Events

Join us for a full day with presentations of recent research on wage formation by leading Nordic academics.

At this year’s Forum we are focused on elevating the Nordic green transition beyond crisis management to creating more attractive and competitive cities and regions.

The Sustainable Living Summit in Stockholm on 15 October gathered thought leaders from a unique mix of key sectors to showcase solutions and guidelines for enabling sustainable lifestyle choices.

During two half days, 14-15 May 2024, it is finally time for the “Digital Inclusion in the Nordic-Baltic Region – The Conference” where we will deep dive into the development in the Nordic and Baltic Region! What is the current status of digital inclusion policies, or the rollout of eID and what role does civil society play? This and much more is on the agenda when policymakers, practitioners, civil society, and academia gather in Stockholm.  We will showcase the outcomes of two years of research, highlighting the unique challenges and solutions specific to the Nordic-Baltic Region. As this event aims to foster collaboration, dialogue, and knowledge exchange – we need you in the room with us. During the two days two reports, two studies and two new tools will be launched!  Programme Tuesday, 14th of May  Starting 11:30 with check-in and lunch. The first day of the conference will tackle the question of “What characterises digital inclusion in the Nordic/Baltic region?” and “What can we do to reduce digital exclusion in the Nordic/Baltic region?”. Topics include discussions on the evolution of the political landscape concerning digital inclusion post Covid-19 in the Nordic and Baltic region, the status of digitalisation of the public sector, barriers and solutions of E-id roll out in the Nordic and Baltic region, the pivotal role of civil society actors in ensuring digital participation across all societal groups and, lastly, how can the political level work together with the civil society level.  11.30  Arrival and lunch     12.30  Welcome to the conference!Our moderator Annika Östman, head of communications at Nordregio, opens the conference Rolf Elmér, Director at Nordregio, welcomes you       12.45  Official Opening of ConferenceDan Sjöblom, Director-General of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) and Representative for the Swedish presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2024        13.00  Setting the stage: What…

For most of the Nordic countries, fisheries and aquaculture are important economic sectors. Their labour markets are however male-dominated, and strongly gender-segregated. Project Salmon & Equality, led by Nordregio, gathers knowledge and statistics on gender equality in fisheries and aquaculture across the Nordic countries. At Arctic Frontiers in Tromsö, we will launch the research report on the topic, and have invited renowned speakers to discuss the issue. Join us on Tuesday 30 January 2024! The aim of the event is to raise increased awareness of the need for gender balance in the business and to share knowledge of effective measures. The event will be centered around Arctic Frontier’s overall theme “Action and Reaction,” and will bring together representatives from politics, industry, and research to engage in a dialogue on gender equality within the fishery and aquaculture sector. Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers Karen Ellemann will open the event, followed by expert talks and panel discussions. Welcome to join our side event at the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsö, or join the livestream by signing up to the form below! Researcher and project manager Anna Karlsdóttir will present key findings as well as new policy recommendations covering statistics, harassment, innovation uptake, gender, and governance within the sector. Presentations by: Anna Karlsdottir Associate Professor, Nordregio and University of Iceland Key note speaker: Susanne Mortensen FisherMortensen is a fisher and author of the opinion piece that set in motion the fishing industry’s #Metoo movement, spurring a public debate about harassment and equality. Moderator: Gøril Johansen Chief Executive Officer Pro Tromsø Panelists: Sandra Márjá West, member of Sámi Parliament Ms. Karen Ellemann Secretary General, Nordic Council of Ministers Malgorzata Smieszek-Rice Researcher, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø (UiT) Gunnar Davídsson Head of Resource Management Department, Troms County Council Administration Edgar Henriksen…

The ongoing 21st century has brought with it a series of big global shocks the management of which has posed severe policy challenges, not least for fiscal stabilization and stability of public finances. Nordic countries are no exception to the rule. Have conventional fiscal stabilizers, most notably fiscal multipliers and automatic stabilizers remained stable over time and in the face of these shocks? Furthermore, since macroeconomic uncertainty has arguably increased due to the series of big shocks alluded to above, can we observe new features in the interplay between discretionary fiscal policy decisions and fiscal multipliers and automatic stabilizers? These are some of the issues that will be presented and discussed during this peer-review conference of the upcoming Nordic Economic Policy Review. The conference will take place in Reykjavik and online on the 8th of November. The seminar will address questions like: We invite you to a full day with presentations of recent research by leading Nordic experts, comments by academics and policymakers, and policy discussions. We offer coffee and a light lunch for all onsite participants. Agenda November 8, 2023 8:30 – 9:00:              Coffee and registration 9:00 – 9:05:              Welcome remarks 9:05 – 10:15:            Fiscal stabilizers in Iceland                                     Presentation by Arnaldur Sölvi Kristjánsson, University of Iceland                                   Discussants: Gunnar Haraldsson, Icelandic Fiscal Council Katrín Ólafsdóttir, Reykjavik University 10:15 – 10:30:          Coffee break 10:30 – 11:45:           Fiscal stabilizers in Denmark                           …

This year, Nordregio Forum 2023 will focus on the future of the Nordic region through young people’s perspectives.

On 26-27 April 2023, join us for a two-day conference in Brussels and online, addressing some of the most pressing questions about migration projections and their impact on evidence-based policy development. 

Nordregio and the Youth for Sustainable Living project will be present during Ungdommens Folkemøde NORD in Copenhagen on 21-22 April. Through funding from Sustainable Living, four youth organisations will participate and promote different aspects of sustainability during the event. ReGeneration 2030 You have the power to fight for a better future! We need collective youth power for system change, and ReGeneration 2030 will help you to find a role in the sustainability movement that suits you. Learn more about tangible actions and find out more about different youth sustainability organisations in different regions, and participate in creating an interactive artwork piece in the container to demonstrate your commitment to fighting climate change collectively. Visit their container: Friday at 14-19 and Saturday at 13-19, Sustainability & Future theme area. Listen to their talk: Friday, April 21, at 17-17.30, Sustainability & Future stage. ReGeneration 2030 is a youth movement for sustainability in the Nordic and Baltic Sea region, bringing activists aged 15-30 from across the region together to share knowledge and strategize. ReGeneration 2030 is on a mission to fight climate collapse and build a sustainable future for all. Tænketanken Frej Can we on the one hand be climate heroes who lead the way and on the other hand, be some of those who burden the planet the most? Tænketanken Frej focuses on food consumption and changes in food culture among young people. Is it really up to the individual to make a difference, or is it up to the system and political regulation to change the world? The panel debate on the stage engages several representatives and involves the audience. In their container, you can pop by for legume bingo, taste plant-based drink options and get to know more about their climate footprint. Visit their container: Friday at 14-19 and Saturday…

What economic policies and new regulations are needed in the Nordic countries to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, as set out in EU law?

Nordregio together with partners from around the Baltic Sea and the North Sea regions are inviting to the opening conference of the project eMSP NBSR – Emerging ecosystem-based Maritime Spatial Planning topics in the North and Baltic Sea regions. The conference, taking place on the 22nd of February online, will introduce participants to the project topics, working methods, and will facilitate stakeholder discussions about their involvement in the upcoming project activities. About the project The eMSP NBSR project aims to enable maritime spatial planners, managing authorities and policymakers from the North and Baltic Sea regions to reflect on current MSP practices, to learn effectively from each other, and to collectively identify problems and solutions. In addition, the European Green Deal and other EU policy incentives fostering inclusive transition and climate neutrality will have an impact on the maritime spatial plans are taken into account in the eMSP NBSR project. The project is built around a Community of Practice (CoP) model, which is based on creating forums for policymakers, practitioners and researchers to discuss important MSP developments in key thematic areas – Ocean governance; Ecosystem-based approach; Sustainable blue economy; Monitoring and evaluation; Data sharing, information and communication technology serving MSP. “The CoP methodology is a potentially important tool for improving the effectiveness of transboundary MSP collaboration processes that can help promote cohesion between countries and across sectors in European sea basins,” – says John Moodie, Senior Research Fellow at Nordregio. Nordregio researchers Andrea Morf, John Moodie, Elin Cedergren and Alex Cuadrado, together with the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE are responsible for co-chairing a scientific advisory board, ensuring coherent knowledge exchange across the five thematic learning strands and reflecting on chosen CoP approach. The opening conference Throughout the opening conference of the eMSP NBSR project, participants will have a chance to learn…

