This policy brief is based on one of Nordregio’s Localising Agenda 2030 webinars. It highlights specific tools and processes employed by Nordic municipalities and NGOs to ensure systematic youth engagement and follow-up at the local level. During the webinar, municipal representatives from Gladsaxe in Denmark, Hafnarfjörður in Iceland, Tierp inSweden and Korsholm in Finland presented their tested tools and insights, along with two Swedish NGOs:Future Minds and Youth 2030 Movement. The examples in this policy brief on how to involve young people inlocal development generally target children and young people aged 0-25, and in some cases up to 29 years ofage.

Two central questions were addressed during Nordregio's webinar: how to ensure that young people cangenuinely influence decisions that affect them; and how to conduct inclusive follow-up work.

Across the world people are moving nationally from rural areas to bigger towns and cities, and within the European Union, people are also increasingly moving between countries. While migration in the Nordic countries has exceeded natural population increase as the most prominent driver of population growth, the Baltic countries have experienced significant out-migration in the latest decades. However, migration is only one of several demographic challenges that affect the demographic structure in municipalities and regions. Ageing of the population is another key challenge; in some places emphasised by out-migration of people in age groups being active in the labour force. Life-expectancy has steadily increased and together with the decrease in birth and death rates, people are living longer while the number of children is declining. Retirement age, the age when people exit the labour force, has not changed parallel with the increasing life expectancy and thus adds to the increased proportion of non-productive elderly citizens. These changes in the composition of the population will increasingly affect vital societal parameters such as the labour supply and the dependency burden, and eventually the ability to provide sufficient social services at municipal level.

Industrial symbiosis (IS) is all about saving money and reducing consumption by working together to maximise the outputs that can be generated from resources. It is one approach to realising a circular economy and achieving green growth. Through symbiotic activities between organisations, IS promotes sustainable resource use, minimises the input of materials and simultaneously eliminates waste. This policy brief presents five IS case studies from across the Nordic Region followed by a series of policy recommendations based on good practice in Nordic countries.

High-quality service provision in rural areas is becoming increasingly difficult due to social and demographic challenges, exacerbated by welfare cuts. Members of disadvantaged groups, such as the long-term unemployed, migrants and people with disabilities, may be particularly affected by shrinking social services as they often lack the resources to influence or compensate for this loss. How can user involvement in service design and delivery contribute to addressing these challenges? What is needed to make service-user involvement work? This policy brief, based on the learnings from the SEMPRE project financed by the Interreg BalticSea Region Programme, gives an introduction to a user guide that has been developed to empower disadvantaged groups in rural areas.

The Nordic countries are often positioned as digital front-runners in the European and global contexts. Digitalisation is changing the nature of business, jobs and provision of public services. Rapid digitalisation and technological change require governments and organisations to introduce proactive measures to embrace new digitalisation opportunities. How to create an enabling environment for digital transformation at the local, regional, national and Nordic levels?

This policy brief explores the local and regional dimension of digital transformation. It examines the opportunities and challenges that Nordic regions are facing related to digitalisation and highlights some lessons learned from five Nordic regions implementing digitalisation agendas. It also sets out key recommendations for creating an enabling environment for digitalisation work at different governance levels. This research is part of the work of the Nordic Thematic Group on Innovative and Resilient Regions established by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The development of a bioeconomy is at the forefront of the national and regional agendas of many European countries. Yet, little is known about the status and the institutional and policy frameworks for bioeconomy development in Northwest Russia. This policy brief aims at increasing the understanding of the opportunities and challenges for bioeconomy development in Northwest Russia by drawing upon lessons learned from bioeconomy case studies in the Republic of Karelia, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk oblasts.

Now, more than ever, is Nordic collaboration required across all levels of governance to help overcome the devastating socio-economic impacts of the pandemic and to solve the shared challenges posed by climate change and growing urban-rural divides. This policy brief examines six good practice examples of collaborative public service delivery from across the Nordic Region, highlighting the main drivers, challenges and enablers of collaboration and the replication potential of these Nordic collaborative examples. The policy brief finds that new and innovative models of Nordic collaboration are constantly emerging thanks to rapid technological developments that are helping to bring stakeholders together to solve common societal challenges. The high levels of cooperation outlined indicate that collaborative governance is continually evolving within the Nordic context.

