The aim of this project is to study the relationship between the municipal institution and recent innovations in the Nordic periphery. The reasons for undertaking such a study are fairly obvious: nowadays, it has become the norm to highlight a region's innovative capacities as a crucial element in strategies for its development. In the Nordic periphery, local government has acquired a strong position in society, so there is a definite interest in studying the relation between innovative processes and the operation of the municipal institution. A total of 21 Nordic municipalities have been studied in this project. In many respects, the area covered by the municipalities in this study may be characterized as part of the extreme periphery of Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, respectively.

This report explores the potential of Urban Agriculture (UA) to enhance food security, improve resource efficiency, and promote smart, resilient, and circular cities.

The discussion is framed within the scope of the Horizon 2020 project ‘Sino-European Innovative Green and Smart Cities’ (SiEUGreen) which explored different pathways to turn waste into resources for growing food in cities through the combination of different technologies. These technologies were tested in five showcases: Campus Ås, in Ås, Norway; World Gardens and Brabrand Fællesgartneriet community gardens in Aarhus, Denmark; Turunçlu greenhouse in Atakya, Turkey; Sanyuan Farm, in Beijing, and Futiancangjun residential area in Changsha, China. 

The insights and knowledge gained with these showcases were the basis to discuss the barriers and drivers of UA in the transition to more sustainable and resilient circular cities, across five aspects (1) environmental, (2) technological, (3) economic, (4) social and cultural and (5) regulatory and institutional issues. The results suggest that city food provision and UA systems can be designed considering circular economy regenerative cycles, but it is important to promote local research that can highlight policy solutions to address context-related barriers and limitations.

Among the main lessons learned across the different aspects, we highlight:

• The need for more evidence-based research, clear monitoring tools and evaluation/assessment of the different UA typologies and their impact on the environment, society and economy;
• The implementation of innovative technological developments that support and promote UA for reduce; reuse, recycle/recover resources require more experimentation, large-scale tests and validation both concerning their efficiency, positive environmental impacts, as well as economic viability;
• The need for high investments, difficulties accessing financial support, underdeveloped business case for circular resource models, and limited recognition of the positive and indirect economic, environmental benefits of UA are among the main barriers that limit the uptake of agriculture in cities;
• Despite the significant role UA can play in advancing a circular economy (e.g., by supporting sustainable local food systems, promoting community resilience and reducing waste), behaviour and cultural barriers were found to have a deep impact when fostering a closed-loop approach to UA, especially concerning overcoming prejudice against waste as a resource,
• Local governance and public policy play a central role in framing and supporting UA (e.g., incentives, funding, regulatory frameworks) as a pathway that enables close loops in cities.

This report is the outcome of the project Urban Agriculture for a Resilient Future (FutureUA) financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers and implemented in 2023. In this final report, we discuss the future of urban agriculture across different themes, namely (1) cultivating change in connection with innovation and legislation, (2) cultivating community in connection with culture, and (3) cultivating knowledge in connection with education and science.  

While the first theme reflects the potential of agriculture to occupy more space in cities and to be perceived as a desirable urban function through innovation and legislative support, the second theme focuses on the known benefits of urban agriculture for building community and fostering social inclusion. The third theme reflects the momentum urban agriculture is gaining in institutional education through the implementation of programmes that respond to the growing demand for systematic knowledge of urban agriculture at different qualification levels.  

This report is primarily a presentation of seven urban agriculture initiatives that tell stories about how different actors have engaged with or support the practice of growing food in cities. The description of the cases was based on webinar discussions, interviews with the main stakeholders of each case, and study visits. These cases provide the context to show how different actors can engage in urban agriculture and food systems, as well as to discuss their challenges and opportunities and to draw lessons from their practices.   

The report targets a broad and heterogeneous audience, including planners, entrepreneurs, academics, and the general public, who are interested and believe in the potential of urban agriculture to tackle many of the challenges we face today, such as the climate crises. After reading this report, the reader is expected to gain: 

• A glimpse of the literature on the benefits and drawbacks of growing food in cities. 
• An understanding of urban agriculture from different perspectives (e.g., municipalities, entrepreneurs, communities, educational institutions). 
• An overview of opportunities and challenges for implementing agriculture in cities.  
• Inspiration for alternative urban futures as the stories told in this report carry seeds for change that can assist transitioning our cities to more functional ecosystems. 

This handbook is the culmination of the NORDGREEN project, which develops and implements smart planning and management solutions for well-designed, high-quality green spaces that promote health and well-being. Researchers and practitioners worked alongside one another in six Nordic cities: Aarhus (Denmark), Espoo and Ii (Finland), Stavanger (Norway), and Täby and Vilhelmina (Sweden). Together, the researchers and practitioners applied methods including GIS data analysis, statistical analysis, PPGIS surveys and analysis, policy document analysis, interviews, and evidence-based design models.

The handbook uses an innovative framework based on the multi-disciplinary approach of the project, using epidemiological studies, environmental psychology, policy and management, and citizen participation. These fields of study and their respective methodologies are divided into the four so-called NORD components—NUMBERING, OBSERVING, REGULATING, and DESIGNING—which, accompanied by a BACKGROUND section reviewing the evidence linking green space and human health, form the bulk of the handbook.

Some key take-away messages from these chapters include:

• There is a fairly broad consensus that access to, and use of, natural and green areas have a positive influence on people’s health and well-being.
• Both perceived and objective indicators for access to green space and for health are needed for making a more comprehensive evaluation for how people’s health is influenced by green space.
• Citizens’ experiential, local knowledge is a vital component of urban planning, and PPGIS can offer practitioners the opportunity to gather map-based experiential knowledge to provide insights for planning, designing, and managing green spaces.
• Alignment, both vertically across the political, tactical, and operational levels, as well as horizontally across departments, is critical for municipal organisations to foster health-promoting green spaces.
• Evidence-based design models can provide important categories and qualities for diagnosing the gaps in existing green spaces and designing green spaces with different scales and scopes that respond to the various health and well-being needs of different people.

