The First 1000 Days in the Nordic Countries is a three-year Nordic collaborative project that aims to support mental health and wellbeing during the first years of life. This report applies findings from the project's two earlier reports to propose policy recommendations to better support children's mental health and wellbeing during the early years. Nordic governments are encouraged to: Recognize the importance of the first 1000 days of life for lifelong mental health and wellbeing; Provide comprehensive support for parents during children's first 1000 days of life; Identify and respond systematically to risk factors early in life; Improve equity and quality in services for young children and their families; Strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration for the benefit of young children and their families; and Advance research, knowledge and understanding about the first 1000 days of life.
The Nordic countries are dedicated to working towards carbon neutral and inclusive societies. With this joint commitment, the Nordic Council of Ministers will advance learning and advocacy on how climate action is critically strengthened by gender equality. Embedding a gender perspective in Nordic climate action is a prerequisite for reaching the Nordic vision of becoming the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. The commitment joins Generation Equality convened by UN Women. It is part of Feminist Action for Climate Justice, one of six Action Coalitions, bringing together governments, corporations, civil society, and change makers on a journey to achieve irreversible progress towards gender equality.
The study identifies and elaborates options for the basic financial set-up and approaches to resource mobilisation and delivery that ensure an effective national and international operation and implementation of a global agreement on plastic pollution. Four key messages stand out: 1. The transition to a more circular global plastics economyprovides significant environmental, economic and social opportunities. 2. The current availability, mobilisation and provision of public and private financial resources is overall insufficient 3. Substantial contributions from business actors in the global plastics economy are needed to mobilise and provide sufficient financial resources. 4. An effective global agreement on plastic pollution can establish a legislative framework that stimulates necessary investments and that assists countries in mobilising and delivering financial resources.
Policy makers, educators, and scholars observe with interest how Nordic countries organise services for the education and care of the youngest children. The 'Nordic model' of ECEC has become synonymous with a holistic, children's rights-based approach to pedagogy, grounded in democratic values. But as societies keep changing, what exactly characterises the 'Nordic model' today? Given the diversity between and within countries, are there common principles?We investigated the values and principles that underpin the evaluation of early childhood education and care in five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden). We found that a 'Nordic' approach to evaluation still exists, although it is changing, not least under the influence of wider international developments. An important aspect of the 'Nordic' approach is the central role given to the local and municipal context.
Nordisk Ministerråd har noteret sig FNs anbefalinger om at tage initiativer til at sikre de grundlæggende retsstatslige og demokratiske værdier i forbindelse med offentlig digitalisering og om at overveje tech-industriens stigende indflydelse på de offentlige administrationer. De fællesnordiske værdier om demokrati, retsstat, retssikkerhed og tillid mellem borgere og myndigheder bør bæres med ind i den digitale tidsalder. Derfor har Nordisk Ministerråd iværksat et pilot-projekt, der på baggrund af input og informationer fra myndigheder og prøvelsesinstanser i Norge, Sverige, Færørene, Finland og Danmark udpeger relevante temaer og initiativer. Teamet bag rapporten vurderer, at der er behov for, at: · styrke vidensdeling om praksis fra prøvelses- og tilsynsinstanser i de nordiske og baltiske lande · afdække og analysere de forfatnings- og menneskeretlige rammer for offentlig digitalisering og vurdere, om de forvaltningsretlige regler støtter op om, at offentlig digitalisering sker inden for disse overordnede rammer · undersøge digitaliseringens påvirkning af styrings- og ansvarskonstruktioner i de digitale forvaltninger og eventuelt også domstolsadministrationerne · undersøge lovgivningsmæssige tendenser, hvilke hensyn en given udvikling hviler på og vurdere denne i lyset af grundlæggende retssikkerhedsmæssige og retsstatslige værdier · retsvidenskabelig forskning indgår som en integreret del af projekter, der relaterer sig til offentlig digitalisering inden for de fællesnordiske forskningsprogrammer. Nordisk Ministerråd vil nu overveje, hvordan rådet kan støtte op om, at anvendelse af de digitale muligheder sker på en sådan måde, at der værnes om fællesnordiske værdier.
