This publication is one outcome of a project on labour mobility between the Nordic-Baltic countries: “Enhanced Nordic-Baltic co-operation on challenges of labour mobility in the Nordic-Baltic region” that the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Offi ce in Lithuania led during 2014-2016 in co-operation with the the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Offi ces in Estonia and Latvia, and Nordregio in Sweden. Th e overall objective of the project was to facilitate understanding and strengthen co-operation within the Nordic-Baltic region on labour mobility and demographic development across Nordic and Baltic municipalities and regions. Th e project is a follow-up of the initiative “Challenges of Migration in the Nordic-Baltic Region: Impact on National Labour Markets, Welfare State and Demographic Situation” implemented by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Offi ces in the Baltic States in 2013. Among other activities realized within the framework of this 2014-2016 initiative are the following conferences: • Family and Migration in the Baltic-Nordic Region: Challenges and Solutions, Vilnius, 21 November 2014 • Labour Migration in the Nordic-Baltic Region: Trends of Labour Migration - Ready for Changes? Tallinn, 27 March 2015 For a full overview of the project and related publications, please see Nordregio’s website: www.nordregio.se/BLAM

This working paper looks into rural bioenergy development in Finland and Sweden.The first chapter provides insight into bioenergy development in North Karelia in Finland. It aims at identifying the enabling factors behind the relatively successful local bioenergy development and considers how the bioenergy development has impacted sustainable local and regional development in North Karelia. The working paper is based on desk studies and interviews conducted with stakeholders in North Karelia in 2016.The second chapter provides insight into bioenergy development in Jämtland region, Sweden. It highlights the key drivers as well as factors impeding bioenergy development, the key actors involved and bioenergy embeddedness in the community. The chapter is based on desk studies and interviews conducted in 2015.The third chapter provides insight into bioenergy development in Västernorrland region, Sweden. It highlights the key drivers as well as factors impeding bioenergy development, the key actors involved and bioenergy embeddedness in the community. The chapter is based on desk studies and interviews conducted in 2015–2016.This working paper is one of the outputs of the TRIBORN project: Triple Bottom Line Outcomes for Bioenergy Development and Innovation in Rural Norway. The project investigates how to increase the production of bioenergy in ways that promote sustainable rural development understood as positive economic, social and environmental outcomes. The Working Paper provided valuable input into the development of the Policy recommendations on Bioenergy and rural development in Europe (Nord­regio Policy Brief 2017:3).The TRIBORN (Securing triple bottom line outcomes from bioenergy development and innovation in rural Norway, project no 233640/E50) is a research project funded by the Research Council of Norway (2014-2017). Read more about the TRIBORN Project here: http://www.nibio.no/prosjekter/triborn

This working paper describes the state of play of local food initiatives in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) by examining EU and national policy contexts and by highlighting good practices of local food initiatives in Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Belarus. The working paper investigates the key drivers and factors impeding the development of these initiatives. The working paper is based on desk studies, input received during meetings with stakeholders and researchers from the BSR, and interviews with good practice initiators in 2016–17. This working paper is one output of the Local food: Formation of local food markets project financed by the Swedish Institute. The overall aim of the project was to strengthen co-operation and to build knowledge of local food system formation by various actors working on rural development issues in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). Another objective of the project was to investigate and share good practices in building, shaping, reproducing and promoting alternative food networks and markets over time and space in the BSR countries (Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Belarus).

Denne rapporten er skrevet som et underlag til arbeidet med fjerde generasjons interregprogram som vil løpe av stabelen fra 2007 av. Nordisk ministerråd ved NERP har ønsket innspill til dette arbeidet for Østersjøregionen. Rapporten tar utgangspunkt i allerede etablerte samarbeidsmønstre i regionen og gir en kortfattet gjennomgang av hovedtendenser og utviklingstrekk i dette arbeidet. Generelt har det vært en tendens til å bevege seg fra et bistands- til et samarbeidsperspektiv i de årene østersjøsamarbeidet har eksistert. Det har også skjedd en tematisk utvikling ved at allment demokratiarbeid og generell erfaringsutveksling er tonet ned til fordel for et bredere samarbeid innenfor en rekke sektorer. De enkelte landenes interesser og temaønsker gjennomgås. Det er betydelige nyanser landene i mellom, men dette bør ikke fremstå som noe hinder for å kunne utvikle relativt entydige prioriteringer rundt et knippe oppgaver for videre arbeid.