Based on the research and lessons learned from the six case study cities, the handbook provides practitioners with a TOOLBOX of adaptable methods, models, and guidelines for delivering health-promoting green spaces to consider in their own contexts. By reading this handbook, planners and policymakers can expect to gain (1) a background on the evidence linking green spaces and health, practical tools for planning, designing, and managing green spaces, (2) tips from researchers regarding the challenges of using various methods, models, and guidelines for delivering health-promoting green space, and (3) inspiration on some success stories emerging from the Nordic Region in this area of study. The handbook covers a wide range of health and urban green space topics. Landscape architects will find evidence-based design models for enhancing existing green space design processes. Planners will find methods and guidelines for identifying, collecting, and analysing both qualitative and quantitative green space and health data from statistical databases, national citizen surveys, and map-based participatory surveys. And all practitioners will find guidelines for achieving programmatic alignment in their work for delivering health-promoting green space.

The synthesis report summarizes the work done by the Nordic Working Group during their four-year mandate period and puts it in a broader European and international context. The report focuses on the role and relevance of the regional level and regional players in promoting green growth in the Nordic countries and internationally and gives policy recommendations on how the Nordic regions can benefit from enhanced cooperation on green growth activities. The report focuses on two central areas of green growth: bioeconomy and industrial symbiosis. It analyses the key global drivers for green growth in these areas and positions the Nordic regional green growth - its strengths and weaknesses - against these global drivers.

Studies in new forms of knowledge governance. This report analyzes new forms of knowledge governance in the global economy, using comparative studies of European industries and regions. We discuss how new organisational forms are affected by corporate governance, company culture and institutional constraints. The three core ideas of the report are: • Firms, industries, and clusters who know how to use temporary organisations, in particular projects, for new knowledge generation, and utlization are able to access, transform, and exploit knowledge for economic useful purposes better and faster than those who do not. • Successful utilization of temporary organizations (projects) depends on the knowledge base of firms, industries, and clusters, but also, more importantly, on institutional context (business system), spatial system, and development coalitions within which projects and project ecologies are embedded. • Temporary organizations (projects) are used in increasingly new ways across different industries and clusters, as they become more deeply integrated into the learning processes, transforming the way business systems and their innovation systems operates.

The development of a bioeconomy is at the forefront of the national and regional agendas of many European countries given not only its potential to counter climate change through replacing goods and services currently produced using fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources, but also the new economic activities in and around the rural regions it stimulates (Refsgaard et al., 2018). However, there is relatively little known about the status and institutional and policy frameworks for bioeconomy development in Northwest Russia.

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the status of and institutional framework for a bioeconomy in the Republic of Karelia and Murmansk oblast. The study identifies some of the main support mechanisms and incentives, as well as the potential and challenges, for bioeconomy development in these regions today and in the future. This study, which was financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2018–2019, Kicking off the Bioeconomy in the North, draws upon the lessons learned from the study financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2018, ‘Forest and Waste-based Bioeconomy in the Arkhangelsk region’ (Berlina and Trubin, 2018).

Denna rapport, beställd av Region Värmland, analyserar gränshinder inom den statliga regionalpolitiken mellan Sverige och Norge, med målet att belysa integrationen av gränsperspektivet och diskutera utmaningar samt möjligheter för gränsöverskridande samarbete.

Gränsen mellan Sverige och Norge beskrivs som “mjuk” med omfattande flöden, där historien av samarbete erbjuder betydande potential. Starka sociala band och ‘den mjuka gränsen’ främjar arbetskraftens rörlighet och affärssamarbeten, vilket bidrar till ökad konkurrenskraft och större marknader. Rapporten identifierar även gränshinder som påverkar individer, pendlare, och företag i gränsområdet. Den betonar vikten av dialog och samverkan för att ta tillvara möjligheter och hitta lösningar på gemensamma utmaningar. Rapporten framhåller att den regionala politiken i båda länderna ger regionerna ansvar för utveckling, men pekar på skillnader i hur gränsöverskridande aspekter hanteras. Den understryker vikten av gränsöverskridande samarbete för att skapa en integrerad arbetsmarknad och främja ekonomisk utveckling, trots att dessa aspekter har fått minskad uppmärksamhet i de nuvarande nationella strategierna. Rapporten uppmanar till en ökad inriktning på gränsöverskridande samarbete och bättre utnyttjande av regionernas potential för att överbrygga gränshinder och främja en hållbar utveckling i gränsregionerna.

Syftet med denna rapport är att ge en översikt över hur fysisk och rumslig planering i de nordiska länderna kan bidra till en hållbar utveckling och även att visa hur planering kan stödja åtgärder i den nordiska hållbarhetsstrategin från år 2000. I rapporten återfinns exempel på planering för hållbar utveckling från nationell, regional och kommunal nivå i de fem nordiska länderna samt en sammanställning av återkommande angreppssätt. Avslutningsvis tecknas förslag på områden för fortsatt nordisk samverkan inom planering för en hållbar utveckling.

This study investigates the role of remote work in enhancing the resilience of rural and remote municipalities in the Nordic countries, highlighting the shift towards hybrid work models. The report presents six case studies, each detailing the context, challenges and opportunities associated with remote work. The study found that many public authorities lack formal remote work policies, relying on pre-existing or pandemic-developed frameworks aimed at work-life balance.