5-12 November, Watch all events from the Nordic Pavilions in Glasgow and Helsinki online: https://www.norden.org/en/information/live-broadcasts-cop26 9th November: 9/11 – COP26 from a Swedish perspective Norden i Fokus and The British Embassy in Sweden are organizing events about the climate on Tuesday 9th of November at Kulturhuset, Stockholm. It is a part of all the activities that The Nordic Cooperation organize connected to COP26 in Glasgow. In a joint event with the Nordic COP26 Hub in Helsinki we give you a unique opportunity to ask your questions straight to the people in charge. Research Fellow Mari Woen from Nordregio participates a panel discussion on sustainable food chains. Read more here: https://www.norden.org/en/event/lunch-briefing-cop26-swedish-perspective Rural Policies & Climate Change – a joint OECD and Nordregio event Rural areas are crucial for the green transition. They cover around 80% of OECD countries’ territories and contain natural resources, ecosystem services and people with necessary skills to ensure livelihood. However, climate change makes these areas vulnerable. Nordregio and OECD are inviting you to a COP26 session to discuss the crucial contribution of rural regions in the transition to net-zero economies. The event takes place in the Nordic Pavilion in Glasgow and online. During the session “Rural policies & climate change: Why rural areas are crucial for green transition”, OECD will launch the Rural Agenda for Climate Action. Following the launch presentation, high-level officials from the US, Japan, the UK and the Nordics will discuss how to accelerate the transition to rural net-zero economies in different countries and regions. The second part of the event will be dedicated to sharing best practices from the Nordics, the EU and the US, unveiling rural opportunities through the promotion of bioeconomy and renewable energy use in rural areas. Agenda Master of Ceremony:Michael Funch (Nordic Council of Ministers) 11:15-11:25 Welcome remarks• Lamia…

The Division of Rural Development (SLU) in collaboration with Nordregio offers scholars the opportunity to meet, share and discuss important issues related to rural and regional development in Sweden. The conference will be held on 11–12 November at Runö Möten & Events outside Åkersberga. The main speakers Sally Shortall, Professor of Rural Economics at Newcastle University Karen Refsgaard, Research Director at Nordregio Lisanne Raderschall, Policy Analyst, Regional Development and Multi-level Governance Division, Center for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities at the OECD Themes Sustainable rural areas: site development and rural ‘livelihoods’ Entrepreneurship and social innovation in a rural context Demographic change and migration: policy and practice in shrinking geographies The role of natural resources in rural change processes Skills supply, employment and the labor market in rural contexts Local resilience in a time of global societal challenges Regional development policy Find more about the conference here.

What effects has Covid had on the macroeconomic policies and the labour market? Are they different for men and women? What are the effects of school closings and online teaching? These are some of the issues that will be presented and discussed during the next peer-review conference of the Nordic Economic Policy Review. The conference will take place at the Nordic House in Reykjavik on the 27th of October and we welcome you to join us either in person or online. PROGRAMME 08:55 – 9:00 Opening remarks 09:00 – 10:15 Macroeconomic policies and labour market effects Presentation: Werner Eichhorst, professor, Institute of Labor Economics – IZA, Berlin Discussion: Ragnar Arnason, professor, Department of Economics, University of Iceland Mads Kieler, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance (Denmark) 10:15-10:45 Coffee Break 10:45 – 12:00 Effects of school closings and online teaching Presentation: Caroline Hall, Ph.D., Institute for evaluation of labour market and education policy, IFAU (Sweden) Discussion: Hjördís Hardardottir, Ph.D., Department of Economics, University of Iceland Hanna Virtanen, Chief Research Scientist, ETLA Economic Research (Finland) 12:00 – 13:00 Lunch Break 13:00 – 14:15 Cost-benefit analysis of Covid-19 policies Presentation: Lars Hultkrantz, professor emeritus, Örebro University Discussion: Ulf Persson, professor, The Swedish Institute for Health Economics, Lund University Tuulia Hakola, Research Director, Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority 14:15 – 15:30 Labour market effects for men vs. women Presentation: Kristina Huttunen, research professor, VATT Institute for economic research (Finland) Discussion: Helena Svaleryd, professor, Department of Economics, Uppsala University TBA 15:30 – 16:00 Coffee Break 16:00 – 17:15 Policies and effects on Icelandic tourism Presentation: Gylfi Zoega, professor, Department of Economics, University of Iceland Discussion: Svend E. Hougaard Jensen, professor, Department of Economics, CBS Gylfi Magnússon, professor, Department of Economics, University of Iceland   Time allocation for each paper: presenter 30 minutes, discussants 15 minutes each, and general discussion…

Linda Randall, Nordregio Senior Research Fellow, will participate in the BSSSC Annual Conference on 8 October 2021, presenting learnings on sustainable mobility from the MAMBA project. The conference called “A cooperation for a more sustainable Baltic Sea Region. New opportunities ahead” this year, will take place in Kaliningrad, Russia, between 7 and 8 October 2021. The main focus and topics discussed are green transition, green mobility, youth involvement and spotting new solutions for the future.

Join Nordregio and CBSS at the EUSBSR Annual Forum! On 30 September 2021, Nordregio will take part in the EUSBSR Annual Forum, where it will lead one of the sessions together with the Council of Baltic States (CBSS). Moderated by Alberto Giacometti, Nordregio Research Fellow, and Olga Zuin, Council of the Baltic Sea States, the panel under “Empowering Youth for Green Entrepreneurship” will focus on and address the topic of youth involvement in issues of green transition and transformation. The panel will consist of youth entrepreneurs from the BSR area and representatives of financial institutions and programmes. It aims to provide a space for discussions about starting a green business, obstacles and barriers when receiving funding and business models. Programme Welcome and opening Council of the Baltic Sea States, Daria Akhutina Nordregio, Alberto Giacometti How to integrate sustainability in entrepreneurship and support youth Ung företagsamhet in Norrbotten, Linda Strandenhed, Sweden Experiences from young entrepreneurs in the Baltic Sea Region Single Earth, Estonia Plūkt, Latvia Avocadopt, Poland International Consortium St. Petersburg Cleantech Cluster for Urban Environment, Aleksandr Belykh, Russia (tbc) What financial support systems are already available? SEB, Christopher Flensborg, Head of Climate and Sustainable Finance in SEB, Sweden Fundacja MOST, Jan M. Kaczmarek, President of the Board, Poland JSC Development Finance Institution Altum, Latvia To register for the event, access the EUSBSR Annual Forum page. The 12th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region will take place between 27 September and 1 October 2021. Organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, Kaunas and Klaipeda and the Union of the Baltic Cities, the forum gathers almost 40 events under its umbrella, focusing on opportunities EUSBSR to contribute to the green transformation of the region. Another important goal of the Forum is to…