Lessons for Policy and Practice. In co-operation with the European Policies Research Centre (EPRC) Nordregio has analysed experiences from inter-regional co-operation projects under the previous North Sea and Northern Periphery programmes, to disseminate learning from the projects, to highlight the practical results achieved and to identify policy lessons with regard to effective project co-operation for the new programmes.

This discussion paper is a based on a literature review of the just green transition in a Nordic, European and OECD setting, via the lens of three interrelated dimensions within this concept: transition, green economy and social justice. The discussion paper starts by outlining the aim and the guiding questions. There then follows a section presenting the research methods and sources of material. Section 4 presents a review of the concepts transition, green economy and social justice, along with an overview of the overarching concept of the just green transition. This is followed by a discussion of its key implications in the Nordic Region. The section concludes with proposals for working definitions of concepts for the NJUST project.

This paper summarises that debate and serves as a conceptual overview of the topic in order to provide a better understanding of what factors, or combination of factors, are driving discontent and geographies of discontent in Western liberal democracies. After discussing the phenomena at large, this paper then zooms in on the Nordic Region specifically and describes significant factors potentially driving geographies of discontent in the region.

This report presents background research on the work carried out by Nordregio in the project “Social Innovation in Local Development in the Nordic Countries and Scotland”, which was commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Working Group on Demography and Welfare. The main objectives of the project were to investigate the concept of social innovation in relation to local and rural development, study the governance context in social innovation in rural areas in the Nordics and Scotland, conduct case studies in rural areas in all the Nordic countries and Scotland, as well as study the existing support systems for social innovation in particular in rural areas. The case studies are summarised in a separate document and on the project’s website.

Proceedings of the Nordic Working Group on Cities and Regions. This working paper is the outcome of a Nordic working group established by NÄRP (Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Regional Policy) in 2005. The task was to look into the various urban and regional development strategies currently utilised in the Nordic countries. Important aspects were related to systems, structures, and the physical and functional aspects of city development in a regional development context, based on threes city levels major, medium-sized and small cities/regional centres.

The overall aim of the project was to provide input for Nordic stakeholders in the wake of the finalisation of the Green paper on European Territorial Cohesion, which is to be drafted by the European Commission. Nordic inputs to the EU Green paper on Territorial Cohesion.&nbsp

This paper which was commissioned by the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications during the current Swedish EU presidency aims to identify and discuss some of the most important territorial potentials in the European Union. According to the EU Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion, the territorial diversity of European regions is a vital asset in economic development and competitiveness. The purpose of EU Cohesion Policy at the European level is to contribute to the Lisbon and Gothenburg objectives for growth, jobs and sustainable development. More specifically, the Cohesion Policy should promote the cohesion of the EU-territory by improving the use of all available resources in Europe's regions. The concept of territorial potential relates to numerous factors. These factors can be divided into tangible assets, such as natural and human resources, and intangible assets, like organisation, culture, social issues and governance. Un-mobilised territorial assets constitute territorial potentials that may be realised through policies and actions at various administrative levels. Seen against the backdrop of the deepest global economic slowdown in generations the identification of regional potentials and, furthermore, the elaboration of strategies and policies that might enable and facilitate the European regions to fully exploit these potentials, is more important than ever. To strengthen competitiveness one of the main challenges facing policy-makers and other concerned actors across the regions of Europe is to identify and mobilise the territorial potentials necessary for the creation of new jobs and sustainable economic growth. Understanding the nature of territorial potentials requires a process of analysing access to different types of resources in order to gain a more detailed knowledge of the economic base of the region. However, it also requires a regional process for prioritising and coordinating relevant stakeholders and policy-fields in order to implement the necessary policy initiatives.

Conclusions from the Mid Sweden Conference 20 – 21 July 2009 on renewable energy, clean technologies and regional development. The conference was organised in connection with the Swedish EU presidency by the county administrative boards and county councils of Jämtland and Västernorrland in Sweden. An overall message from the conference is that climate policy and cohesion policy are interrelated. Increased use of renewable energy and clean technology will help the shift from the recent development model to a future low carbon economy and decouple economic growth from energy consumption. Investment in these sectors will at the same time be vital for the future competitiveness of Europe. In order to successfully implement this strategy, the inclusion of the regional level in the implementation process is imperative because regions and municipalities are well placed to translate the EU- and national policy into practice and also to foster innovative practices and influence consumer behaviour as well.