The research points to remote work's potential for attracting and retaining residents and skilled workers, crucial for rural development, despite challenges like the need for improved digital infrastructure and the absence of formal policies. Initiatives like co-working spaces and the focus on enhancing regional attractiveness through quality of life and infrastructure investments are seen as key to leveraging remote work for sustainable regional development. However, the study also notes obstacles such as legislative issues and the need for comprehensive strategies to fully realise the benefits of remote work for rural revitalisation.

Remote work offers a pathway to sustainable development in Nordic regions by introducing new skills, enhancing business innovation, and improving public services, which helps combat out-migration and boosts quality of life. For maximum impact, investments in digital infrastructure, supportive work environments, and regional attractiveness are crucial, paving the way for a more vibrant and sustainable future.

In the newly published Nordregio report ‘Planning for sustainable tourism in the Nordic region’ , over 100 tourism development plans (TDPs) from rural areas of the Nordic countries were collected, coded and analysed. The mapping of these documents – which are formulated at the lowest geographical level – provide an insight into how the regions and define themselves in relation to tourism, what their strengths and focuses are, where they see opportunities, what they consider their main challenges, and how sustainability concerns are – or are not – integrated into the tourism plans. The process of thoroughly mapping, coding and analysing the TDPs revealed some common challenges in tourism development and tourism planning which are shared among many Nordic regions while other challenges are more place specific.

This report examines the integration of social sustainability within the national tourism policies of the Nordic countries, focusing on how these policies address the social dimensions of sustainable tourism. As tourism continues to grow in the Nordic region, the economic benefits of tourism have to be balanced with the environmental and social impacts, to ensure the well-being of local communities and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Acknowledging that cross-border transport infrastructure is paramount for the Nordic Region to reach the vision of becoming the most sustainable and integrated region by 2030 (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2020), this report discusses the challenges of planning and developing transport connections across national borders. 

This book, an introduction to some of the current trends that are affecting spatial development, came about as a result of a course offered by Nordregio. It is intended as a companion to similar courses in the future, but more as an introduction to themes that often are less than accessible to busy, but interested, practitioners.

This comparative report is the sixth report, complementing the five country reports (Nordregio working papers) of the research project "Coping Strategies and Regional Policies, Social Capital in Nordic Peripheries". The research includes fieldwork during 2001 in Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Sweden and Finland, two localities per country, two projects per locality. The project was co-operatively conducted by researchers from the University of Iceland (Reykjavik), the Research Centre on Local and Regional Development (Klaksvík, Faroes), the Swedish Agricultural University (Uppsala), the University of Joensuu (Finland) and Roskilde University (Denmark).

This comprehensive report delves into the economic policy responses of the Nordic countries amidst the tumultuous period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent recovery phase, the energy crisis, and inflation spanning from 2020 to 2023. It provides a critical examination of the macroeconomic strategies employed during these challenging times, highlighting the lessons learned and the effectiveness of different policies. 

The report raises pivotal questions regarding the outcomes of these policies, their impact on the Nordic economies, and the lessons that these countries can glean from each other's experiences.

Key Findings and Highlights:

• Fiscal Support Measures: The report evaluates the unprecedented fiscal support measures implemented by the Nordic countries during the pandemic. It discusses how these measures, while stabilizing the economies, resulted in overgenerous subsidies to firms, indicating areas for future refinement.
• Job Retention Schemes: An analysis of job retention schemes reveals their critical role in preserving employment during the pandemic. The report suggests that while effective, these schemes should be designed to avoid hindering necessary structural changes within the economies.
• Fiscal Policy Challenges: The need for fiscal policies that can stabilize the business cycle, provide household income loss insurance, allow for public investment, and address the needs of an ageing population is emphasized. It argues for debt financing beyond current limits to meet urgent investment needs.
• Energy Crisis and Green Transition: The energy crisis is examined as a case study in balancing immediate relief with long-term sustainability goals. The report discusses the importance of allowing price mechanisms to encourage the green transition while providing timely support to consumers and businesses.

Overall the report underscores the importance of policy adaptability, advocating for economic policies that can swiftly respond to unforeseen crises without compromising long-term fiscal sustainability. It calls for targeted support measures that aid vulnerable households and firms during economic downturns without impeding structural adjustments. Furthermore, it emphasizes the necessity for adequate resources towards active labour market policies, including vocational training and subsidized employment.

Facing intricate trade-offs between maintaining robust economic policy frameworks and adapting to new challenges, the Nordic countries stand at a crossroads. The report advocates for a vibrant exchange of policy insights and impacts, stressing the need for adaptable, targeted, and well-resourced economic policies.

This report is essential reading for policymakers, economists, and anyone interested in the complexities of economic policy-making in the face of multiple crises. It offers a thorough analysis of the Nordic experience, providing valuable lessons for both the region and beyond.

Electric aviation has gained momentum in the Nordic region in recent years. Given its unique geographical features and strong commitment to climate-neutral transport, the Nordic region represents an ideal testing ground for electric aviation. In five to ten years from now, electric aviation has the potential to become reality, so it is crucial to explore which factors may affect its implementation and how regional development may be impacted.

The “Electric Aviation and the Effects on the Nordic Region” project presents a ten-year future scenario for electric aviation in the Nordic region. In this report, we explore future scenarios for five selected Nordic routes and identify the key driving forces behind that transformative shift, as well as the positive and negative impacts of electric aviation. The scenarios were developed through focus group discussions conducted with key stakeholders from each of the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).

The main findings of the study show that electric aviation is generally perceived positively in the various Nordic countries. However, there are also certain contextual differences relating to whether electric aviation is viewed as a pathway to achieving climate targets and removing emissions, stimulating regional development and accessibility of remote areas, or as a new travel option compared to conventional flights.

Even though the general attitude towards electric aviation seems to be positive, scepticism and questions regarding the social acceptance of the new technology emerged, as well as the uncertainty around who will be the investors to kick-off the new technology. Furthermore, the future scenarios suggest that a high level of support from local and national governing bodies is required in order to make electric aviation a viable air transport mode in the Nordic region.