This year, Nordregio joins the biggest political festival in Sweden, Almedalen Week, on 6 July to share the latest on COVID-19 impacts on Nordic Co-operation, integration and how to steer circular economy processes forward. On 6 July, you can tune in online 13-16 CET to the Nordic pavilion, where we discuss: How has Covid-19 affected Nordic Co-operation and integration in the Nordic countries? And how do we steer processes from circular goals and strategies to business? Listen to exciting speeches by Minister Märta Stenevi (MP), Alexander Mørk-Eidem, Theater Director at Dramaten,  Children’s Ombudsman Elisabeth Dahlin, Degmo Daar, spokesperson for the Crisis Committee and Stefan Holmström COO for Cradlenet. Everyone is welcome to join and follow the Nordic discussions on Almedalsveckan Play website (see links below in the programme), Facebook channel and on Youtube! You can use the comment field for comments and discussion. PROGRAMME All three programs will be broadcasted on 6 July between 13 and 16 (CEST)! 13.00 – 13.45 What impact has COVID-19 had on Nordic co-operation? The Nordic countries have a vision of being the most integrated region in the world. Freedom of movement, cultural co-operation, and trade between the Nordic countries has strengthened them. However, the 2015 refugee crisis showed that the borders between the Nordic countries can be closed and during the pandemic it has become common to follow how various restrictions have been introduced at national level. Border closures have affected many of us. What do those living in the Nordic Region expect of co-operation going forwards? And how do politicians respond? Is the Nordic Region equipped to deal with post-COVID-19 life? List of speakers Monica Wirkkala, Vice Director of the Swedish Institute Alexander Mørk-Eidem, Theatre Director for the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre Elisabet Dahlin, Ombudsman for Children in Sweden  Krister Nilsson, State Secretary…

Regional and national actors in skills supply are gathering digitally to share information, news, experiences and have a dialogue with colleagues from all over Sweden. Nordregio’s Senior Research Fellow Anna Lundgren will share the results of a recently conducted study. On the second day of the digital conference, Anna Lundgren will provide a Nordic and European outlook on skills supply system and how to secure it for future. The study on skills policies has been commissioned by the Nordic Thematic Group for Innovative and Resilient Regions 2017-2020. The Competence Supply Days event is organised by Tillväxtverket.

For the first time ever, cross-border statistics for all Nordic countries has been produced, shedding new light on mobility across borders in the Nordic countries. How far are we from being the most integrated region in the world, one of the main goals of Nordic Cooperation? And how much do we know about the movements of people within the Nordic Region? Nordic Council of Ministers invites you to a discussion about current mobility patterns and statistics cooperation in the Nordics. Nordregio’s new Director, Rolf Elmér will join the program in the panel on the need for better cross-border statistics in the Nordics. Among the speakers, you will also find  Paula Mikkola, Nordkalottrådet and Elsie Hellström, Svinesundskomitéen, sharing reflections on Nordic mobility in cross-border regions. Paula and Elsie have been active members of the Nordic Thematic Groups for Rural Development and Innovative and Resilient Regions that Nordregio has been coordinating for the past four years. 

On 17 November, Nordic Council of Ministers invites you to join a digital summit to discuss a green recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. In the series of six debates, politicians, organizations, representatives from the public and private sectors and entrepreneurs from the Nordic region will identify the strengths and weaknesses in the Nordic model. Among other topics, Nordregio will share  Nordic perspectives on green transition. The discussions will focus on various aspects of the role that the Nordics will play in the global, post-corona, green recovery. How can we achieve a just green transition in times of recession? Is the Nordic welfare model equipped for this brave new future without leaving anyone behind? What implications will the green transition have for the educational system? Are the Nordic countries prepared for a green future with a different job market that requires new skill sets? These are just some of the complex questions we will be asking. Nordregio’s Senior Research Fellow Anna Lundgren will participate in the session “The Nordic welfare state: Green, inclusive and excellent?”. Watch the discussion at 17:00 (GMT +1). The summit will be broadcasted live from the Nordic capital. See the full programme here: https://www.norden.org/sv/choosing-green

BONUS BASMATI project aimed to develop an innovative decision support system for maritime spatial planning in the Baltic Sea region. The results of a three-year project will be shared in the digital seminar “Supporting Maritime Spatial Planning with Science” on the 9th September 2020. PROGRAMME (in Central European Summer Time, CEST) 10:00 Welcome • Henning Sten Hansen (AAU) & Harri Tolvanen (UTU): BONUS BASMATI – Supporting Maritime Spatial Planning with Science 10:15 Concepts and approaches • Pia Frederiksen (AU): Framework for sustainability impact assessment of plan proposals • Solvita Strake/Kristine Pakalniete (LIAE): Assessment of Ecosystem Services and Values of Marine Protected Areas • Kerstin Schiele/Lotta Maack (IOW): Data harmonisation to facilitate planning across borders and scales • Søren Qvist Eliasen/Andrea Morf (Nordregio): Involving stakeholders – Why, Who, When and How? 11:15 Platforms and tools for MSP • Juha Oksanen & FGI team (NLS): Baltic Explorer – Collaborative GIS approach for new interactive MSP • Miriam von Thenen (IOW): SPACEA – a GIS toolbox to facilitate easy spatial and environmental suitability analysis • Aurelija Armoskaite (LIAE): ESA4MSP – an ecosystem service assessment tool • Henning Sten Hansen (AAU): MYTILUS – a toolset for assessing the impacts of maritime activities • Ida Maria Bonnevie (AAU): SEANERGY – a tool for analysing conflicts and synergies between different marine uses 12.15 End of conference • Lise Schrøder (AAU): Wrap-up • Henning Sten Hansen (AAU): Final remarks REGISTRATION Please register yourself by Monday the 7th of September at the latest. Instructions about how to join the webinar will be sent to you a day before the event. https://konsta.utu.fi/Default.aspx?tabid=88&tap=9759  

Regeneration 2030 Summit invites youth from the Nordic and the Baltic regions to exchange ideas on how to promote Sustainable Development Goals locally. Among other participants, Nordregio’s researcher Alberto Giacometti will present the BeUbio platform and stories of young persons across the Baltic Sea Region leading the way to sustainability from different sectors and industries. ReGeneration 2030 is a movement led by teenagers and young adults in the Nordic and Baltic Sea Regions making the United Nations Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs) become reality. The summit invites to get to know like-minded youth, to hear inspiring speakers and learn about initiatives from all over the region, to get tools and frameworks that will help you identify challenges and come up with solutions, to start taking action in your community. Nordregio is a part of the BeUBio project that aims to promote youth involvement across the Baltic Sea Region for transition to a bio-based economy, and create synergies with other actors and initiatives addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In the BeUBio platform you can find stories of young people whose business ideas, jobs and other activities lead the way towards a different and more sustainable economic path. Some of these young leaders will be participating in the Regeneration 2030 Summit to share their experience, both their achievements and challenges. Panel “Young people leading the way to a sustainable economy” August 20, 16:30-17:30 Juan Medina, Denmark: founded Kaffe Bueno to explore the infinite possible uses coffee grounds, extending its life cycle, reducing environmental degradation, and helping a community of women in his hometown in Colombia. Anastasia Selezneva, St Petersburg, Russia: initiated Green Glass, a studio where to create decorations and art installations from recycled glass. She is also organising events to educate groups on SDGs in St Petersburg. Māra Lieplapa, Latvia:…

The conference “Öresund region: A success story?” will take place in the middle of January, in Malmö Nordregio Head of GIS Department Julien Grunfelder will talk about the Öresund region in a Nordic context, providing insights into Öresund region by mapping it and analyzing the integration process between Denmark and Sweden. The transnational conference is organised by third-year social and political science students at Malmö University. The main objective of the event is to characterise the region by bringing together key stakeholders to discuss developments and issues facing the Öresund area. Academics, economic, and cultural representatives will have the chance to present their ideas about the region’s progress and possible obstacles to be faced in the future.

Nordregio will participate in the “Nordic Paths to Sustainable Integration” conference, organised by The Nordic Council of Ministers. The event will take place on the 18 and 19 of November, in Vedbæk, Denmark. Paula Lehtomäki, The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Secretary-General, will open the conference with a speech, welcoming participants on behalf of the Council. Among the topics that will be discussed and analysed throughout the conference are ways of creating the right conditions for integration, and what do immigrants themselves think, the importance of education, competence building and co-creation with civil society and minorities, as well as inclusion in the labour market.  

Nordregio researchers will join the Arctic Circle Assembly to discuss the ways to enhance scientific knowledge in the Arctic. During the parallel session, Ágúst Bogason, Junior Research Fellow and Anna Karlsdóttir, Senior Research Fellow at Nordregio, will present activities and various projects under the Nordic Council of Ministers Arctic Cooperation Programme. The annual Arctic Circle Assembly is the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. It is attended by heads of states and governments, ministers, members of parliaments, officials, experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, indigenous representatives, environmentalists, students, activists and others from the growing international community of partners and participants interested in the future of the Arctic.