Main messages from the Mid Sweden Conference 14 – 15 June 2011. The County Administrative Boards and County Councils of Jämtland and Västernorrland in Sweden organized the second Regional Development Conference aimed at addressing the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy in the context of renewable energy and clean technologies. The conference was held in Östersund on the 14th and 15th of June, 2011 with participants from different levels of governmental units, public and private sector, academia and NGOs in Europe as well as Canada. Main messages from the conference emphasized synergies between the clean technologies and renewable energy sectors that will help regional development strategies promote the EU 2020 strategy 'Smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe'. To reach the ambitious objectives set in the EU 2020 strategy, it is essential to have a bottom up approach while the objectives, strategies and measures need to be deeply rooted in strong communication among the local, regional and national levels. The role of regional and local authorities in this regard, is imperative to make use of the regional and local conditions and to establish innovative methods for integrating and utilizing local strengths and possibilities.

A scoping study discusses the understanding of the macro-regional approach now being developed within the context of EU cooperation from a territorial development perspective and particularly in relation to transnational cooperation and territorial cohesion. The process of regional integration has implied that a broader scope of themes is included in EU transnational cooperation. The macro-regional approach includes several types of actors, state and non-state, public and private all of whom are equally interested in the process of regional integration and cooperation. Macro-regional cooperation can be based on heterogeneous structures where shared challenges are the common denominator. In brief, macro-regional strategies may be seen as a tool of European integration and increased territorial cohesion. A certain amount of added-value can be foreseen from the development and implementation of macro-regional strategies. The message from the Commission that work must take place within the existing structural framework as regards the development and application of the strategy, moreover, implies that three fundamental questions must be posed in order to develop a successful strategy. On what themes can added-value be gauged in the development of macro-regional actions? What are the instruments at hand for implementing these actions (how)? What organisational capacity (who) is available for driving the process within the macro-region concerned? A macro-regional strategy thus needs a multi-sectoral, multi-instrumental and multi-actor approach in order to ensure that the novel use of existing structures helps to release undeveloped potential within a macro-region.

On making geographic specificity a driver for territorial development in Europe. As part of the ESPON project Geospecs delving deeper into the issue of geographic specificities and development potentials in Europe, this Working Paper presents analytical material and conclusions aiming at feeding the policy debate on local development challenges and opportunities in Europe's sparsely populated areas. After characterizing Sparsely Populated Areas in Europe in terms of demographic and socio-economic structures and trends, the authors propose a discussion that aims at inspiring the elaboration and implementation of local and regional development strategies in these territories. As a basis for dialogue, the authors developed a specific Nexus Model for Sparsely Populated Areas that illustrate how the spatial effects of sparsity impact 'soft' and 'hard' development factor in those areas leading to the identification of specific challenges and opportunities. An important conclusion of the report is that regional policies should more proactively promote the more efficient use of these areas' assets to grasp new development opportunities, for instance via reinforced Territorial Cooperation and expanded Business Networks, instead of excessively focusing on 'overcoming' their permanent locational disadvantage through 'hard' infrastructure.

Som ett svar på den rådande debatten om global uppvärmning och förändringar i klimatet har det nordiska samarbetsprojektet Framtidens Nordiska Stad bedrivits under 2007 och 2008. Städerna kommer att spela en viktig roll i den globala konkurrensen samtidigt som städernas fysiska och miljömässiga utveckling spelar en viktig roll i klimat politiken. De stora utmaningarna för framtidens stad är att hantera klimatförändringar i relation till fysisk stadsutveckling på ett konkurrens- och miljömässigt bra sätt. I arbetet med att påverka stadsstruktur, energianvändning och utsläpp från transporter samt medborgares värderingar och livsmönster, är strategisk fysisk stadsplanering, olika typer av ekonomiska incitament, lagstiftning, samt informationsspridning hos medborgare, viktiga verktyg för stat, region och kommun. Grundläggande förutsättningar är att arbetet organiseras på ett lämpligt sätt med tvärsektoriella samarbeten och samarbeten över de organisatoriska gränserna mellan stat, region och kommun. Genomgående i rapporten lyfts exempel fram som kan inspirera kommuner, regioner och statliga myndigheter i deras stadsplanering. Det avslutande avsnittet i varje kapitel – avslutande diskussion – vänder sig framförallt till regionala och statliga myndigheter i deras strävan att skapa förutsättningar och underlätta för kommuner att jobba mot ett klimatperspektiv i stadsutvecklingen. Projektet genomförs som en del av Nordiska Ministerrådets handlingsprogram Planläggning som instrument för hållbar utveckling i Norden och finansieras av Nordiska Ministerrådet och de deltagande nordiska länderna.