The Nordic energy ministers present a new Nordic energy policy co-operation programme for the period 2022–2024. The Nordic Region wants to be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030, and that is also the overall vision for co-operation on energy. A green transition of the Nordic societies will not be possible without a substantial green energy transition. As the Nordic energy systems are closely linked, working together on joint initiatives will lead to a green transition that is more cost-effective and socially sustainable than if the countries were each to achieve the goals individually. In 2020, the Nordic Council of Ministers for Energy Policy (MR-E) adopted seven focus areas as input into the action plan for Our Vision 2030. These will structure Nordic energy co-operation during the period covered by the programme and be at the heart of all of the work: - The green transition of the energy sector - Closer collaboration on research to aid the green transition - Nordic co-operation in the electricity market - Energy efficiency, technology and behavioural change - Working together on EU/EEA-related energy questions - Social acceptance of new energy plants and the green transition - The green transition of the transport sector.
How are the Nordic countries, and the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland working on the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs? This review provides the answers, with an emphasis on the national political structures for implementing the 2030 Agenda, i.e. action plans with national and international prioritisations, along with follow-up work and areas for improvement. The aim of the review is to create a factually based overview of the Nordic countries' work on the 2030 Agenda, where the relevant basic information can be found easily, with links to websites and other material, for each of the Nordic countries.
Gender-based violence is defined as harmful acts directed at an individual or a group of individuals based on their gender. Online gender-based violence is a serious concern in the Nordics and has consequences for both individuals and society as a whole. It threatens gender equality, security, democracy and the freedom of speech. As part of the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI in 2021, Finland has hosted an online conference "Gender-based Hate, Threat and Harassment on the Internet". The aim of the conference held on 10 - 11 June 2021 was to recognize good practices and concrete measures to prevent online gender-based violence in the Nordic region. This publication consists of key takeaways from the conference presented by Gender Equality and Inclusion Expert Elina Nikulainen.
A report commissioned by the Finnish presidency in the Nordic Council of Ministers, written by Nea Alasaari and Sara Sundell, maps the legislation and national curriculums steering early childhood education and care (ECEC), studies made related to gender equality and ECEC during 2010–2021 and practises and tools to promote gender equality in preschools in the Nordic region.
This thesis explores risk, peripheralisation and normalisation in the case of the maternity ward closure at Sollefteå Hospital, located inland in the Swedish region of Västernorrland. When the ward closed in 2017, it drew significant media attention and political discussions on the continuous cuts to Swedish maternity care and the growing economic gap between urban and rural areas – discussions that actualised questions of power and risk. This thesis, building on newspaper articles and interviews with expectant parents and midwives in Sollefteå, uses feminist risk theory to 1) investigate the experiences of those directly affected by the closure, i.e. expectant parents and midwives at the ward and 2) explore how the theoretical approach of 'doing risk' can be used to deepen our understanding of the processes of peripheralisation and normalisation. The two aims are addressed in four empirical studies and in the Discussion and Concluding remarks. I conclude that three peripheralisation processes were at work in the closure of BB Sollefteå: peripheralisation of women's risks, periheralisation of people in rural municipalities from the welfare state and peripheralisation of small-ward work practices in the healthcare discourse. I also found that the closure made Swedish norms on childbirth and discourses on family visible, predominantly manifested through the 'gender-equal nuclear family' norm, which repeated in the material. Further, addressing the thesis' second aim, I conclude that normalisation and peripheralisation can be seen as regulatory practices, which in different ways are structured around risk and power. In this context, 'doing risk' helps to theorize how these concepts intersect, and relate to ideology, and thus contributes to a better understanding of ideological processes in contemporary societies. ; Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbete opublicerat: delarbete 4 inskickat. At the time of the doctoral defence the following paper was unpublished: paper 4 submitted.
The project is concerned with sustainability in compulsory education in the Nordic countries and is part of the Iceland Presidency Project for the Nordic Council of Ministers initiated in 2018. The overall focus of the Presidency Project is on young people but this report looks at policy, curricula, teacher education and school practices. The analysis shows both similarities and differences across the Nordic Region. Compulsory education in the Nordic countries share some striking similarities, reflecting a strong emphasis on certain aspects of sustainability such as equality, democracy.Although sustainability education has a clear application in the fields of social and political life and economic activities in all of the Nordic countries, it is still the case that when sustainability education is discussed, an environmental perspective is most often taken.