– A knowledge-sharing event for Nordic municipalities and regions Sustainable development is high on the agenda of the UN, country governments, businesses and numerous other actors. However, where a transformational 2030 Agenda is going to make a difference is at the local level, in the work of regions and municipalities all over the world. We therefore invite you to join an event under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers to learn about how Nordic municipalities are working with the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Get new inspiration and knowledge, meet potential partners and help send a strong message to our governments about what you need to further your work for a sustainable future. Held at one of the most sustainable venues in the Nordics, this knowledge-sharing event will give you an opportunity to either start-up, fine-tune or evaluate your work with sustainable development, whether you represent a municipality, a regional authority, an NGO or another interested party. Presentations from the event are available below. Remember to ask the relevant person if you wish to use any part from a presentation. Plenary session Gladsaxe Sønderborg Åtvidaberg Kristiansund Glokala Sverige How to implement Social Environmental PROGRAMME 8.30 Registration 9.00 Introduction, Paula Lehtomäki, Secretary-General of the Nordic Council of Ministers 9.15 Keynote presentation: Global Goals for Local Priorities, Elin Slätmo, Senior Research Fellow, Nordregio 9.45 Keynote presentation: A territorial approach to SDGs, Stefano Marta, Coordinator, OECD 10.15 Fika and room change 10.45 Parallel sessions (presentations and workshop): How to get started – with Line Vind from Gladsaxe municipality and Yasmine Dernelid from Åtvidaberg municipality How to implement – with Katrin Larsson from Örebro municipality and Ragnhild Marie Hammer from Arendal municipality How to follow up – with Arne Ingebrigtsen from Kristiansund municipality 12.30 Lunch 13.30 Parallel sessions (presentations and…

Nordregio Director Kjell Nillson gives the opening keynote at the second day of the 10th Annual Forum for the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. He touched on demographic and economic changes and challenges in the Baltic Region, where Nordregio is involved in a series of major initiatives like the ongoing work on maritime spatial planning in Pan Baltic Scope or previous project such as the Baltic Urban Lab project on developing brownfields, the SEMPRE programme of social empowerment in rural regions and none the least: MAMBA, an Interreg project on social service access in remote regions, where Nordregio is also communications lead.

Nordregio together with partners from the Pan Baltic Scope project invite you to join the Maritime Spatial Planning Forum, which will take place on 19-21 November in Riga, Latvia. This time, the Maritime Spatial Planning Forum will be a platform where global MSP will meet the regional MSP. As a joint event of the 4th edition of the EU MARE/IOC-UNESCO MSP Forum and the 3rd Baltic MSP Forum, it will also conclude the results of Pan Baltic Scope project and discusses how these could be used in future and brought beyond the EU. Interactive workshops, plenaries and key-notes will give an opportunity to look at different MSP practices and solutions on a broader scale. Thus, the global aspect will be an added value throughout the whole event. The activities will highlight synergies between global and regional MSP initiatives while showcasing specific examples of good practices. The forum is organised by VASAB, the Pan Baltic Scope collaboration, IOC-UNESCO & EC DG MARE. For the latest updates, check the Pan Baltic Scope website: http://www.panbalticscope.eu/mspforum/ Join the MSP Forum in Riga to expand your MSP network and knowledge – regional solutions for global challenges!

a presentation of a study on the plight of young people in rural regions by Senior Research Fellow Anna Karlsdottir and an introduction to a report on integration of immigrants into the Nordic labour markets by Professor Emeritus Lars Calmfors, Stockholm University.

Nordregio Research Fellow Louise Ormstrup Vestergård will give a presentation on the planning challenges faced by local communities with large groups of second home owners and many tourist - caught in a dilemma between wanting the business and activity generated by "non-locals", but having difficulties setting up and funding the infrastructure required

Nordregio Academic Director Karen Refsgaard will give a presentation on bio- & circular economy and Research Fellow Leneisja Jungsberg will present the EU funded REGINA project on small scale communities with large scale economies (www.reginaproject.eu)

Nordregio Senior Research Fellow Timothy Heleniak and Junior Research Fellow Linnea Löfving will attend the 8th Nordic Geographers Meeting where they will present findings of the RELOCAL project. The event, focusing on Sustainable Geography – Geographies of Sustainability will be take place between 16 and 19 June, in Trondheim, Norway, and will try to offer answers to questions such as: What are the emerging challenges across the world and what role should or could the discipline of geography play in addressing and solving them, both within and beyond the academy? What emotions, behaviours, moralities, powers, transformations, hopes, grieves and responsibilities at different scales are implicated in thinking and acting sustainably?

Nordregio Senior Research Fellow Timothy Heleniak will offer a presentation regarding the impact and effects of migration on the Nordic countries, when analysing population trends, during the 21st Nordic Demographic Symposium. The event will take place between 13 and 15 June, 2019, in Reykjavík, Iceland, and brings together researchers, students, and other experts in population studies from the Nordic region. The main theme of the NDS 2019 is the past 50 years of innovative research in Nordic demography. The sessions will include presentations from all main areas of demographic research.

The 13th edition of the Challenges of Europe Conference organised by the faculty of economics at Split University in Croatia, will take place in Bol, Croatia between the 22nd-24th of May, 2019 Alberto Giacometti and Jukka Teräs from Nordregio are leading a 90min session on regional economic and social resilience. The aim of this session is to broaden the debate about place-based approaches to regional resilience and explore what matters should local communities consider to prepare for exogenous and endogenous shocks. The key questions addressed include: what types of risks are regions threatened to? Which actors and institutions are vulnerable? What factors and measures boost regional resilience?  Recognising the need for place-based approaches to economic and social resilience, this session builds-up on the results of empirical research conducted in the Nordic Countries and the Croatian islands, in three related studies: Comparative overview of regional resilience in a diverse selection of Nordic case-study regions (Nordregio, 2017-2018) Industrial transformation of Oulu, Finland – an in-depth longitudinal analysis from the Resilience perspective (Nordregio, 2017-2018) Regional economic resilience in remote regions – Empirical findings from Croatian islands (University of Split, Faculty of economics, business and tourism, ongoing research) Finally, the session opens the debate to researchers and policy-makers in the field to lift new perspectives and provide a critical angle on the studies presented shedding a light on how resilience research can be enriched in the future. Find out more about the event here. 

The 3rd Forum for the Local Economic Development in Latin America and the Caribbean will take place in Barranquilla Colombia, between the 7th and 9th of May, 2019. This event brings together leaders and practitioners from national and subnational governments, the private sector, academia, civil society and others. The aim is to provide a platform for promoting international dialogue, sharing experiences and for developing new partnerships across countries and local levels. Under invitation from the UNDP, Alberto Giacometti, Research Fellow at Nordregio is holding a presentation on the in-depth study carried out on Regional economic and Social Resilience: An Exploratory In-Depth Study in the Nordic Countries. This session aims at introducing an external perspective to that of Latin America and the Caribbean. First, pointing out different types of ‘risks’ and ‘stress’ that threaten resilience in local communities in the Nordic regions. And secondly, this seminar addresses experiences of these communities in responding to such threats. Far from bringing a recipe ready to ‘copy-and-paste’, the intention is to generate debate about the role of the human factor for structural change. And particularly, how, bottom-up initiatives in accordance with the characteristics and competitive advantages of each territory strengthen the ‘adaptive capacity’ of their local communities. Experts, policy-makers, practitioners and other relevant professionals are cordially invited to share insights from their local perspectives to broaden the debate. To motivate discussion the participants will be asked to reflect on: What risks and long-term challenges can be identified to threaten local communities in Latin America and the Caribbean?  Find out more about the event here. 