The insights of this report are intended both to inform decision-makers and to provide nuanced observations from each Nordic country and explore future pathways towards a sustainable and more integrated Nordic region in line with the 2030 vision of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Nordic welfare states are world renowned for providing high quality public services. Nordic municipal and regional authorities, in particular, play a central role in the delivery of key public services in areas, such as, health, education, and social care. However, in recent years, public authorities have faced several challenges which have reduced capacity and resources, including long periods of austerity following the 2008 financial crash, rapid demographic changes caused by an ageing population, and the COVID-19 health crisis. In response to these challenges many public authorities have looked to inter-regional, inter-municipal and cross-border collaborations to improve the quality and effectiveness of public service delivery (OECD 2017; ESPON 2019). Indeed, collaborative public service delivery is becoming increasingly prominent in the Nordic Region due to a highly decentralized systems of governance (Nordregio 20015; Eythorsson 2018).

An Appraisal of Programming Documents. The horizontal themes of environment and sustainable development feature increasingly in the Structural Funds, especially in the three distinct stages of programme design, implementation and evaluation. Methods to accommodate these themes vary between programmes, but also between countries, as does the level of success in efforts to realise their integration.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in Nordic economic development through creating employment, stimulating competition and developing new technologies and products. However, these companies are often disadvantaged by internal and external constraints that prevent them from realising their full potential. Nordicgovernments acknowledge that environmental management forms one of these constraints, and accordingly its integration into working practices is supported by a range of public sector financial assistance schemes. However, to date, there has been no exploration of the extent of this provision, nor is there any comparative knowledge of the impact that these "environmental incentives" have on the environmental performance or the economic competitiveness of Nordic SMEs. This report presents the first cross-national overview of the main environmental incentives available for SMEs in the Nordic countries.

The aim of this research project was to progress from a broad overview of Nordic sustainable regional development (SRD), as outlined in a previous report (2001:8), to an in-depth investigation through case studies. The project's three objectives included deriving a detailed knowledge of factors impacting on SRD realisation, identifying and highlighting best practice in Nordic SRD, and facilitating a Nordic network for SRD information exchange.

Proceedings of a 2 day Workshop hosted by Nordregio, Stockholm, October 10th and 11th 2006. The papers in this volume, and the workshop at which they were presented, attempt to summarise the range of policy interventions which benefit rural residents and firms in the Nordic countries.

Much of rural Europe is steadily shifting away from our twentieth century conceptions. However, rural policy has been slow to adjust. There is an urgent need for a fresh approach, more attuned to contemporary realities and issues, which we shall term "Rural Cohesion Policy". Rural Europe has in many senses been transformed in recent years, particularly by the arrival of broadband internet, together with all the changes in business practice, consumer preferences, working conditions, education, service delivery, and other aspects of daily life. Transport infrastructure has been extended and improved in many parts of Europe. A large swathe of rural areas in the Centre and East of Europe has experienced the effects of accession to the Single Market. This report is based on findings from the EDORA (European Development Opportunities in Rural Areas) project. The overarching aim of EDORA was to examine the process of differentiation in rural areas, in order to better understand how EU, national and regional policy can enable these areas to build upon their specific potentials to achieve (in the words of the EU 2020 strategy) "smart, sustainable and inclusive growth." EDORA was a project funded under the ESPON 2013 programme. It began in September 2008 and was completed in March 2011. This project was coordinated by the University of the Highlands and Islands, supported by a large consortium representing twelve EU Member States.

This study focuses on the following six insular areas in the Nordic countries: Bornholm in Denmark The Eyjafjörður region in Iceland Gotland in Sweden The Kainuu region in Finland The Ulstein region in Norway Åland &nbsp Insular areas do not have to be islands surrounded by water they can be insular due to the sheer distances involved, or due to difficult terrain. The concept insular means that it is not realistic to commute on a daily basis to a neighbouring labour market and therefore the areas are insulated in terms of opportunities for the population to make a living there. Because these labour markets are insular, they cannot fully operate as markets. There are often other types of processes matching the labour supply and demand. It is moreover, also often necessary to take special steps to recruit key professionals to these areas, e.g. within the medical profession. Over a year, and a working life, individuals who live in these insular areas are likely to move between the labour market, i.e. having a job or being self-employed, and other parts of the income system. These other parts of the system may be education and training, unemployment or parts of the social insurance system.

This report is a result of the project Regional Trajectories to the Knowledge Economy: A Dynamic Model (EURODITE). The main objective of the EURODITE project was to investigate knowledge dynamics that is, how knowledge is generated, developed and transferred within and among firms or organisations, and their regional contexts. Empirical research on knowledge dynamics has been based on the building blocks of region, sector, and both territorial and firm-level knowledge. Territorial knowledge dynamics concern knowledge exchange, networks and interactions among actors across territories, both internal and extraregional. Firm-level knowledge dynamics contributes a deeper understanding of knowledge dynamics by studying the interactions within a firm or organisation and between firms or organisations that result in an innovation for instance, a new or improved product. This report includes the description and analysis of two sets of territorial knowledge dynamics with accompanying firm-level knowledge dynamics in the moving media sector in the Skåne region of Sweden. The first case study looks at knowledge dynamics within computer game development and a micro-level study of the development of the serious game 'Agent O'. The second case study elaborates on the knowledge dynamics related to film production and tourism with a micro-level study of the marketing collaboration 'The Film Track'. In addition, these case studies have been placed in a wider European perspective by comparing them with the other case studies performed within the project. It is clear from the project's case studies that knowledge dynamics are multiscalar and include important interactions at great distances. We conclude that cross-sectoral knowledge interactions are seed-beds for innovation and drive product development. Finally, knowledge interactions include many types of actors conducting a variety of knowledge interactions. In any region, there is a vast amount of intertwined evolution of knowledge dynamics. A multitude of strategies and actions is utilised by firms, higher education institutions and other actors to seek out and to utilise the knowledge needed wherever it is located. Tailor-made and progressive policy support of such processes is needed to avoid lock-ins and promote innovative regional development. The report aims at policymakers and practitioners within economic development work, business organisations, chambers of commerce, the higher education sector, and researchers of knowledge dynamics, innovation, regional development and policy.