This policy brief examines how co-management arrangements within small-scale fisheries can play a key role in enhancing sectoral and regional resilience. Despite major challenges, “multi-stakeholder collaborations” - such as co-management - demonstrate the potential for innovative knowledge transfer and strategic adaptation processes within the fisheries sector. The focus here is on Co-management Northern Bohuslän (Samförvaltning Norra Bohuslän), which promotes sustainable local fisheries and blue growth on Sweden’s west coast. The case illustrates how, under appropriate conditions, participatory local efforts can significantlycontribute to sustainability and resilience. The policy brief presents findings on related challenges and opportunities, including recommendations on future directions for the co-management initiative itself, and more general suggestions for co-management as a means to promote sectoral and regional resilience in the Nordic region.

Whether cities can provide a high quality of life for their inhabitants is an increasingly pressing question, especially in the light of rapid urbanization and climate change. However, recent research from four Nordic city-regions —which include Malmö, Stavanger, Aalborg and Tampere, and the areas around them—shows that detailed knowledge about inhabitants—permanent, temporary, new, multi-generational, or otherwise—in every part and subset of the city-region is lacking in spatial planning. If knowledge about the lives of those living in the city-regions is insufficient, then, how can specific spatial structures for a city-region be proposed as responses to different sustainability chal­lenges?

As a response, this policy brief proposes that, city-region planners should adopt Everyday Life Theory, (1) to influence everyday life practices in support of city-region sustainability; and (2) to better connect spatial structure/ urban form with existing sustainability challenges. By adopting Everyday Life Theory, we mean that planning should be based on empirical knowledge about the needs and experiences of different groups of people in relation to four different dimensions: employment, housing provision, mobility and social reproduction.

In many countries, renewable energy is highly prioritized, not only as a means of addressing environmental and energy security issues, but also as a potentially significant source of new employment, especially in rural areas throughout the OECD. One of the most important questions for policymakers is whether renewable energy can assist the development of rural economies. In response, this brief presents the results of a two-year project led by the OECD. The findings indicate that policy focused on the potential for renewable energy in the process of rural development should be cross-sector and place based. This implies identifying local conditions and opportunities, and integrating and linking the potential of renewable energy with local rural economies, as well as adopting inclusive modes of governance to ensure social acceptance. The results also indicate that while renewable energy has the ability to create new jobs, we should not exaggerate its potential. Overall, renewable energy is potentially useful for all rural and low-population-density regions, but mainly in shifting a community facing structural economic downturn to a new lower economic equilibrium.

Europe is currently dealing with a major influx of migrants and refugees. Every week, thousands of people are risking their lives for the opportunity to create a better future in Europe, notably in Germany and Sweden. Immigration is only the first challenge however. Once basic needs have been addressed, the arguably greater challenge of integration begins. This Nordregio policy brief presents a new way of measuring segregation – the diversity index – and outlines key steps that Botkyrka, a highly diverse municipality in the Stockholm County, has taken to alleviate Poverty and Social Exclusion, which could be instructive to municipalities across Europe, as they work to integrate new residents.

The Nordic countries’ climate policies are relatively ambitious in an international perspective, and the countries have progressively raised their climate targets in recent years. However, when designing national climate policies, it is important to assess not only their effects on territorial emissions but also the degree to which they will affect emissions in other countries. This policy brief provides recommendations on how the Nordic countries can optimise the overall impact of their climate policies.

This policy brief - based on the Nordregio report Skills Policies – Building capacities for innovative and resilient Nordic regions - focuses on how Nordic regions engage with skills development and skills matching as factors in regional development. It looks at the many points of linkage between the different actors involved, including the educational and business sectors, as well as the local and regional authorities.

The regional case studies include North-Karelia in Finland, Värmland in Sweden, the national capital region of Denmark, Hedmark and Oppland in Norway, the North-East region in Iceland and a more general study of approaches taken in Greenland.