Nordregio has been commissioned by Boverket to perform a Nordic comparative study on strengths and weaknesses in the housing development and construction process in four urban regions: Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Oslo. The working paper presents results from the study. It is based on a desktop study as well as interviews with urban planners, construction companies and other representatives for the housing construction sector. Focus is on the urban planning process, costs related to housing development and construction, as well as financial instruments. Based on our study as well as studies performed by Boverket, the following report was presented before the Swedish Government in 2011: Analys av bostadsbyggandet i Norden

This paper discusses and further elaborates on the issue of how spatial planning can contribute to the development of climate friendly and sustainable transport solutions. Focus here is placed, primarily, on climate change mitigation – reducing the emission of greenhouse gases – though the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability are also highlighted. In order for spatial planning to properly address a sustainable approach to climate change mitigation, the other dimensions of sustainability, such as climate change adaptation, have also to be addressed. To achieve this, spatial planning, it is argued, has to create synergies between the six different toolkits presented in this paper. An understanding of the three factors of time, space and the nature of the stakeholders involved is also crucial in the search for climate friendly and sustainable transport solutions. The paper introduces a theoretical framework and then presents three cases in the regions of Stockholm, Helsinki and on the island Bornholm. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings arising from the previous sections.

Under ett par månaders tid har Nordregio genomfört föreliggande uppdrag åt Boverket, med syfte att kartlägga intressanta exempel på trygghetsprojekt i stadsplanering utifrån ett jämställdhetsperspektiv. För att på ett effektivt sätt – givet en tidsbegränsad studie - kunna identifiera intressanta projekt och/eller exempel i de nordiska länderna samt Frankrike, Nederländerna, Tyskland, Storbritannien och Kanada, har vi använt oss av den så kallade snöbollsmetoden. Vi kontaktade ett antal relevanta kontaktpersoner i de olika länderna, som i sin tur kontaktade de rätta nyckelpersonerna. Fördelen med en sådan metod är att man på ett snabbt sätt kan få tillgång till relevant information i de olika länderna. Nackdelen är att det i vårt fall med begränsad tid inte varit möjligt att gå vidare i de fall där "snöbollen inte kastats vidare". Så är tyvärr fallet framförallt när det gäller Frankrike. Snöbollsmetoden verkar ha fungerat bra framförallt i Tyskland, Storbritannien och Kanada där e-post med intressanta projekt kontinuerligt nått Nordregio. Det kan även vara så att snöbollsmetoden fungerat bra i de länder där det pågår ett stort antal intressanta projekt utifrån vår frågeställning. Resultat från föreliggande förstudie visar att framförallt Kanada, Tyskland och Storbritannien är intressanta för fortsatta studier. Tyskland visar på en bredd av projekt vad gäller framförallt jämställdhetsintegrering i stadsplaneringen, vilket inbegriper trygghetsfrågor. Kanada har varit aktiva när det gäller trygghetsfrågor i stadsplaneringen från ett jämställdhetsperspektiv. Tendensen idag verkar dock vara att trygghetsfrågan skiftar fokus från ett jämställdhetsperspektiv till andra perspektiv såsom ungdomsperspektivet. I Storbritannien finns det idag ett stort antal projekt kring trygghet i stadsmiljöer från ett jämställdhetsperspektiv.

An International Comparison Based on Gross-stream Data.