This report builds on the findings of the Nordic-Baltic 5G Monitoring Tool (N-B 5G MT) project ‘Analytical Report’, which focused on mapping 5G activities in the Nordic-Baltic region and analysing their roll-out status. In this follow-up report, we delve deeper into actual 5G applications across different verticals (i.e. sectors), including healthcare, transportation/mobility, industry and media/broadcasting.

The Nordic-Baltic region faces knowledge gaps in understanding 5G’s full economic impact, despite its role as both a service and an enabler. While there’s notable activity in sectors like transport, smart cities, and health, most 5G projects are still in the early stages, and the business case for widespread 5G deployment is not yet clear. This report examines how various sectors address these challenges and what can be learned from their experiences in advancing 5G development. 

The report identifies challenges in each sector, such as funding constraints in healthcare, technical hurdles in transportation, market immaturity in industry, and infrastructure investment needs in media, highlighting the complex landscape of 5G deployment.

The project’s key findings point to a number of cross-cutting challenges that require comprehensive attention and solutions:

- Uncertain business cases: There is a need for empirical validation of 5G’s potential and specific benefits to encourage investment and innovation.

- Financial barriers: Challenges include insufficient early-stage funding and high deployment costs, requiring supportive funding and regulatory frameworks.

- Technical and infrastructural limitations: Regulatory and financial support are needed for better connectivity in rural areas.

- Regulatory constraints: Complex requirements around spectrum allocation, licensing, data security, and privacy demand tailored regulatory frameworks and close collaboration between stakeholders.

- Security, privacy, and ethics: These issues are closely linked to regulatory challenges and include concerns about data protection and management, GDPR compliance and cybersecurity.

- Acceptability and usability: Efforts to simplify 5G technology for broader adoption and overcome infrastructure development resistance are essential.

- Collaboration challenges: There is a demand to foster collaborative environments through forums, dialogue sessions, and cross-border partnerships.

Overall, the report emphasises the need for a systemic approach to addressing these challenges. This includes clarifying the business value of 5G; fostering ecosystems for collaboration; and ensuring that policy and regulatory frameworks support the innovative, equitable deployment of 5G technology. Overcoming these hurdles will require concerted efforts from all stakeholders, including governments, industry and the wider community. Only then will the transformative potential of 5G for society be fully realised.

This report is a comparative study of some main features of Nordic demography, notably the demography of ageing in the periphery. The report will be relevant to anyone occupied with demographic and welfare policies and with studying regional demographic patterns.

How to make planning processes more efficient and plan for new housing continues to be crucial topic in throughout Europe, especially in metropolitan regions with high growth. During recent years evaluations and reforms of planning systems have been carried out throughout Europe. While the complete abolishment of the U.K.'s regional tier of government is likely the most significant change, reforms in the Scandinavian states have taken place as well, for example a new Norwegian Planning Act from 2009. In this context, Norway's Ministry of Environment (Miljøverndepartement) has commissioned Nordregio to review its planning process for housing development, including a comparison to the systems in place in neighbouring states. Consequently, the aim of this report has been to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of urban planning systems with regards to both the formal system (i.e. legal and institutional frameworks) and actual planning practices and how they are implemented 'on the ground'. The study has focused on how detailed/local/regulatory plans for housing developments are produced in selected Scandinavian and European states. The Norwegian planning system has been the focal point for the project, which has been compared and contrasted through case studies conducted in Sweden (Malmö), Denmark (Aalborg), Germany (Munich) and United Kingdom (Cambridge). Key findings The review has shown that there are three clear aspects that distinguish the Norwegian detailed development planning practise: relations between the municipality and developer relations between the municipality and the state and the detailed (time) regulation of detailed development planning. The first distinctive characteristic of the Norwegian planning system is the right for private actors to develop proposals for detailed plans. This has a long tradition in Norway, and means that the municipality's role in the planning process is slightly different than in other cases it has a more of a guiding and controlling function compared to other Scandinavian states. The second characteristic is the state (and regional) influence in the planning process and importance of spatial planning. The national level in Norway provides municipalities with detailed guidance material and the 22 sectorial authorities have the possibility to make objections on detailed plans. The Norwegian system is also characterised by a detailed (time-) regulation of its detailed development planning process. This is particularity evident by several formal time limits in the planning process, including municipal consideration of private proposals and as well for political handling and public consultation. These unique features of the Norwegian planning system have direct consequences both for the time spent for making a plan, as well as for the efficiency, and potential bottlenecks that can be encountered. Learning's Firstly, the initiation and start-up phase is a very significant, and often underestimated, period of the overall planning process, partially because it is relatively unregulated and informal. The case studies showed that this phase is time-consuming and that there are different incentives to facilitate this phase. In Norway for instance, the process is initiated with a start-up meeting, but there are often discussions between the municipality and the developer even before that. Secondly, the design of the plan and the level of detail are important issues that need to be addressed. A detailed plan is a prerequisite for planning new buildings but what such a plan should contain is partly an open question, as is its relation to overarching municipal plans and strategies. It seems that there are some benefits to develop robust municipal plans with clear guidelines to avoid uncertainty and create better conditions for an efficient detailed planning process. The third issue regards the importance of coordination and synchronization, including internal coordination between departments within municipalities, among other public authorities, with relevant private actors and among other stakeholders. In this sense, improving the process of feedback between the different levels of government can improve the efficiency of the planning process. This is especially evident in the possibility for state authorities in Norway to make objection on a detailed plan, which is not always coordinated among state authorities.