The 15th interdisciplinary conference in disability research, hosted by Nordic Network on Disability Research, will take place between May 8 and 10th, in Copenhagen. Nordregio Senior Research Fellow Moa Tunström will give a presentation reflecting on the role of research and the researcher in a Nordic policy context. She is involved in a research project on planning and design of inclusive smart cities. This project is connected both to the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Nordic Co-operation Programme for Regional Development and Planning 2017–2020 and to the Action Plan for Nordic Co-operation on Disability 2018-2022, and therefore it is an interesting example of applied research at the research/policy interface. The session “Research and the Action Plan for Nordic Co-operation on Disability 2018-2022” also consists of contributions from the perspective of the Council of Nordic co-operation on disability, national policy level and an NGO.

On Monday, 1 April, The Nordic House in Reykjavik, Iceland, will host an interactive workshop called “Advancing Social Progress in the Nordic Region”. The event will address what Nordic countries are doing right, and how they can deliver better social, environmental and economic outcomes and increase the wellbeing of communities across the Nordic region. Nordregio Senior Research Fellow Nora Sanchez Gassen will give a talk related to the Agenda 2030 project and will present findings regarding the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals at the local level.

Mash-up, new solutions for new times, is the theme of the annual conference of Reglab Sweden. Nordregio contributes with a workshop on the integration of Agenda 2030 and the UN Global Goals in municipal planning. Reglab is a forum for knowledge sharing and mutual learning on regional planning and development.

Countries across Europe will need to increase their rate of building retrofitting by up to 240%, starting next year to get on track to meet EU 2030 energy efficiency goals. The scope of this ambition is amplified by the fact that social housing makes up a substantial portion of the buildings in need of retrofit. To learn how to address these challenges, 150 policy-makers, planners, academics and stakeholders participated in Social Green’s mid-term conference at Casa da Música in Porto, Portugal 26 March 2019.   Ryan Weber, Social Green project coordinator placed specific focus on the need to use EU funding to leverage private investment in building retrofits and to develop the skills and capacities for local actors who are ultimately transforming policy into action. Pedro Móia, CCDR partner, described the regional context for social housing, emphasizing that when it comes to retrofitting social housing across Europe, one size does not fit all. He noted that in Norte, Portugal, improving residents quality of life and the quality of the urban environment must be considered in concert with energy efficiency improvements to social housing. “The dignity of residents is at the core of the transition to energy success.” – Sorcha Edwards, Housing Europe Four experts, shared their insights during keynote presentations. Vasco Freitas, professor at Porto University, highlighted the mismatch between intended building performance and resident experience, proposing a “Passive Comfort Index” to measure resident experience within buildings. Sorcha Edwards, Secretary General of Housing Europe, noted that 4 out of 10 Europeans are overburdened by the cost of housing and that this can lead to an array of negative health outcomes. She emphasized that resident comfort is central to advancing building energy efficiency goals. “Which is more important for Northern Portugal; increasing energy efficiency or minimizing discomfort inside housing?” – Vasco Freitas,…

The future advancements of bioeconomy in Lithuania is the focus of a conference taking place on 14 February, where Karen Refsgaard, Research Director at Nordregio, will give a talk about bioeconomy development in areas of the Nordic countries, emphasizing good practice examples. Among other related issues, the speakers will discuss about EU bioeconomy strategies, food manufacturing and strategies, biotechnology and will attempt to trace possible local-level synergies between regions of Lithuania. The conference is organized by Vytautas’ Magnus University’s Agricultural Academy, together with the Faculty of Bioeconomic Development.

Nordregio’s Director Kjell Nilsson give a keynote speech on urbanisation, digitalisation and immigration as three important trends in the Nordic Region. Regions are entities consisting of different types of places and spaces. There are cities, towns and rural areas with different potentials and challenges. Regions are also in constant flux due to versatile economic, social and cultural processes both internal and external to them. Megatrends, such as urbanisation and digitalisation, are affecting all kinds of regions and places by changing their positions, opportunities and future potential. Some regions turn out to be agile Davids and some transform into powerful Goliaths, but how will these transitions happen? Do we recognize the variety of these transition processes and are they real? What kinds of urban and regional development strategies are feasible? The conference is organised by the Nordic Section of Regional Studies Association (NoRSA).

Nordregio invites you to the final conference of BioWiseTrans project “People and networks matter – enabling sustainable bioeconomy transition”. The event will take place in Karlstad University on 27-28 March. Transforming the current economy into a ‘new’ bioeconomy needs changed institutional frameworks at regional and national level, sensitive to and inclusive of place­based knowledge. The conference seeks to better understand the role of people and networks in this transition. New innovative products and services continue to emerge, which will further increase the demand for biomass. This transition leads to both an increased demand for land­based biomass and its multiple uses. Important questions emerge: How to use the land? How can different interests be combined? One of the parallel workshops “Land-use conflicts, and management solutions to unlock the transition to a biobased economy” will address these questions. The workshop is organised by Nordregio’s Senior Research Fellow Elin Slätmo. At the conference, industry, academia and public organisations will also discuss challenges and opportunities and the role of people and networks in the new bioeconomy era. Nordregio’s Research Director Karen Refsgaard and Senior Research Fellow Michael Kull, who also manage the BioWiseTrans project, will facilitate different discussions and collect input for policy recommendations. Key-note speakers from practice and science fields include: Dr. Gabriel Henrique Lui, Coordinator of Forest Economy Dpt., Federal Ministry of Environment Brazil, and Prof. Pekka Leskinen, Head of Bioeconomy Programme, European Forest Institute; Thea Lyng Thomsen, development consultant at GreenLab Skive in Region Midtjylland, Denmark and Olav Wicken, professor at the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture at University of Oslo, Norway. Conference fee: 2 300 SEK (exclusive VAT). Programme People and Networks Matter

The Nordic Council of Ministers once again organizes a Nordic Pavilion at the UN Climate Summit, to function as a platform for global dialogue and knowledge sharing. The programme highlights Nordic solutions to global challenges, but also questions the way forward towards a carbon-free society – see all events at https://www.norden.org/en/cop24 Nordregio organizes two events, one on energy efficiency in the building sector and the other on the future of the bioeconomy in the Nordic Region: Nordic Bioeconomy – past, present and future  Greening Buildings for a Low-Carbon Economy – How to Maximise Energy Efficiency in the Building Sector     

On 27-28 November, the final conference of the SEMPRE project “Make empowerment happen! Changing mindsets for better social services” will take place in Riga. Nordregio’s role in the project has been to develop an “Empowerment Handbook” based on the collection of good practice examples from project partners and assist the partnership in the compilation and dissemination of recommendations targeted at social service providers and policymakers. The “Empowerment Handbook” is already available on the SEMPRE project’s website.

On November 22 Nordregio will participate in the kick-off of the ESPON BT2050 project in Warsaw. The aim of ESPON BT2050 is to develop territorial scenarios for the Baltic Sea Region that can work as input to key policy questions of the BSR, including: – What are the main processes, factors, obstacles, drivers (economic, social, spatial, environmental, technological, political etc.) that will shape spatial development and integration of the BSR by 2030 and 2050? – What kind of synergies and conflicts exist between those factors (in particular from the perspective of the key policy processes and the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region)? – What are the long term trends and their territorial impact? – Which are the possible black swan and wild card events that can break existing trends and syndromes of BSR spatial development and integration? – Which territorial development and spatial integration scenarios can the BSR face by 2050? – What are the policy implications of these scenarios? – Shall the VASAB vision and long-term perspective be altered? Nordregio is the lead partner in a consortium consisting of Spatial Foresight GmbH , Spiekermann & Wegener, Stadt- und Regionalforschung (S&W) and S. Leszczycki Institute Of Geography and Spatial Organization – Polish Academy Of Sciences (IGSO-PAS). The lead stakeholder is the Ministry of Economic Development in Poland.