The Nordic Economic Policy Review (NEPR) is an annual publication presenting some of the latest and cutting-edge research into selected topics of economic policy. This publication provides a short summary of the five NEPR 2021 articles, which seek to answer the following questions:André Anundsen: What is the prevalence of house price bubbles in the Nordics?Erlend Eide Bø: Do buy-to-let investments lead to higher housing prices?Mats Bergman and Sten Nyberg: What explains the large increase in the relative cost of construction?Niku Määttänen: How can housing taxation improve social welfare?Essi Eerola: How do Nordic housing policies affect affordability and integration?

The aim of this study is to provide a preliminary overview of the potential inherent in the sustainable production of biomass and bioenergy, while, in addition,providing an analysis of their regional impacts in the Nordic countries. Over the last twenty years the Nordic regions have witnessed both the expansion of the bioenergy market and increasingly polarized economic development. Urban areas are rapidly growing while sparsely populated areas continue to face difficulties in finding new sources of income, and thus becoming ever more dependant on activenational and EU support. Given the desire to find new ways to restore and improve regional economic structures and provide additional income for these areas, theexpansion of the bioenergy market, in particular through first and second generation biofuels, is viewed as a potentially beneficial strategy towards the realisation of this ambition. The aim of this study is to provide a preliminary overview of the potential inherent in the sustainable production of biomass and bioenergy, while, in addition, providing an analysis of their regional impacts in the Nordic countries. Which Nordic regions are more suitable for biomass- and bioenergy production? Which bioenergyalternatives are likely to be more sustainable, and what are the likely social and environmental consequences of an increase in bioenergy production? These are thecentral questions this study attempts to investigate.

This working paper is based on the results of two case studies completed by Nordregio researchers for the EU FP7 project: Sustainable Urban Metabolism for Europe (SUME). The working paper presents the so-called Metabolic Impact Assessment (MIA) as an evaluation of two urban development projects: in Stockholm, the first phase of the Stockholm Royal Seaport development, and in Newcastle, England, the development of Newcastle Great Park. A synthesis of the two projects, including their local policy and socioeconomic contexts, are provided to complete a comparative analysis on the "metabolic" performance of each development. The MIA as a planning and appraisal tool is also evaluated according to experiences obtained during the two assessments. It is compared to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) legislation in Sweden and the UK with a specific focus on the decision making criterion applied in EIA. The goal is to identify potential synergies and prevailing contrasts between EIA and MIA. This provides an ability to ultimately assess the potential of MIA for becoming a mainstream planning tool for assessing resource performance of prospective urban development projects.

The rapid developments in wood-construction and the huge expectation built around the potential of ‘greening’ the construction sector by replacing concrete and steel with wood provide our empirical ground to study the drivers of innovation.

This publication provides the results of a case study on the construction sector transformation process triggered by the emergence of wood-based construction in Sweden and Finland, particularly of multi-storey buildings. We especially aim at reconstructing the micro-processes leading to innovations and breakthroughs in the market. Interviews with a variety of stakeholders have contributed to a reconstruction of a historical overview of some of the main events and drivers decisive for the industry’s development, from far past industrial and policy-driven steppingstones to more recent developments. In our analysis, we zoom into the more granular microprocesses that become evident when examining the interactions between actors within and beyond their formal roles.

Analytical report. This analytical report is one of three deliveries produced as part of the foresight and visioning exercise for the Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA). The two other outputs are a Vision report entitled "Strong, Specific and Promising: Towards a Vision for the NSPA in 2020" (Nordregio WP 2009:4) and a policy road map for their future development and positioning in the European and global perspectives. This report has mainly functioned as an input to the discussions in the Foresight workshops that were organised in Stockholm September, 11th and 12th and October 16th and 17th, 2008. The objective was to allow each participant to relate her or his own region to the NSPA as a whole, answering questions such as: what is different? What is similar? How does the NSPA make sense as a spatial context to understand ongoing processes and to design development strategies? This is however a revised version of the report initially distributed to the workshop participants, taking into account comments made on the maps and correcting and complementing some initially results.

The increase in immigration has been especially large since 2000 driven in part by several expansions of the European Union. At the same time, some of the Nordic countries have been the destination of large numbers of asylum seekers and refugees. While there has been increased immigration into the Nordic countries, there has been also population decline and rapid population ageing in the remote rural regions, outside of the large urban centres. This publication reports on the outcomes of a project which addresses regional and local practices on integration of labour migrants and refugees in six rural areas across the Nordic countries. The project was commissioned by the Nordic Working Group on Demography and Welfare under the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Committee of Senior Officials for Regional Policy, and carried out by Nordregio.