This study investigates the state of play of skills supply and demand in the Bothnian Arc cross-border region. Empirical evidence is gathered to shed light on some of the reasons behind the present and future challenges in meeting the demand for skills supply. The empirical evidence also pinpoints key types of mismatch between supply and demand and in which areas. The research investigates the different roles of education providers, employers, and a range of other regional actors in skills development and governance. Finally, specific attention was put on analysing the potential for cross-border labour mobility in closing some of the skills gaps in the labour markets across the Finnish-Swedish border.

This study builds on previous research carried out by Nordic Thematic Group on Innovative and Resilient Regions 2017 - 2020 established by the Nordic Council of Ministers. 

This report is intended as a policy overview that sheds light on the implementation and vertical co-ordination of mission-oriented innovation policies (MOIPs) in the Nordic context, with a particular focus on Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The study was carried out on behalf of the Nordic Thematic Group for Green, Innovative and Resilient Regions (2021–2024).

How capable are local and regional economies of recovering from global and local shocks and threats and ensure resilient long-term development paths?

Answering this question was the challenge of the Nordic Thematic Group on Innovative and Resilient regions, set by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Thus, from 2017 to 2018, an exploratory in-depth study was conducted on economic and social resilience in the Nordic regions.

The empirical research included a close examination of a variety of threats as well as factors driving resilience in regions in all five Nordic Countries.

What global and local risks and long-term challenges is the Bothnian Arc cross-border area exposed to? And how can societies and economies in this area anticipate and respond to them to ensure resilient long-term development paths? Answering these questions was the challenge of Nordregio together with the Bothnian Arc association on behalf of the Nordic Thematic Group on Innovative and Resilient regions, set by the Nordic Council of Ministers from 2017 to 2020. For this purpose, an exploratory study was conducted in a participative manner in 2018-2019, including key experts from across the region to provide input on challenges and potential threats as well as factors driving resilience in the Bothnian Arc cross-border area.

The situation that has unfolded due to the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of Nordic co-operation. In this status report, we look at the situation in border communities following the closing of the border, and what this may tell us about the state of Nordic co-operation – Vision 2030 for which includes integration.

In addressing the critical challenge of systemic sustainability, this report explores the need for more than a one-size-fits-all approach in the Nordic Region. It investigates the role of change agency processes and the impact of policies and framework conditions on green transition changes in business sectors. Our two case studies reveal some of the bottlenecks and drivers of innovation and explore them from a systemic perspective and in different geographic scales, both from a place-based and place-less perspective.

The methodology adopted in the report is comprehensive, including a deep dive into the evolution of innovation theory and policy, following by an in-depth analysis of green innovation in two sectoral developments, including multi-storey wood construction and the so-called ‘protein shift’. It examines the roles of different stakeholders, including governments, businesses, and communities, in fostering an environment conducive to systemic change. The report relies on the academic and policy evolution of innovation theory and practice, identifying, what is argued to be, an emerging generation of innovation policies focused not only on economic but also on societal and environmental goals, which has generated a heated debate. To add nuance to this debate, our report utilised sector-based case studies relying on expert interviews to shed light on the roles of different agents in producing, not only technological but systems innovation. Against the background of systems innovations theory, this study provides some insights into the relevance of place, and proximity – not just geographic, but cognitive, institutional, organisational and social proximity.  regional innovation landscape.

Key findings reveal that systemic green innovations in the Nordic region happen as a result of the sum of multiple actors intentionally and unintentionally driving change in place-based and place-less settings. Several obstacles hinder setting a clear direction to innovation and path creation as these barriers are deeply entrenched in governance complexities, social institutions, and place-based industrial and structural path dependencies. Disrupting technological and systems ‘lock-ins’, is therefore, not the role of single agents but the result of multiple ones acting on a place-based or technology-based setting, and requires enhanced policy frameworks, and entrepreneurial public institutions moving beyond setting the ‘rules-of-the-game’ to actively orchestrating action, mobilising stakeholders and facilitating co-operation. 

The report emphasizes the significance of knowledge exchange and the creation of trust-based networks to accelerate the adoption of green innovations. It concludes by demonstrating that different green innovations develop under very different conditions and processes.

The political ambition expressed by the NSPA through the Vision is to ensure that its growth potential and general importance for European economic development is recognised. At the same time, it needs to be acknowledged that sparse population patterns can require regulatory special treatment, measures to preserve local communities from external shocks and relatively higher costs in terms of infrastructure investments and public service provision. Taken in combination, these elements form the basis for the branding of the NSPA as a 'Strong, Specific and Promising' European macro-region.

The purpose of the study is to make an assessment on the socio-economic impacts of low population density, peripherality and cold climate in the Northern regions of Sweden and in Northern and Eastern regions of Finland. The study has focused on demographic sparsity as a core element for understanding of the specific needs of these regions. Sparsity has indeed been defined as characterising regions where extremely low population densities and disperse settlement patterns create specific challenges for economic activity and public service provision. A central question is the scale at which one should approach demographic sparsity in order to give the most accurate account of economic challenges connected to low population densities. A second main characteristic of these regions is peripherality, as reflected by the distance to the main European markets. This induces additional transport costs both for individuals and industries, and makes it difficult to access good and services produced in European core areas. Cold climate constitutes an additional challenge for these Northern Nordic regions, which can easily be observed at the scale of individual persons or companies. While it is generally not meaningful to seek to quantify the general macroeconomic impact of this factor, some narrower economic approaches of cold climate have been developed.