On 20-21 November, Nordregio will participate in the kick-off conference of the project “Health care and care with distance-spanning technologies (Vård och omsorg på distans)”. The kick off will take place in Storuman in north western Sweden, hosted by the lead partner Centre for Rural Medicine. This is a three-year project that aims at supporting the development of distance health care solutions in the Nordic Region – from primary care and home care services to more specialised health care. The project is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers as one of Sweden’s chairmanship projects. Nordregio is contributing to the project by measuring the effects on accessibility and regional growth as well as assisting with support and ongoing evaluation. Healthcare and care with distance – What are the challenges regarding demographic development

On 6-7 November, Nordregio’s Senior Researcher Timothy Heleniak will be attend a seminar in the city of Naryan-Mar, in Russia. The focus of the conference will be on possible forecasts and means of developing Russian Arctic regions, with Timothy Heleniak giving a presentation on the demographic issues in the Arctics. The seminar is a joint initiative between the Russian State Hydrometeorological University and the ArcticCenter of the University of Northern Iowa, USA.

Senior Research Fellow Jukka Teräs will be participating at the final conference of VIHTA project on October 23rd, at Säätytalo in Helsinki, Finland.  The VIHTA project 2015-2018  aims to define the concept of the distributed green and competitive bioeconomy and demonstrate concrete operational model of piloting. VIHTA project is funded  by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Finland and has been implemented in collaboration between Natural Resource Institute Finland LUKE and ProAgria Lapland. At the final conference, Jukka Teräs will be giving a presentation called “Developing local green economy: Nordic context and experiences.”

On 19-21 October, Arctic Circle 2018 Assembly will gather political and business leaders, environmental experts, scientists, indigenous representatives, and other international stakeholders to address issues facing the Arctic. Timothy Heleniak, Senior Research Fellow at Nordregio, will present preliminary results on the demographics and well-being of youth in the Arctic. The presentation will be based on his forthcoming chapter in the publication “Arctic Youth and Sustainable Futures” which is a follow-up report to the Arctic Human Development Report.

On 16th-17th October, Scandinavian Heartland organisation is celebrating 10 years of successful cross-border collaboration, and has invited actors from across the region to share their journeys. Mari Wøien, Junior Research Fellow at Nordregio, is invited to give a speech on the status, challenges and opportunities in the border region. She will discuss how to use best practice-cases from other border regions in the Nordic Region and illustrate different ways of working with cross-border topics. Some of the topics from the State of the Nordic Region and the Nordic Thematic Group for Innovative and Resilient Regions will be touched upon too. The Scandinavian Heartland is primarily a collaboration between ‘Fjellregionen’ (the mountain region) in Norway and Dalarna in Sweden, but the project also includes Akershus and Østfold on the Norwegian side, and Västra Götaland, Värmland, Jämtland and Västernorrland in Sweden.

On 19 October, Senior Researcher Nora Sánchez Gassen will give a keynote presentation about Nordregio’s project ‘The 2030 Agenda at local level’ at the Eurocities Environment Forum in Tampere, Finland. The session will also include a panel discussion where Nora will discuss with city representatives about the role of SDGs in setting the agenda at the local level.

The 1st Nunataryuk general assembly and the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) Young Researchers workshop takes place 30 September – 6 October 2018, in Venice, Italy. Nordregio researchers Timothy Heleniak, Leneisja Jungsberg, Eeva Turunen, and Shinan Wang will participate in both events. Permafrost thaw is exposing these coasts to rapid change, change that threatens the rich biodiversity, puts pressure on communities and contributes to the vulnerability of the global climate system. Nunataryuk will determine the impacts of thawing coastal and subsea permafrost on the global climate, and will develop targeted and co-designed adaptation and mitigation strategies for the Arctic coastal population. Nordregio is responsible for developing a socio-economic atlas for measuring the impact of permafrost thaw on Arctic settlements and will present preliminary results. The meetings are co-hosted by the Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes and held at the premises of the Venice International University on the island of San Servolo in the Venetian Lagoon, between Venice city centre and the island of Lido. More information about the project can be found at: https://nunataryuk.org/.

On 24-27 September, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) holds its Annual Science Conference (ASC) in Hamburg. On the 25 September, Andrea Morf, Senior Research Fellow at Nordregio and co-chair of the Working Group on Marine Planning and Coastal Management, arranges a conference session focusing on on assessing and analysing marine spatial planning and coastal management together with colleagues from the Marine Spatial Planning Research Network. The session titled “Assessing and analysing marine spatial planning – knowledge – indicators – visions“ aims to open up perspectives on both marine spatial planning (MSP) and integrated coastal management and drive ahead the agenda for research and practice development. Pan Baltic SCOPE work by Nordregio in the Land-Sea Interaction Work Package will be present through a presentation by Sarah Mahadeo, Helena Calado and Andrea Morf on a framework to analyse Land Sea Interactions in the maritime spatial planning. Sarah is a former MSP ERASMUS+ Intern at Nordregio and has recently successfully defended her Master Thesis with a refined version of the framework.

Climate change caused by emissions of CO2  and other greenhouse gases is one of mankind’s key challenges. Taking it on requires global action. The Nordic countries aim to take the lead in this process and to set an example for other countries, policies need to be effective in reducing emissions, cost-efficient, scalable and consistent with international agreements. But are they? These questions will be addressed at the NEPR conference held in Stockholm on 24 October, 2018. The following six topics will be discussed by invited researchers, experts and policy makers: Are climate policies in the Nordic countries cost-effective? What are the global impacts of national climate policy in the Nordic countries? To what extent does volatility of solar and wind energy production limit its potential? Should new Norwegian oil fields be opened up? How can the EU emission-trading system be made an efficient climate policy? How can insights from political economy research help design effective international climate  agreements? We invite you to a full day with presentations of recent research, comments by academics and policy makers, and policy discussions. We will offer coffee and and light lunch to all participants. VENUE: Aulan, 6th floor of Centralposthuset, Mäster Samuelsgatan 70, Stockholm (Government Offices/Regeringskansliet) TIME: 8.30 – 17.00 PROGRAMME

What happens if a new mine opens, a new industry is developed or an old one dies out? How can a remote, sparsely populated community respond to major socioeconomic changes like that? And what tools are needed to prepare for and handle such a challenge? The REGINA flagship conference in Rovaniemi on 11 and 12 September 2018, will try to give answers to these and many other questions to the challenges faced by small Northern and Arctic communities. For the past three years REGINA has developed a platform of tools and know-how on how remote and sparsely populated communities can better prepare themselves for large-scale developments such as e.g. new mining projects or energy sector initiatives. Based on the widely used concept of local smart specialisation, Regina has developed a framework for setting up local strategies to maximise resources and avoid potential conflicts when faced with such challenges, to better anticipate future developments and retain business benefits in the local community.  

A seminar on Nordic high-speed railways, regional growth and urban development of small and medium-sized cities in Värmland and Østfold will be held at Kulturhuset in Oslo between 09:30 and 16:00 on October 1, 2018. The cross-border committee Värmland-Østfold is organizing the morning session on Nordic development prospects with high speed railways. The session includes several presentations on this topic. Nordregio is organising the afternoon session on the potential effects of a fast-rail connection on the urban development of small and medium sized-cities. The session is a workshop where participants will discuss the following research question in small groups: What could be the effects of the introduction of a fast rail connection between Oslo and Stockholm on the urban development of small and medium-sized cities in Värmland and Østfold regions? More information can be found in the programme. REGISTRATION FORM Please register by September 24 at the latest. The registration is individual. Participation at the seminar and lunch/snacks are free of charge. Transport and accommodation are the personal responsibility of the participants. In case you have any dietary restrictions, do not forget to mention those when you register. Note that the number of participants is limited. Address: Kulturhuset, Youngs gate 6, Oslo

Nordregio’s Senior Research Fellow Moa Tunström will participate in Rurban Planning Talks in Mariestad. The focus of the event is the urban-rural (“the rurban”) landscape. The urban fringe or hinterland and urban-rural linkages and dependencies present cities to specific planning challenges. Moa Tunström will contribute with Nordic perspectives on the topic, based on ongoing projects within the Nordic Thematic Group on Sustainable Cities and Urban Development. The event is organized by Dacapo Mariestad, Chalmers University of Technology, City of Mariestad and Stads- och kommunhistoriska institutet.