Timber construction can radically cut carbon emissions. The construction sector is accountable for c. 40% of global emissions, a third of which comes from the production of building materials. Replacing concrete and steel with timber offers a huge opportunity to reach the carbon neutrality goals. Nordic and Baltic countries have a unique advantage in leading the way, given the vast forest resources available, a long legacy of the forestry industry and wood building, the in-built industrial capacity, and the well-functioning and interlinked supply chains across the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). Yet, decisive policy measures are needed to overcome technical, regulatory, and cultural obstacles. Challenging the status quo and creating a market shift demands holistic and collaborative approaches that can enable systemic change, as well as targeted measures to navigate through country-specific obstacles. 

Building regional resilience is vital in an interconnected global economy where external events have significant impact on regional and local communities. Resilience thinking gives regions the possibility to anticipate and respond to unexpected events.  

This policy brief examines different types of risks and a series of factors that help building resilience in the Nordic regions. This research is part of the work of the Nordic Thematic Group on Innovative and Resilient Regions established by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

This policy brief examines how small and medium-sized (SMS) cities can benefit from the introduction of a high-speed train connection. Our results indicate that such transport infrastructure projects might not be the best fit for all SMS cities, even though they can contribute to local urban developments, especially in medium-sized cities.

Policy recommendations from the project "Coastal societies and demography" Many rural areas are exposed to situations where schools are being closed due to the declining number of children, local shops are disappearing in the smaller towns, while local governments are struggling with pressure on the local public budgets. Parallel to this new residential areas are shooting up in the urban areas. This is just a small glimpse of the visible consequences of the on-going global urbanisation trend. In the Nordic coastal societies the urbanisation is also visible and the consequences are often even more pronounced.

Since 1990, the population of the Nordic countries has grown by 15 percent up to 26.5 million people, mainly due to immigration from abroad. Still many Nordic municipalities struggle with declining and ageing populations, and labour shortages. In this extended policy brief, Nordregio compares the process of integration of labour migrants and refugees into local communities and labour markets in five rural and rather remote Nordic regions, and the Faroe Islands. The aim has been to identify both good practices and barriers to successful integration, and to understand the roles of labour migrants and refugees in these local labour markets. Nordregio has conducted the research on commission by the Nordic Working Group on Demography and Welfare.

One possible policy option for countries concernedabout declining or aging populations is replacementmigration – allowing or even encouraginginternational migration in order to counteract declineand aging of native populations. In the pasttwo decades, net international migration into theNordic region has been a much larger contributorto population growth than natural increase. Thispolicy brief explores the likely demographic contributionof migration to population growth in theNordic countries in the future and the extent that itcould compensate for population decline or aging.

Waste management in the northern latitudes is often more challenging than in the more central regions. Under the Arctic climate conditions with large distances between settlements and to the recycling facilities, and relatively smaller markets and volume of produced waste, there are special needs for developing new innovative solutions for waste management. 

WANO focuses on cross-border business and innovation cooperation in the field of waste management, including municipal and industrial waste, in the regions of Troms, Finnmark and Nordland (Norway), Lapland and North Ostrobothnia (Finland) and Norrbotten (Sweden). The project identifies key actors, technologies, innovation trends, and cross-border collaboration possibilities in the Arctic waste sector.

Among the lessons learned so far which are highlighted in this policy brief are that waste management in Norway has already taken important steps to promote innovation and cooperation but that there is a demand for additional knowledge-based expertise among the waste management actors in north Norway. Cross-border initiatives are welcomed in north Norway by the actors. The big hindrance seems to be “know-who”: the Norwegian actors need more information about the actors across the border in north Finland and north Sweden.

This policy brief is based on the second of three webinars on Localising Agenda 2030 in the Nordics. It aims to highlight the shared experiences between Nordic municipalities and inspire local and national decision-makers to invest in and build capacity for measuring and reporting on SDG localisation. During the session, the cities of Espoo, Finland, and Helsingborg, Sweden, offered their best practices on developing and applying local indicator sets and shared how they went about conducting their respective VLRs. Panel experts from the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) and the Icelandic Association of Local Authorities (Samband) also joined the discussion. The challenges of developing comprehensive methodologies suited to the local context, working across departments, and coordinating with fellow Nordic municipalities to report on common targets were among the topics addressed during the session. 