The present study was commissioned by the Executive Committee for Northern Norway, as an extension of the Study on Northern peripheral, sparsely populated Regions in theEuropean Union (Nordregio report 2005:4), so as to take into account Norwegian regions facing similar challenges as those that have previously been described in Finland andSweden. This previous report was commissioned by the North Finnish (Lapland, Northern Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia and Central Finland), East Finnish (Kainuu, North Karelia, Pohjois-Savo and Etelä-Savo) and North Swedish (Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Jämtland, Västernorrland) regions. The purpose of the study is to make an assessment on the socio-economic impacts of low population density, peripherality and cold climate in the Northern and Eastern regions of Finland, the Northern regions of Norway and in the Northern regions of Sweden.

Has remote work post-pandemic expanded the influence of Nordic capitals on surrounding towns? Through case studies in five Nordic towns, the report focused on how remote work opportunities influence small-town attractiveness, population retention, and planning strategies. It explores the effects on populations, urban-rural landscapes, and planning needs.

The findings reveal a shift in population dynamics, with people moving from capitals to smaller towns, leveraging remote work's flexibility. This shift presents opportunities and challenges for regional development, highlighting the need for further research to navigate the complexities of remote work's long-term implications. Despite remote work becoming common, the study found little proof that remote work opportunities have made these towns more attractive. 

Remote or hybrid work can attract new populations and highly qualified personnel, enhancing towns' attractiveness without necessarily increasing the population. Ongoing research is needed to fully understand remote work's potential and inform policy and planning to attract new residents and visitors.

How can an enhanced understanding of transit-oriented development (TOD) characteristics and mobility planning in small- and medium-sized (SMS) cities contribute to a more integrated Greater Copenhagen Region? Also, what are the multi-functional roles and potentials for the development of areas surrounding railway stations in small- and medium-sized cities from a planning and design perspective? 

Answering these questions is the main purpose of this study that has been conducted by Nordregio on behalf of the Nordic thematic group for sustainable cities and urban development 2017– 2020 and its cross-border member Greater Copenhagen Region (GCR). It explores the concept of TOD, accessibility by train, as well as TOD-characteristics and mobility planning in the context of the GCR. This cross-border region is composed of four administrative regions: the Capital Region of Denmark (Hovedstaden) and Region Zealand on the Danish side, and Region Skåne and Region Halland on the Swedish side of the Öresund strait. 

This study is based on desk research, accessibility mapping, and semi-structured interviews in four selected municipalities (Lejre and Ringsted in Denmark and Höör and Landskrona in Sweden). Our research describes how accessible these four cases are within a local, regional and cross-border context. A particular focus is on the past, present and future plans in the station vicinity areas in order to highlight planning and design specificities of transit-oriented developments. 

State of the Nordic Region 2013 gives a comprehensive status of the latest development in the Nordic region, with a specific focus on both regional and municipal levels. It incorporates the latest available statistics with analyses on population structure, migration, labour market trends as well as economy. In order to develop and implement successful regional development strategies Nordic professionals and policymakers need to see their area in a larger context. One of the main prerequisites for this is the ability to access up to date and reliable statistical information. Such information is available in Nordregio's database, which is the only complete database that covers the whole Nordic region with regard to comparable socio-economic data on the municipal and regional levels. This report is the thirteenth volume in the series "Regional Development in the Nordic countries", which has, since 1981, supplied practitioners with comprehensive analyses of the Nordic regional development scene. It incorporates the latest available statistics with analyses on population structure and migration and labour market trends as well as economic status and performance. The themes of the chapters have been selected in relation to Nordregio's thematic focus areas, database activities and to existing development patterns as described in the Nordic cooperation programme for regional policy 2013 – 2016. Each of the chapters can be read either as an independent article, thus giving the reader the opportunity to focus on topics of particular interest, or as part of a coherent report. The State of the Nordic Region 2013 divides the Nordic countries into 1221 municipalities and 78 regions. Division into labour market and NUTS2 regions has also been used when insufficient data was available at the municipal or administrative regional level. In order to set the development status and trends in a wider perspective, comparisons with Nordic and European averages are presented when relevant. The chapters on demographic development describe the main driving forces behind trends in population change in the Nordic countries during the last decade; and how changes in age structure, especially the increasing share of elderly people, are distributed and how they affect the dependency ratio. Elements on international migration and its regional distribution can also be found. The chapters on labour market trends focus on levels of employment and unemployment, sickness and activity leave. One chapter also provides insight on highly educated people and their localisation in the Nordic region. The chapters on economic performances include elements on regional differences in GDP and productivity, aspects of the economic crises, regional innovation and entrepreneurship, research and development as well as a discussion on green growth as a policy concept in the Nordic region.

The cities and urban areas of the Baltic Sea Region are the main engines of its development. The concentration of economic activity, corporate decision-making, labour, foreign direct investment, knowledge, and innovation to its metropolitan regions is substantial. As such, the demographic magnetism of larger cities is also considerable, while rural areas in general and peripheral areas in particular continue to be underexploited resources. Spatial polarisation is increasingly dividing cities and regions into "actors" and "reactors". Small and peripherally located settlements that lack the necessary levers to actively take part in the international division of labour are affected most. Moreover, many of the Baltic Sea Region countries are relatively small in economic terms and are thus often simply unable to compete on a par with the major European economies, let alone globally. As such then, the concentration of effort into the promotion of a select few urban centres seems rational. This volume makes a specific effort to deal comparatively with a wide range of issues pertaining to the structure of the urban system in the Baltic Sea Region, and to present a comprehensive picture of its recent development patterns. The similarities and differences between the countries of the region are analysed here in a comparative manner, while the relationships between urban and rural areas are also highlighted.