En jämförande studie i hur partnerskapsprincipen tolkats i praktiken i ett regionalt strukturfondsprogram i Sverige och i Finland.

Where do young people wish to settle down, and why? Recent data show a high level of internal migration among young adults in the Nordic region, with a striking differences in migration intensities between people in their 20s compared to people in their 30s. Exploring current trends in mobility is vital for regional integration and prosperity, planning provisions and projections. The attraction of young individuals from urban areas and university towns to non-metropolitan regions is an important source of economic growth for many regions. 

The review of young people's mobility behaviour in the early career stage in the Nordic countries highlights that migration decisions are influenced by a set of various push and pull factors, working simultaneously. It is important to understand the background of the mover, where the behavior of the mover is impacted by educational background and industrial specialisation, geographical origin, gender, income-level and civic status. 

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 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. 

In current discourse the knowledge economy is viewed as the primary saviour of European competitiveness. By increasingly focusing on economic activities that utilise knowledge and innovation as the primary value-adding feature rather than cheap labour or available raw materials the EU should be able to increase its constantly weakening competitive position vis-à-vis North America and the fast growing economies in South and Southeast Asia. In the Lisbon European Council in March 2000, the European Union set a strategic goal for the next decade "of becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion". There is thus an implicit expectation that an increasingly knowledge-based economy would automatically generate larger economic growth and prosperity. Before trying to illuminate further on that issue there is however a need to establish exactly how the knowledge economy could be operationalised to quantifiable measures. A generally utilised option here is the division of the knowledge economy into input and output variables. The former could be characterised as the actual endowments of the knowledge production system and include such issues as the educational level and knowledge of the population, the social capital of the population, the amount of money invested into education or the number of students, investments into research and development (R&ampD), etc. Output variables could be regarded as measurements of the economic or other output of the regional research environment and include, in addition to direct economic measurements such as GDP, issues such as the number of issued patents or patent applications or employment within certain knowledge-intensive branches. Thus the main question here centres on the patterns of knowledge economy inputs and outputs in Europe and how are these distributed among the regions of the continent.

Report from Nordic Council of Ministers' seminar at Nordregio 29th May 2012. At the Ministerial meeting at the Arctic Council in Nuuk in May 2011 the book was presented as an input to the discussions concluding Denmark's chairmanship of the Arctic Council. As a follow up on the Megatrends book the Nordic Council of Ministers' Secretariat took the initiative for a seminar where the megatrends could be discussed. The seminar was arranged by Nordregio and the Nordic Council of Ministers and held on&nbspMay 29th 2012 at Nordregio in Stockholm. In this report the presentations, discussions and conclusions from the seminar are presented. One of the aims of the seminar was that the results from the seminar can lead to developing exciting new projects and cooperation on a Nordic level about the Acrtic.

The synthesis report introduces a set of tools to get a better overview over the mechanisms in the demographic change. Further the connections between the research based process of analysis and the administrative process of policy development is discussed. A general demographic trend is the migration from smaller places to larger towns and cities. Besides that we tend to live longer and we tend to produce fewer children per woman. The consequence of this trend is that the population is gradually growing older. The main challenge in respect of gender is the uneven settlement pattern. With the exception of some major city areas few places see a surplus of women. The rest of the regions have a surplus of men. Another trend in the policy of the Nordic countries has in the recent years been to focus on attracting international migrants with a higher education. Thus, the value of international migration is seen more and more as an investment in human capital in the same way as investments are made in education itself. These are only some of the demographic challenges being discussed in the synthesis report. The report is based on the most up to date demographic data from the national statistical agencies in the Nordic countries and on the numerous research rapports recently produced by Nordregio, the OECD and other institutions on various demographic themes. A draft was discussed on a workshop in August 2011. The purpose of conducting this knowledge overview on demography in the Nordic countries is to use this as a basis for creating a handbook with tools and 'good practice' descriptions enabling national, regional and local authorities to work more effectively with issues in relation to the emerging demographic challenges they face and the future possibilities that stem from this.