To leave this world in better shape for the next generations, we must change our thinking about how we govern and evolve our cities and municipalities. We need a more holistic approach that acknowledges the complexity of tackling societal challenges. Technology can only take us so far. Social values, citizen involvement and trust need to play much stronger roles in the process of managing this change. Every day we face societal dilemmas in our habitats that cannot be solved without more care for the environment and more attention to the social impact of our actions. The ultimate challenge is to transform the elements in our societies that are unequal, linear, polluting, unsafe and resource demanding, into societies that are liveable, dynamic, inclusive, green andresilient. This challenge cannot be solved within geographical, political or cultural silos.The Nordic countries acknowledge the need for cross-sector, cross-boundary collaboration to build on the best ideas and achievements from around the world. Through such a boundaryless exchange of concepts and experiences, we can create new market opportunities for companies, new areas of research and development, and – ultimately – better communities for people to live in,today and for the future. With this joint Nordic Smart City Roadmap we want to promote principles –conceptual, ethical and political guidelines – that honour a more human centric, inclusive and collaborative approach to developing smarter and more sustainable communities. We believe it can serve as a framework for smart city work in cities and municipalities both in the Nordics and internationally. Our ambition is to demonstrate practical ways of applying the principles of the Nordic SmartCity Roadmap - to overcome the barriers and develop sound solutions that benefit cities and municipalities, the business community and, ultimately, the citizens.
In an international perspective the Nordic countries have long been progressive in the LGBTI area, but despite the fact that some legislation is in place, there are still many challenges to address before LGBTI people can obtain equal opportunities and rights. In 2020, the Nordic Ministers for Gender Equality initiated a formal co-operation programme under the Nordic Council of Ministers on equal treatment and equal rights for LGBTI people in the Nordic region. This text is a supplement to the Nordic Co-operation Programme for Gender Equality 2019-2022 (extended until 2024). In 2021, the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI (MR-JÄM) decided to extend the Nordic Co-operation Programme on Gender Equality 2019–2022 until 2024. The supplement governs the Nordic co-operation in the LGBTI area, and describes the most important priorities until the end of the programme period, 31 December 2022.
The Nordic Council of Ministers has noted the call from the UN to take measures in order to secure the fundamental values of rule of law and democracy in relation to public digitalisation and to consider the growing influence of the tech industry on public administration in the digital welfare states. The shared Nordic values of democracy, rule of law and trust between citizens and authorities, should be carried further into the digital age. Therefore, the Nordic Council of Ministers has initiated a pilot project that identify relevant themes and initiatives on the basis of input and information from public authorities and supervisory bodies in Norway, Sweden, The Faeroe Islands, Finland and Denmark. The team behind the report assesses that there is a need to: - strengthen the exchange of knowledge regarding investigations, reflections and case law of supervisory bodies in the Nordic and Baltic countries - identify and analyse the legal framework related to constitutional law and human rights for public sector digitisation, and to evaluate whether present administrative law provides sufficient support for compliance within these parameters - study the effects of digitisation on governance, control and liability structures in the field of public administration, possibly including the court administration - investigate the direction of the legislative development, clarify the underlying considerations and interests and assess this development in light of the values of legal certainty and rule of law - integrate legal research as an element of projects related to public digitisation within Nordic research programmes The Nordic Council of Ministers will now consider how it can support using the opportunities offered by digitisation so that they safeguard the shared Nordic values.
Nature interpretation in the Nordic countries is a book about communication between nature interpreters and their participants in our landscapes. It´s about first hand experiences of nature and the importance of to paying attention to what is inspiring and fascinating, especially valuable or threatened. And about possibilities to reflect over the relation between human and nature. Educators, researchers and interpreters contribute with articles about nature interpretation it theory and practice. The book is written for everyone who is interested in how interpretation can contribute to a sustainable future, nature conservation and areas in society like public health, democracy and the right for all citizens to visit and experience nature. The purpose is to inspire nature interpreters to offer more and even better experiences and learning in the Nordic nature and cultural landscapes.