This report has in its offset a focus on understanding changes in housing structures and how these structures are reflecting many of the changes which have characterized the Arctic during several decades. The report provides an overview of internal as well as external processes of change: Internally by analysing issues such as market characteristics, community development and the role of the public and the private sector, and externally with globalization processes impacting life due to changes in a broad spectrum of economic, political and social structures. The photo on the front page is from Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. A photo like this illustrates many layers of the history of housing in the Arctic. It tells about the small individual houses dating back to pre-WWII. Another layer is the large concrete apartment blocks from 1950s and 1960s illustrating the first waves of modernisation and urbanisation that swept over the Arctic ensuring two functions: The new accommodation was centrally heated and healthier than the individually headed sod houses. At the same time the new apartment blocks were intended to generate a "sense" of the upcoming modern lifestyle. The following decades – 1970s and 1980s – continued with mass produced dwellings to serve the inflow of new urban dwellers but they were larger and based on a diverse selection of building materials intended to fit more organic into the environment. Then 1990s and 2000s contributed on one hand with a new modern "black cubes" look for the growing middle class and on the other hand with terraced housing for the those with a modest income and with larger single houses for the wealthy part of the population. The front page photo shows the diachronic history of housing as well as the synchronic and current diversity among the citizens now becoming widespread in larger Arctic settlements. The photo shows how in the case of Nuuk the previous segregation between different population segments now in some parts of the town has changed into a more integrated reflecting the footprint of a welfare society. In other parts of Nuuk and in other Arctic settlements another reality could easily be revealed. As reflected in this report a discussion of what can be considered to be a safe and sustainable development of human settlements in the Arctic has been a key point in the project. The project has aimed at identifying common concerns and differences in what could be key directions of the sustainable social and economic development of an Arctic urban lifestyle.

The European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) was adopted in 2000. The WFD takes an integrated approach of water management and the overall objective is to achieve "good water status" for all waters in Europe by 2015. In the following report we investigate how the WFD has been implemented in 11 countries in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). The aim here is to investigate the influence of the WFD implementation on the national spatial planning systems and to take a closer look at the relationship between spatial planning and water management. The investigated countries are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden. In addition, we have investigated whether, and how, WFD ideas are applied in three non EU Member States in the BSR Belarus, Norway and the Russian Federation.

This report provides an analysis of the Nordic innovation policies of relevance for regional innovation systems. The central question addressed is how national policy makers can best apply the broad Lisbon strategy goals to the specific creation of regional innovation policies adapted to the Nordic context. Meeting the ideals and goals of the Lisbon Agenda may imply significant changes in the Nordic countries. Specifically, if innovation is to be stimulated in the public sector this demands an increased role for the market in the production of goods and services produced by the public sector. The data available tends to highlight the fact that the metropolitan areas dominate in terms of innovation performance and potential across the Nordic countries. Regional differences must thus be considered in the context of the development of innovation policy instruments, while more sophisticated enabling instruments will undoubtedly also be needed. In the EU context the regions are viewed as being the actors best able to appreciate local and regional needs and thus best placed to develop innovation policies. Historically, the state has controlled innovation policy in the Nordic countries. The regional level may therefore need to be granted formal competence for the development of regional innovation policies. The EU commission has asked for the application of a broad view of innovation. Innovation policy in the Nordic countries has traditionally however been concerned, predominantly, with research and development policies, though all of the Nordic countries are currently in the course of adopting a broader approach to innovation. By its very nature this broader approach ensures that a wider and ever expanding range of policy fields address the notion of innovation. Better coordination between the various policy fields addressing innovation may thus be needed in order to avoid competing or overlapping measures at the national and regional levels.

This paper is one output of the 2017 to 2020 NordicThematic Group for Sustainable Rural Development. The purpose of this project is to provide policy makers at the national, regional, and municipallevels an idea of what the size, composition, andgeographic distribution of the rural populations inthe Nordic countries might look like in 2040. It doesthis by compiling the population projections doneby the national statistical offices of the Nordiccountries to examine the size, regional concentration, age distribution, and other characteristics ofthe rural populations in the Nordic countries in thefuture. The future size of the both the urban andrural populations are examined to provide contextfor the expected population trends in rural areas.A separate policy brief is available which summarizes the key findings.

Nordic experiences in relation to the implementation of the EU directive 2001/42/EC.

This volume reports the results of the study Progressing Sustainable Regional Development: Appraising institutional innovation and tools appropriate for Nordic practice. The focus here is on the role of certain tools in promoting sustainable development in the context of regional development policy and regional development programming work. While the national level in all of the Nordic countries remains in focus, special case studies were also undertaken on the regional level in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. They also look at the innovative tools and measures developed and implemented in Canada with the aim of promoting sustainable development in the regional development context.

This volume reports on the results of the first phase of the study entitled Regional Development Programming Processes and Regional Partnerships in the Nordic Countries and their Potential to Contribute to Sustainable Development. The ambition in respect of the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden on the policy-level is to promote and implement sustainable development in regional development and growth programming, and this is the target of the study detailed here, with a specific focus on partnership as a useful approach in the attempt to achieve this integration.

Proceedings from the 5th Nordic Environmental Assessment Conference Reykjavik, Iceland, 25 – 26 August 2003. The focus of the 5th Nordic conference on Environmental Assessment, held during the period, 24-26 August 2003 in Reykjavik, Iceland was 'Planning for sustainable development – the practice and potential of Environmental Assessment'. The primary aims of the conference were to describe, analyze and discuss the role of Environmental Assessment with respect to planning and the political goal of sustainable development. The conference aimed to highlight experience thus far, as well as providing a forum for the showcasing of emerging issues with regard to the assessment of policies plans and programmes through SEA and the assessment of projects in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Furthermore, the theoretical bases and assumptions of environmental assessment were also expected to be explored, in particular with regard to the existing theories of planning and policy analysis and to recent developments in the field of planning theories with relevance to the impact assessment field.