Förtätning med kvalitet. De fallstudier, som läggs fram här, är utvalda så att de visar hur det har arbetats med hållbarhetsprincipen i de nordiska länderna. Gemensamt för de utvalda projekten är, att de alla har för avsikt att arbeta med kvalitetsmässig förtätning i samband med omvandling av äldre, stadsnära hamn- och industriområden. Syftet med fallstudierna är att försöka få en första inblick i vilka metoder och verktyg som används i det praktiska arbetet som pågår runt om i Norden kring förtätning med kvalitet.

The Nordic Working Group on Globalisation and Cross-border Cooperation has published a paper which gives an overview of the current eleven Nordic Cross-border Cooperation Committees and their work. Part one of the paper gives an overview of the geographic context, organisational structures and project activities of the eleven Nordic Cross-border Cooperation Committees, as well as a comparison of the similarities and differences between the cross-border committees. Part two elucidates some key elements concerning the work of the cross-border committees: border obstacles, the integration of public authorities, as well as the importance of the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Interreg programmes. The appendix of the paper contains fact sheets from each of the eleven cross-border cooperation committees which present their organisation and work in more detail. The paper is published in Swedish, English, and Finnish.

Den nordiska arbetsgruppen för globalisering och gränsöverskridande samarbete har publicerat en rapport som ger en överblick över dagens elva nordiska gränsöverskridande kommittéer och deras arbete. Rapportens första del ger en sammanfattning av de elva gränsöverskridande kommittéernas geografiska kontext, organisationsstruktur och projektaktiviteter. Den ger även en jämförelse av likheter och skillnader mellan kommittéerna. Rapportens andra del belyser viktiga frågor som gränskommittéerna arbetar med: gränshinder, integrering av offentliga myndigheter samt vikten av Nordiska ministerrådet och Interreg-program. Rapporten innehåller även bilagor med fakta om var och en av de elva gränskommittéerna. Dessa presenterar kommittéernas respektive organisation och arbete i detalj. Rapporten publiceras på svenska, engelska och finska.

Elinkeino-, energia- ja aluepolitiikan ministerineuvoston (ÄK-R) alainen globalisaation ja rajat ylittävän yhteistyön työryhmän julkaisema raportti on katsaus Pohjolan yhteentoista rajakomiteaan ja niiden työskentelyyn. Raportin osa yksi käsittelee Pohjolan yhdentoista rajakomitean maantieteellistä kontekstia, organisaatiorakennetta ja projektitoimintaa. Lisäksi se vertailee eri rajakomiteoiden yhtäläisyyksiä ja eroja. Osa kaksi käsittelee rajakomiteoiden keskeisiä toimialueita: rajaesteitä, rajakomiteoiden merkitystä viranomaisintegraation kannalta sekä Pohjoismaiden Ministerineuvoston ja Interreg-ohjelmien merkitystä rajakomiteoiden rajaalueeseen liittyvän työn kannalta. Raportin liitteenä on yhteenveto kustakin raja-alueyhteistyökomiteasta organisaatio- ja työkuvauksen kera. Tämä raportti on julkaistu suomeksi, ruotsiksi ja englanniksi.

This electronic working paper is a result of the project "Regional universities and university colleges, their regional impact on innovation, attractiveness and economic performance" commissioned by the Nordic Senior Officials' Committee for Regional Policy, the Nordic Council of Ministers. The overarching question for the case studies presented was to discuss how universities and university colleges can work as an active instrument in regional development policy in the Nordic countries and illustrate how some Nordic higher education institutions collaborate with the surrounding business environments. The case studies cover the Aalborg University in Denmark, the Oulu Southern Institute, Oulu University, in Finland, the School for Renewable Energy Science (RES) in Akureyri, Iceland, the University of Agder in Norway, Jönköping University in Sweden, Dalarna University in Sweden.

Based on discussions and presentations at seminars held by the Nordic working group 1b: Future rural areas. As part of the work of the Nordic working group Future rural areas (appointed by the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers), a series of seminars were held during 2009 and 2010. All in all four seminars were organised – one in each of the continental Nordic countries. The seminars focused on service provision, governance and business development in rural areas. This report functions as a documentation of the presentations given and the discussions held during the seminars. It is designed to provide an overview of Nordic rural development policies, to highlight the work of the various actors and initiatives at the centre of rural development work and to present ideas for future Nordic cooperation in the field of rural development. Four of the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden constitute the geographical focus of the work as these countries provided the active members of the working group and the venues for the seminars.