The 28th session of the PECSRL biennial international conference – European landscapes and quality of life – will be held between 3 – 9  September. Its main focus will be on the interactions between the quality of landscapes, food and life. The conference will be hosted by the research group “Territoires”, an interdisciplinary unit that gathers geographers, economists, agronomists and social and politic scientists from 5 institutions, who will discuss the importance of re-enrooting “food to place” as an alternative to globalization and a way for bettering Public Health and quality of life. Nordregio researcher Elin Slätmo will take part in the “Feedbacks from the management of natural resources and landscapes” session, with the presentation “Green infrastructure: a progressing spatial governing strategy in Europe.” More information about the conference can be found here. 

“A World of Flows: Labour Mobility, Capital and Knowledge in an Age of Global Reversal and Regional Revival” The 2018 RSA Annual Conference aimed to address processes of global reversal and regional revival, in a world dominated by flows of capital, labor, and knowledge. Further it sought to understand the political, economic and social factors that initiate change and how these changes are finding new expressions as the world’s political and economic system continues to struggle with low rates of global economic growth, the rise of China as an economic super power, the on-going impacts of recession and austerity, and increasing levels of inequality. To study and debate these and many other questions, over 500 delegates from 51 countried came together in June 2018 in Lugano at the Università della Svizzera Italiana. Nordregio’s participation Iryna Kristensen held a presentation of the paper titled “The evolution of regional inequalities in Europe. Unveiling ”hidden” inequality patterns in Europe: “reality-check” at the lower geographical scale” in the “Housing, Inequality and Social Justice I” session. This paper is one of several outputs of an EU Horizon 2020 research project titled RELOCAL ‘Resituating the local in cohesion and territorial development’ (https://relocal.eu/), specifically linking with one work package which examines and maps patterns of regional inequality and change over time. The paper proposed three major objectives: (1) to respond to the call to move beyond GDP by extending the focus to include the social dimension of regional disparities; (2) to increase the geographic granularity by extending the scope of the database to NUTS3 level; (3) to identify and describe characteristics of European lagging regions (what are the common patterns?).

Because places matter, the 58th ERSA congress aims to put people back at the heart of regional and urban development with the purpose of examining how spatial and regional analysis can improve people’s lives. The Congress will host a large variety of themes in spatial, regional, and urban economics, economic geography, and regional policy topics like local governance and institutions. As one of the largest academic conferences in regional science worldwide, the ERSA congress attracts approximately 800 participants from all continents every year. More information about the congress can be found here. Nordregio’s participation On behalf of Nordregio, Shinan Wang will present a work-in-progress paper in the session “Disparities and Sustainability in Europe”, hosted by the RELOCAL project team. Titled “The evolution of regional inequalities in Europe”, the research is one output of the entire project, analysing patterns of regional inequality over time and whether differences among regions are growing wider or narrowing. The importance of choosing the most appropriate regional level in order to measure both disparities and outcomes is another important topic covered by the research paper, focusing on data at smaller European geographic levels and the ways NUTS 3 can be used to further and deepen the analysis.

Baltic Urban Lab Final Conference “Dealing with the past & Planning the future – turning urban brownfield into possibilities” will be held in Riga, Latvia, during 6-7 September 2018. Cities around the Baltic Sea region are invited to join the discussions on how cities can better solve complex challenges related to brownfield redevelopment, and how to utilize brownfields’ full potential to support sustainable urban development. Close cooperation and partnerships between different actors like land-owners, developers, citizens and the city are necessary from the beginning of the redevelopment process. Two crucial topics will be covered around brownfield development – how to deal with the site’s past and possible contamination of soil and at the same time develop visions and plan for the future land-use of the site in cooperation with stakeholders. Nordregio’s Research Fellow Sandra Oliveira e Costa will participate in the session “Towards integrated and partnership based planned of brownfields” during which she will share the lessons learned from the Baltic Urban Lab Project. Sandra will also moderate an interactive session “Planning the future – co-creating visions and land-use plans” which will be held on the second day of the event. The two days will be filled with keynotes, discussions on how the cities could together tackle the challenges surrounding brownfield regeneration in the Baltic Sea Region as well as getting to know the outputs of the project – all four Pilot Sites will be representing their main achievements during the Final Conference. The conference language is English. Participation in the conference is free of charge. Please register here by 22 August 2018! More information about the conference and the agenda can be found here  

On 31 May, Julien Grunfelder will present selected inputs from the State of the Nordic Region which was published in February, and the web-mapping tool www.nordmap.org at Sofia University. The audience will consist of researchers and students in the fields of geography and Scandinavian studies. Read more about the event here. (external link).

Join the opening conference of the Pan Baltic Scope project on June 20 in Malmö, Sweden. The conference will focus on cross-border maritime spatial planning in the Baltic Sea region. Maritime spatial planning (MSP) has become a hot topic and the need for concrete tools to ensure sustainable development of our seas is growing, both when it comes to the economic, social and the environmental aspects of planning. Pan Baltic Scope is an international collaboration of planning authorities and regional organizations created to strengthen knowledge sharing and enhance cross-border co-operation within MSP in the Baltic Sea region. Topics in focus at the conference will include: Ecosystem-based approaches, green infrastructure, land-sea interaction, cumulative effect assessment and socioeconomic analyses in MSP Nordregio is co-hosting the conference and two of our researchers will contribute to the programme of parallel sessions: Exploring the depths and shallows of Land-Sea Interaction in MSP, an interactive workshop hosted by Andrea Morf Senior Research Fellow at Nordregio and leader of this Work Package in the Pan Baltic Scope Project Impacts on the environment and importance to society – including cumulative effect assessment and socioeconomic analyses in maritime spatial planning. Speakers: Michael Kull, Senior Research Fellow at Nordregio along with Soile Oinonen, Anni Konsap, Maija Holma, Jonne Kotta, Jan Schmidtbauer Crona, Lena Bergström, Stefano Menego (AdriPlan), Marina Markovic (PAP-RAC), Michael Assouline (EEA), Kari Hyytiäinen (BalticApp, University of Helsinki) The organizers invite practitioners and researchers interested in MSP, as well as policy makers and stakeholders involved in marine and coastal activities to get acquainted with Pan Baltic Scope and its plans, as well as diving together into the vast expanse of the maritime spatial planning. Participation in the conference is free of charge. Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation arrangements.

Nordregio Director Kjell Nilsson will give a presentation of the status of implementation of Agenda 2030 in Nordic municipalities at this seminar organized by the European Committee of the Regions.

Director Kjell Nilsson will present State of the Nordic Region at the final gathering of the Nordic City Region Forum in Kristiansand. The event is organised by Norwegian Distriktssenteret.