The Nordic countries share many cross-sectoral targets at the national level to meet ambitious environmental, social, sustainable, and innovative development goals and targets. However, in the context of spatial planning, central governments in the Nordic countries often have limited ability to influence local and regional level priorities. As the Nordic region seeks a greener, more competitive, and socially sustainable future, understanding the diversity of ongoing national interventions and mechanisms in local and regional land use and spatial planning is needed.

The focus on Nordic national support initiatives is therefore to understand both the regulative and national support aspects (top-down) and the actual needs (bottom-up) to achieve national cross-sectoral targets as these relate to green and inclusive urban development. This policy brief presents a mapping of the relevant initiatives across the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).

This policy brief is based on the final instalment of Nordregio’s three Localising Agenda 2030 webinars held in March 2022. It aims to highlight the lessons learned from front-runner municipalities, as well as inspire local and national decision-makers to invest in and build capacity for sustainable procurement processes. In this webinar, the municipalities of Gladsaxe, Denmark, and Vantaa, Finland, shared how they have altered local procurement processes to align with sustainability goals. Together with panellists from the National Agency for Public Procurement in Sweden, the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) in Norway, and KEINO in Finland, the discussion addressed how other municipalities can use public procurement to strengthen sustainability practices and SDG mainstreaming across the Nordic Region.  

This policy brief is based on the first of Nordregio’s three Localising Agenda 2030 webinars in 2022. It aims to highlight the shared experiences between Nordic municipalities and inspire local officials and decision-makers to invest in adaptive leadership and smart steering tools. During the webinar, municipal leaders from Finspång, Sweden, and Kristiansund, Norway, presented their tested tools and learnings, followed by a panel discussion with Kópavogur, Iceland, and Espoo, Finland, addressing several questions: How is sustainability work organised within the municipalities to achieve genuine progress? How do mayors and officials collaborate to build commitment and momentum around Agenda 2030 in all departments? Which are the main barriers and success factors to efficiently integrate the SDGs into local planning and budgeting tools – and turn goal conflicts into synergies?  

Promoting green transition and building greener economies is currently high on the policy agenda in the Nordic countries. But how can we make it happen in practice? To answer this question, Nordregio went directly to those working with green growth at the regional level. We asked them about the main challenges that impede green growth in Nordic regions, and sought their ideas about potential ways to overcome these challenges and drive the green transition forward. These responses were then combined with the findings from a national policy review to inform a detailed analysis of the state of play, practices and needs of Nordic regions with respect to promoting green growth. This policy brief presents the findings of this analysis along with recommendations designed to support regional policy makers in their work towards a greener economy.

The questions of how to retain and attract young populations are central issues for regional policy development in the Nordic Arctic. Nordregio and the Nordic working group on sustainable regional development in the Arctic have carried out an analysis to uncover young people's own perspectives of their future possibilities in Arctic communities. This policy brief summarises the main findings of a number of qualitative case studies about young people living in remote locations. The aim is to voice the ambitions and future expectations of the young generation.

Despite relatively high standards of living, several indicators show that large groups of young people in the Nordic countries are not thriving. In addition, regional variations in the situation of young people across the Nordic countries are striking. Some attempts have been made to map the unhappiness among young people in the Nordic region. But so far, none have focused on regional variations within national boundaries or have taken the comparative Nordic perspective you will find in this policy brief. 

During the last decade, all Nordic countries have drawn up strategies for their Artic regions, with several countries even revising these Arctic strategies within this short period of time. It shows that the Arctic region has become a matter of higher political interest; not only at national level, where the focus has shifted from seeing the individual Arctic regions as general development areas to regions with geographic specificities that deserve particular attention at this point in time. The interest does not only lie in the Nordic countries but they are reflecting on other actors’ increased interest in the Arctic region; such as strategies drawn up by other circumpolar countries as well as the reason EU attention towards the Arctic regions. What are the goals and priorities in the Nordic national Arctic strategies?