This paper is one of several outputs of a project called From Migrants to Workers: Immigrants’ Role in Local Labour Markets in the Nordic Region for the 2013–2016 Nordic Working Group on Demography and Welfare (Nordregio, 2016). This paper analyses data on recent migration flows into the Nordic countries. Another working paper analysed case studies of the process of integration in selected Nordic regions (Harbo, Heleniak, & Hildestrand, 2017). The paper also provides additional detail for the chapter on migration in the State of the Nordic Region 2018 report.

This executive summary examines the projected size, composition and geographic distribution of the population of the Arctic in the future, by examining the population projections carried out by the national and regional statistical offices in each of the Arctic regions.

The executive summary is based on the Nordregio Working Paper, Polar Peoples in the Future: Projections of the Arctic Populations.

Population projections are an input into population policy and are used by policymakers for a variety of planning purposes. Policymakers operating at different levels in the Arctic region should be aware of these population trends and able to plan for them.

Projections of the future size, composition and distribution of the populations of the Arctic states and regions are useful for policymakers for planning purposes. This paper presents and analyses the most recent population projections undertaken for the Arctic states and regions. Global population growth is projected to continue rising, from the current total of 7.4 billion to 10 billion in 2055. The population of the Arctic, as defined here, is predicted to change little, with a projected population increase of just 1%. However, there will be considerable variation in growth rates among the Arctic regions. Among the Arctic regions of Alaska, Yukon, Nunavut, Iceland, Troms, Khanty-Mansiy okrug and Chukotka, substantial population increases are projected, amounting to more than 10% over the projection period specified for each. Nordland, Finnmark, Pohjoil-Pohjanmaa (North Ostrobothnia) and Nenets autonomous okrug are projected to experience a more modest rate of growth of between 5% and 10%. The population of the Northwest Territories, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Västerbotten, Norrbotten, Lappi, Yamal-Nenets okrug, Yakutia and Kamchatka oblast are projected to remain roughly the same, neither growing nor declining by more than 5%. Kainuu in Finland, Karelia, Komi, Arkhangel'sk, Murmansk, and Magadan in Russia are projected to undergo reductions in population of more than 5% each. Common trends identified for nearly all Arctic regions in the future are aging populations, more balanced gender ratios between men and women, increased concentrations of population within larger urban settlements, and the depopulation of smaller settlements.

Research for this article is part of a project entitled Polar Peoples: Past, Present, and Future. This is supported by a grant from the U. S. National Science Foundation, Arctic Social Sciences Program (award number PLR-1418272). I would like to thank Olivia Napper, graduate student in the Department of Geography at George Washington University, for creating the maps in this paper and for other research assistance. This project also received funding from the Nunataryuk project which was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 773421.

One possible policy option for countries concerned about declining or aging populations is replacement migration – allowing or even encouraging international migration in order to counteract decline and aging of native populations. In the past two decades, net international migration into the Nordic region has been a much larger contributor to population growth than natural increase. This policy brief explores the likely demographic contribution of migration to population growth in the Nordic countries in the future and the extent that it could compensate for population decline or aging.

The population of a country grows or declines as a result of thecombination of two trends. One is natural increase, the difference between the number of births and deaths. A number of European countries have been experiencing ‘negative naturalincrease’ (i.e. more deaths than births) because women havehad fertility rates well below two children per woman and olderage structures. In recent decades, the Nordic countries have had positive natural increase as a result of having relatively higher fertility rates of just below two children per woman and relatively younger age structures.

This paper is one output of the 2017 to 2020 Nordic Thematic Group for Sustainable Rural Development. The purpose of this project is to provide policy makers at the national, regional, and municipal levels an idea of what the size, composition, and geographic distribution of the rural populations in the Nordic countries might look like in 2040. It does this by compiling the population projections done by the national statistical offices of the Nordic countries to examine the size, regional concentration, age distribution, and other characteristics of the rural populations in the Nordic countries in the future. The future size of the both the urban and rural populations are examined to provide context for the expected population trends in rural areas.

Erfarenheter från tre regioner i Sverige och Norge.