.

To fulfil our mission and generate Nordic synergies, the following objectives and principles guide our everyday operations:

Producing high-quality, scientific, evidence-based research that can be understood and used by policymakers and practitioners to provide sustainable policies for regions and municipalities across the Nordic Region.
Developing Nordic statistical databases and being a hub for Nordic cross-border and comparative demographic, economic, social, and environmental statistics at national, regional and local levels – with the State of the Nordic Region report as the bi-annual flagship publication.
Critically compare past and present Nordic data at different geographic scales to find innovative solutions for implementing SDGs and predicting future socio-economic and demographic trends.
Identifying best practice Nordic collaborative governance and territorial place-based policymaking processes built on local knowledge and expertise.
Supporting policymakers by engaging stakeholders and citizens in policymaking processes and research projects to facilitate science-society-policy interfaces, based on Nordic knowledge co-creation, exchange and uptake between researchers, policymakers, stakeholders and citizens.
Generating and promoting synergies between different policy sectors.
Widely communicating Nordic solutions and comparative research findings across ministries, regions and municipalities to facilitate the implementation of new policies and increase stakeholder and citizen awareness.
Being a trusted international research project partner.
Showcasing Nordic policy solutions and competitiveness in Europe and beyond.
Creating an institutional environment of equality and openness designed to facilitate deliberation and analytical thinking amongst staff and research based on integrity, self-reflexivity, cooperation, and daring to challenge conventional thinking.
Ensuring that employment at Nordregio is a valuable stepping stone for attractive future working positions.

Read more:

Welcome to Nordregio!