Nordregio participates at the 5th Nordic Conference for Rural Research taking place in Vingsted, Denmark from May 14-16. Nordregio researchers will present results from the State of the Nordic Region 2018 that takes a closer look at five different Nordic regions in a cross-sectorial perspective. Find the programme of the conference here  

On 30 April, the 8th High – Level Dialogue invites researchers, policy makers and entrepreneurs to discuss sustainable development goals in the Arctic. Among speakers, Ágúst Bogason, Arctic Cooperation Programme Intern at Nordregio will share closing remarks at the session “Sustainable Arctic Tourism: How might Arctic Tourism tie in with the SDGs?”. The session will be hosted by the Polar Research and Policy Initiative (PRPI), in partnership with the Centre of Sámi Studies at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway and the University of Southern Denmark. The event is free of charge and you can register here. Date and Time Mon 30 April 2018 10:00 – 12:30 CEST Location: Auditorium 2 Teorifagbygget Hus 1 University of Tromso – The Arctic University of Norway | UiT 9019 Tromsø Norway                

The Nordic Geographers Meeting (NGM), an international geography conference, is held every second year in different Nordic countries. This time, the event takes place at Stockholm University on 18-21 June. Over 15 sessions are united under the theme “Geographies of inequalities” which encourages researchers to discuss spatial and social injustices on local and global levels. Nordregio joins the conversation by presenting latest research on Nordic Arctic studies, green growth, immigration and urban planning. Meet Nordregio’s researchers: Nordic light on the suburb – developing a research proposal (Moa Tunström, Senior Research Fellow) Session N5: Nordic light on the suburb as place, discourse and planning project19 June, 9:00-12:00, Room: Kungstenen, Aula Magna * Nordic Arctic sustainable development. Outcome of a foresight study in 12 Nordic towns (Anna Karlsdottir, Senior Research Fellow) Session C9: Resilient or vulnerable? Towns in transition20 June, 9:00-12:00, Room: Y20, House Y * Green transition – knowledge inequalities and perspectives of green growth in Nordic regions and municipalities (Gunnar Lindberg and Jukka Teräs, Senior Research Fellows) Session E3:1 Knowledge inequalities in the transition to sustainability20 June, 13.15-16.30, Room: U28, House U * Urban living labs – precursors of more inclusive and experimental ‘planning cultures’? (Lukas Smas, Senior Research Fellow) Session N13 Urban living labs, between hype and inequalities: how to support sustainability transformations in an everyday geography of collaboration?20 June, 15:15-17:00, Room: Y20, House Y * Detecting and visualizing the territorial inequalities across Europe over time (Timothy Heleniak, Senior Research Fellow, and Shinan Wang, Junior Cartographer/GIS Analyst) Session B4:2 Territorial inequalities and territorial cohesion – European dimension21 June, 10:15-12:00, Room: Y11, House Y * The Geography of Immigrant Diversity in the Nordic Region (Timothy Heleniak, Senior Research Fellow) Unaccompanied minors to the Nordic Region: mapping of the current migration trends among unaccompanied minors seeking refuge in the Nordic countries…

One of the largest scientific Arctic seminars in the Nordic, ICASS, takes place in Umeå 8-12 June, and Nordregio is presenting in several sessions. Nordregio’s highlight lands on Saturday 10 June, when we draw all the recent Arctic studies together and challenge the participants to join the side-event Maps Mingle! Arcum (Arctic Research Centre), Sámi dutkan (Language studies) and Vaartoe (Centre for Sami Research) at Umeå University are hosting the ninth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS IX) organized by the International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA). Theme this year is “People & Place”. 8 June, Newcomers to the North: International Migration into the Arctic (Session: Mobile Working Arrangements in the Arctic and elsewhere 11.30-16.00) Timothy Heleniak, Senior Research Fellow, Nordregio With “globalization”, there has been increased international migration into the Arctic, though there has not been a lot of systematic data and study of these flows. Lack of knowledge of these “new comers” and their impact was cited as one area in need of further research in the recent Arctic Human Development Report. This paper quantifies the number of international migrants and several key characteristics of these “newcomers” such as their role in labor markets and societies. Data will be analyzed on the total number of international migrants, countries of origin, gender, age, level of education, and occupation or sector. The paper begins with a discussion of migration theory and the Arctic economy. This is followed by a discussion of data available for analyzing international migration in the Arctic. Analysis of both stocks and flows in international migration make up the bulk of the paper. >> Read more about migration and labour market study 11 June, Resource Development & Extractive Industries (13.30-15.00) Leneisja Jungsberg, Research Fellow, Nordregio Capacity building and strategic management of resource based industries in the…

Funderar du på hur visioner om hållbar och attraktiv stadsutveckling kan bli verklighet? Hur arbetar vi med hållbar utveckling i dagens stadsutveckling? Hur bygger vi den stad vi själva vill bo i? I projektet Södertörnsmodellen har några av Södertörnskommunerna under tre års tid samverkat med akademin och näringslivet för att ta fram nya och innovativa lösningar som bidrar till en hållbar stadsutveckling. Projektet har utvecklat processer, verktyg och metoder för social hållbarhet, medborgardialoger, ekosystemtjänster, mer effektiva planprocesser och en utvecklad samverkan mellan kommun och näringsliv. Under den här dagen får du inblick i projektets resultat och konkreta tips som du kan ta med dig i ditt arbete med hållbar stadsutveckling. På konferensen får du möjlighet att utbyta kunskap och erfarenheter, få nya perspektiv från inbjudna experter och du träffar andra intressanta personer från kommuner, näringsliv och akademi som arbetar med hållbar stadsutveckling. Konferensen är kostnadsfri och du anmäler dig här Har du svårigheter att anmäla dig? tryck då på länken: https://goo.gl/forms/L2DnwnNNwF0ijdc83 Se mer: http://sodertornsmodellen.com/ Plats: Södertörns högskola, Tid: 8 november, kl. 8:30-15:00 Vi ser fram emot en intressant och givande konferens! Vid frågor kontakta: estelle.conraux@white.se

Recent decades have seen a strong trend towards increasing income inequalities in all advanced economies. Although the Nordic countries have traditionally been characterized by low income dispersion, they have also been exposed to this trend. This conference will focus on widening income differentials in the Nordics and appropriate policies to address the issue. The conference will be chaired by Claus Thustrup Kreiner, University of Copenhagen. Key issues that will be analysed are: How do income inequality in the Nordic countries relate to the international trend? Which similarities and differences in developments of income inequality are there among the Nordic countries? How have policies responded to increasing income differentials? What are the implications of demographic changes, such as an ageing population and migration, for income inequality? How much can – and should – tax and benefit policies do in order to even out income differentials? What can, and should, education policy do? How important is the gender dimension for income distribution developments? At the conference, preliminary versions of papers commissioned for the 2018 issue of the Nordic Economic Policy Review, will be presented and discussed. The issue is edited by professor Lars Calmfors, Stockholm University and professor Jesper Roine, Stockholm School of Economics. The papers are written by leading international and Nordic scholars in the field. They will be commented by both policy makers and academic colleagues. The conference will also include a panel discussion on income distribution policies with participation of policy makers. Signup at www.nepr.eventbrite.com PROGRAMME 9.00 – 9.10 Opening remarks by Simon Emil Ammitzbøll, Danish Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior 9.10 – 9.55 Jon Parelliusen, Christophe André, Causa Orsetta and Mikkel Hermansen, OECD: The International Trend towards More Income Dispersion and the Nordic Countries. Comments by John Hassler, Stockholm University and Jørgen Elmeskov, Statistics Denmark. 9.55…

Almedalen is where Swedish politicians, journalists, organisations, lobbyists and others meet to discuss and network during one week per year. The Nordic Council of Ministers will hold several seminars on Monday 4 July and Nordregio will host one of them. We will present NordMap, our interactive web-mapping tool as well as State of the Nordic Region. The seminar will be held in both English and Swedish. For more information see the official programme or get in touch with us directly.

Welcome to a symposium on planning Nordic city regions. The symposium is an opportunity to share and exchange experiences of spatial planning at a city regional scale and to discuss the challenges and possibilities for urban political agendas in the Nordic countries with focus on the added value of a Nordic perspective. The aim of the symposium is to be a venue for discussions around the politics, planning and practices of Nordic city regions. To stimulate the discussions Professor Klaus Kunzmann will have a presentation on German experiences with city regions and PhD Moa Tunstöm will reflect on the urban norm in city planning. Furthermore there will be workshops on including social and everyday dimensions in city regional planning, and new technical possibilities of city regional spatial analysis. The symposium is a follow up of five national meetings with Nordic city regions in Copenhagen, Malmö, Oslo, Tampere and Reykjavik in 2014, organised by Nordic Working Group 4 Green Growth: Sustainable urban regions. Invited to the symposium are city representatives and regional authorities working with spatial planning and regional development issues but also national representatives from all Nordic countries will participate. The programme can be downloaded here. The seminar opened up good discussion as the city representatives, regional authorities, consultants and researchers came together in May to share experiences and to come up with solutions. Read the seminar summary here