79 News
Nordic cycling policy: National objectives, mechanisms, and actors in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden
This paper reviews how Nordic countries are working to improve cycling via policy and planning. It takes a national-level approach to review cycling objectives, mechanisms and key actors in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
- 2023 November
- Working paper
- Europe
- Nordic Region
- Sustainable development
- Urban planning
Should I stay or should I go? Early career mobility and migration drivers
This working paper is a part of the project “Early Career Mobility in the Nordic Region”. The project explores current migration aspirations and associated factors of young people in the Nordic region. The study is conducted under the Nordic Thematic Group for Green, Innovative and Resilient Regions (2021 – 2024). Learning more about current migration drivers and migration aspirations of the early career cohorts in the Nordic countries will help policymakers to shape the future of Nordic labour markets and better prepare the future labour supply and demands in rural areas. This working paper will present the main findings from previous studies on migration drivers and will serve as a baseline for the data collection on migration history and migration aspirations of young people in the Nordic countries. The overall objective of Early Career Mobility in the Nordic Region is to develop a deeper knowledge of young people´s regional mobility and migration aspirations within the Nordic region. The research will address and assess the following key research questions: The aim of the project is to understand recent and future developments in regional migration trends in the Nordic region, targeting the population cohorts aged 25 – 39 year olds, which we refer to as the household-creating ages. The project will put an emphasis on urban-to-rural migration, addressing cross-cutting themes such as gender and the Green Transition. The project will collect survey data on individuals in the household-creating ages in the Nordic region, exploring migration aspirations and factors associated with the wish to leave. Furthermore, there is a rising interest in understanding how digitalisation and remote work opportunities are influencing labour mobility and lifestyle decisions among the younger cohorts in the labour market, which this project also will shed light on. Documenting migration aspirations can offer insights into migration forecasts and migration…
- 2023 October
- Working paper
- Cross-border
- Labour market
- Migration
Young Voices from the Arctic: Insights on Climate Change and Permafrost Degradation
The Arctic is warming at four times the global rate, significantly impacting communities, especially the youth. This working paper emphasizes the need to amplify Arctic youth voices and calls for more research on youth engagement to address the impacts of climate change and permafrost degradation. The Arctic region is warming almost four times as fast as the global average. Snow and ice are thawing at an increasing rate, and the rapid environmental shifts have a disproportionate effect on communities across the Northern Hemisphere. This leads to significant permafrost degradation, which disrupts community infrastructure, cultural heritage, landscapes, and impacts animal migration and subsistence activities. This change has severe consequences for the youth in the region, affecting their present lives and future outlooks. This working paper emphasizes the importance of addressing these issues and enhancing the voices of Arctic youth, who advocate for climate change adaptation and mitigation, as they will be central in shaping society in the face of these environmental shifts. The paper highlights Arctic youths’ perspectives on climate change and permafrost degradation, covering individuals from the legal age to early-career experts up to 35. Further, the paper states a need for more research and exploration of youth engagement methodologies in the Arctic to address the impacts of climate change and permafrost degradation.
- 2023 September
- Working paper
- Arctic
- Arctic issues
Scaling up Nordic impact through public procurement
In 2019, it was estimated that, of 5,000 Nordic start-ups, 10% included solutions that addressed the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, many of them struggled to make a profit, especially at the early stages and mostly due to a lack of access to the market and to the right supporters. Considering this, Nordic Innovation has funded this desk study for mapping barriers and enablers of impact start-ups through public procurement. This publiction consists of two sections: The first part addresses barriers to public procurement, enablers for social innovation, and institutional support measures. In part two, we evaluate how Nordic municipalities use alternative financial models such as social impact bonds (SIBs) and public-private partnerships to achieve social impact. The content is developed from the perspective of impact start-ups and entrepreneurs, institutions, public-private partnerships, and impact investors. Each perspective considers the barriers and enablers for impact start-ups according to their spheres of action. By reviewing the existing obstacles and opportunities facing impact start-ups in the Nordic Region, planners and policymakers can improve the legal framework to remove barriers and strengthen existing enablers to help impact start-ups meet societal needs.
- 2023 February
- Working paper
- Nordic Region
- Digitalisation
- Finance
- Governance
Re-start competence mobility in the Nordic Region
The Nordic Council of Ministers’ vision is for the Region to be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. Cross-border labour market mobility in the Nordic Region will play an important role in achieving that goal. In this working paper, we share the latest data on labour market mobility across national borders in the Nordic Region in the form of both migration and commuting. We also present findings from a review of current literature on labour market mobility in the Nordic Region and present an analytical framework for exploring potential improvements to it. The paper represents our contribution to research in this area and we invite others to comment on it. The project will present its final results in 2023. This working paper is part of the research project “Re-start Nordic competence mobility” under the thematic group of Green, resilient and innovative regions, which is part of the regional co-operation programme funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The first phase of the project resulted in a chapter, “Labour market mobility between the Nordic countries” in State of the Nordic Region 2022.
- 2022 November
- Working paper
- Cross-border
- Nordic Region
- Labour market
Nationella lagar och regler i arbetet med stadsgrönska i Norden
I denna kortversion av en nyligen publicerad rapport sammanfattas de nordiska ländernas legala ramverk avseende möjligheterna för att utveckla, bevara och skydda gröna värden i städer. Alltfler människor flyttar till städerna som blir allt tätare. Därmed blir det extra viktigt att städernas gröna värden utvecklas, bevaras och skyddas. Dessa gröna värden fyller flera syften, såsom att bibehålla eller utveckla städernas ekosystem och inte minst som gröna rekreationsrum för befolkningen. Gröna värden i städer fyller inte bara miljömässiga syften, utan även sociala och ekonomiska – till exempel ur ett folkhälsoperspektiv. I de nordiska länderna spelar planlagstiftningen en viktig roll, eftersom den reglerar mark- och vattenanvändningen. Plansystemens legala ramverk är ett viktigt instrument för kommunerna i deras ambitioner att skapa grönare städer.
- 2020 March
- Working paper
- Nordic Region
- Urban planning