Denna policy brief sammanfattar den kunskapsöversiktsom Nordregio tagit fram hösten 2017 på detta tema, för publicering i december 2017: Policies and measures to speed up labour market integration of refugees inthe Nordic region - A knowledge Overview, baserad på aktuell forskning och utvärderingar från samtliganordiska länder utom Island p.g.a. landets relativtsett begränsade flyktingmottagande. Läs mer på www.integrationnorden.org

This policy brief summarizes the key activities and learnings of the BSR Stars S3 - Smart Specialisation through Cross-sectoral Bio-, Circular- andDigital Ecosystems project 2016-2019. The project focused on how to engage business and research actors in the implementation of smart specialisation. This information is essential for public and private sector actors looking for new ways to improve regional innovation capacity and form inter-regional value chains within shared focus areas in the Baltic Sea Region.

The experiences of remote work during the pandemic have been fairly similar in the five Nordic countries. Similar trends are also evident, though to differing degrees, with respect to the effects on different places throughout the region. The most notable differences between the countries relate to the regional policy responses, and it is perhaps here that the greatest potential for Nordic added value emerges. Given this, our recommendations focus on ways in which to strengthen Nordic cooperation and cross-Nordic learning on issues related to the regional development and planning implications of remote work going forward.

 In the policy brief "How can labour market mobility in the Nordic Region be increased?", we provide recommendations to the Nordic policymakers that would ultimately help achieve the Nordic vision - to be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030.

Innovation ecosystems are vitally important for facilitating sustainable regional economic growth and stakeholder cooperation, particularly within the circular economy. This policy brief examines the new digital monitoring tool developed by the Council of Tampere to compile relevant data on ongoing circular economy initiatives and actions, including information on essential actors, material flows and current stakeholder collaborations. This policy brief outlines the main aims and features of the digital monitoring tool and makes recommendations for how to support the development and management of effective innovation ecosystems, such as the importance of fostering a culture of open data sharing amongst key regional innovation actors.

Industrial symbiosis (IS) is vitally important in facilitating the move towards a circular economy by helping industries and businesses cooperate in the exchange of natural resources and production infrastructures. Strong public and private sector leadership and firm links between industry and research institutes are essential for the formulation of effective IS initiatives. 

This policy brief examines three good practice examples of IS from the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) and outlines practical guidelines for public authorities and business development organisations on how to develop and implement IS ecosystems. This research is based on the activities and experiences of a project, BSR Stars S3, which was financed by the EU Interreg Baltic Sea Region and focused on BSR cooperation within the bio- and circular economy.

This policy brief examines the requirements for building effective transnational partnerships in different policy fields, based on the lessons learned from the recent Lighting Metropolis project – a cross-border innovation venture between Denmark and Sweden that sought to develop smart lighting solutions in urban environments. The brief begins with an overview of this new technology area, before outlining the main opportunities and challenges in the implementation of smart lighting throughout Europe. This is followed by a review of the key findings from Lighting Metropolis, with a focus on assessing the experiences of transnational co-operation identified during the project. Finally, the concluding section outlines a number of recommendations for enhancing transnational collaboration. The policy brief has been prepared by Nordregio as part of the BSR Stars S3 project. It is based on a literature review and interviews conducted with partners involved in Lighting Metropolis.

This policy brief examines whether inclusive digitalization is an important instrument for promoting regional growth and development in struggling rural areas in the Baltic Sea region. The brief highlights the potential benefits that digitalization can bring and the challenges faced in implementing an effective digital agenda in rural areas. The brief also provides key recommendations identifying possible initiatives and policies that may help local businesses achieve successful digital transformation. These recommendations are based on learnings and best practices from digitalization initiatives conducted in rural areas around the Baltic Sea region.

This policy brief is a part of BSR Stars S3 (Smart specialization in bio-, circular and digital economy in the Baltic Sea Region) project which seeks to enhance growth opportunities in the Baltic Sea Region, focusing on the bio-/circular and digital economy fields. Read more: www.bsr-stars.eu/bsr-stars-s3

The Nordic countries are known for their green cities, full of accessible green and blue spaces and surrounded by agricultural land, vast forests and lakes. These green and blue non-built up environments have the potential to offer a wide variety of supporting, regulating, provisioning ecosystem services and preserving cultural heritage. More precisely, Green Infrastructure is a multifunctional network that facilitates the adaptation to and mitigation of climate change, promotes human health and wellbeing, and enhances biodiversity. Strategic planning of land and water areas is necessary to ensure a coherent Green Infrastructure beyond the urban/rural divides. How do we achieve that?

Brownfield regeneration involves the redevelopment of underutilised areas of a city. This contributes to limiting urban sprawl and promotes investment to restore land that has been contaminated by industrial activity. As such, it is an important path towards more integrated, resilient and sustainable urban development. The European Environment Agency (EEA) estimates that there are three million urban brownfield sites with potential for future regeneration in Europe. In the Baltic Urban Lab project, partners around the Central Baltic Region have identified planning challenges in brownfield regeneration and developed solutions to tackle them through early and broad stakeholder involvement.

This policy brief has been produced within the project The Impact of Participation: mapping and developing the scope, forms and impacts of the communicative turn in urban planning (TIPTOP) (Medborgardeltagandets effekter: en kartläggning och utveckling av den kommunikativa planeringens omfattning, former och resultat) and is therefore written in Swedish.

Projektet Medborgardeltagandets effekter: en kartläggning och utveckling av den kommunikativa planeringens omfattning, former och resultat undersöker inbjudet medborgardeltagande i stadsplaneringsprocesser i tolv svenska kommuner mellan år 2000 och 2015. Deltagare i projektet är Förvaltningshögskolan Göteborgs universitet, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH), Nordregio samt kommunerna Stockholm, Nacka, Botkyrka, Upplands Väsby, Göteborg, Alingsås, Tjörn, Lerum, Malmö, Helsingborg, Lund och Landskrona. Associerade partners är: Trafikverket, Mistra Urban Futures, Boverket och SKL. Projektet finansieras av FORMAS, Mistra Urban Futures och Trafikverket. Projektet avslutas under 2019.

Meget tyder på, at et øget niveau af distancearbejde er kommet for at blive, i det mindste i en eller anden form, i kølvandet på COVID-19 pandemien. Men de langsigtede konsekvenser af dette for nordiske kommuner og regioner er langt fra tydelige. Denne policy brief opsummerer de første resultater af projektet 'Remote work – Effects on Nordic people, places and planning 2021-2024' og leverer anbefalinger designet til at styrke tværnordisk læring og samarbejde indenfor dette emne.

Increasing food self-sufficiency means rethinking global supply chains, (re-)adapting to local contexts, and ensuring optimal conditions for selling and buying locally produced food. Increased self-sufficiency and improved local food systems can have positive environmental, social, and economic consequences. However, whether increased self-sufficiency adds to more sustainable food systems depends on myriad factors, including production methods, the type of food in question, and the availability of local food on the local market. Previous research shows that local food production does not automatically equate to sustainable food production. This project sought to increase knowledge of how greater food self-sufficiency can contribute to increased sustainability and resilience in the food systems of five Nordic island societies: Bornholm, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, and Åland.

The Nordic welfare sector is facing significant challenges when it comes to providing effective social care services. While the demand for services for a rapidly growing elderly population is constantly increasing, the workforce delivering social care services is shrinking, with many workers reaching retirement age. Tackling the challenges related to recruitment and retention of qualified staff – and developing innovative approaches to the delivery of social care services – is becoming increasingly urgent, particularly in rural and sparsely populated areas (SPAs).

This policy brief gives an overview of examples across the Nordic Region aimed at tackling these resource challenges and exploring innovative ways of organising and delivering social care services in rural areas and SPAs. It is based on a desk study funded by the Nordic Welfare Centre (see more about this on the last page).

There is a high demand for redeveloping brownfield areas to make European cities grow in a more sustainable manner. As brownfield areas are often located within the urban structure, redeveloping them reduces the need to use green areas for new developments, and creates more compact cities. Remediating contaminated land in former industrial sites or harbour areas will also reduce environmental risks. This policy brief gives an overview of challenges for brownfield redevelopment in the Central Baltic region and is published as part of the Central Baltic INTERREG Baltic Urban Lab project.There is a high demand for redeveloping brownfield areas to make European cities grow in a more sustainable manner. As brownfield areas are often located within the urban structure, redeveloping them reduces the need to use green areas for new developments, and creates more compact cities. Remediating contaminated land in former industrial sites or harbour areas will also reduce environmental risks. This policy brief gives an overview of challenges for brownfield redevelopment in the Central Baltic region and is published as part of the Central Baltic INTERREG Baltic Urban Lab project.

Landsbygden genomgår för närvarande en omvandling från produktionslandskap till konsumtions- och upplevelselandskap. Turismnäringen är också den näring som växer mest internationellt sett. Omsättningen i turismnäringen i Sverige har ökat med över 80 procent sedan år 2000. Detta är en potential som landsbygden och dess företagare kan kapitalisera på.

Housing issues usually play a major role in urban studies, but are often overlooked as a factor in rural development. This policy brief explores aspects of the dynamics of the ‘frozen’ rural housing market in the Nordic Region, with a specific focus on the role of financing, the part played by municipalities and the potential benefits of a larger rental market.Housing is generally seen as a human right, a consumable that serves as the framework for our lives. However, at the same time, real estate is a financial commodity on the market. In many rural areas, the market value of houses is low – often considerably below the cost of construction. In consequence, it is very difficult to obtain loans to build or buy. This ‘freezes’ the market and has a strong impact on rural development overall, in effect acting as a boost to the trend towards urbanisation and the depopulation of rural areas. We will explore ways to counteract this dynamic.

Digitalisation holds considerable potential for rural areas. It offers thepromise of overcoming geographical distance, ensuring equal access toopportunity regardless of where people live. At the same time, rural andsparsely populated areas are thought to lag behind their urban counterpartswhen it comes to the provision of digital infrastructure and the developmentof digital knowledge and skills. These urban-rural disparities areoften referred to as the digital divide and can prevent rural communitiesfrom unlocking the opportunities associated with digitalisation.

Local renewable energy initiatives assume a prominent role in Europe’s developing distributed energy networks in the proposed EU Renewable Energy Directive for the 2020-30 period (RED2030).The IEA, OECD, the EU Commission and national governments are increasingly aware of this role and of the importance of reducing the barriers to their - of ten innovative - development. The OECD(2012) has stressed the need to ensure positive outcomes for local people in the expansion of renewable energy, and the importance of bioenergy in this regard.

Demographic handbook for the Nordic countries – and how the B7 islands could make use of it. The new demographic handbook for the Nordic countries, produced by Nordregio, emphasises the emergence of three key demographic trends across the Nordic countries. Migration is the main driver of demographic development with the population being increasingly concentrated to larger cities and regional centres the population is also ageing, although this varies both in its extent and in the actual rate of increase, while in addition, the gender balance continues to vary significantly across the territory. Individually and collectively these trends will have a crucial impact on practically all policy fields. The purpose of this policy brief is to provide regional and local policymakers with useful information for decision-making and planning to handle the demographic challenges.

The urgency of climate change, economic shifts, and recent energy crises has highlighted the need for the green transition, with a particular focus on Nordic rural areas playing a key role in developing renewable energy. However, there's concern that this transition might increase existing differences between urban and rural areas. Evidence suggests that people in rural regions feel they might be neglected, which could put fair green transitions and the achievement of climate goals at risk. The policy brief from the Just Green Transition in Rural Areas project emphasises the need to involve local communities in green projects to encourage a sense of ownership and fairness. It calls for early community involvement, clear communication, inclusive compensation strategies, recognition of non-monetary benefits, and using the flexibility of rural municipalities to their advantage. As Nordic rural areas face multiple changes, collaboration across different sectors is vital to ensure fairness and effectiveness in green initiatives, potentially making rural areas pioneers rather than followers in the transition.