Nordregio’s primary research focus and competence areas
As a strategic research institute, we are required to adjust our research competences to meet the needs of our main stakeholders, including the Nordic Council of Ministers and the national and regional authorities responsible for regional development in the Nordic countries, Faroe Islands, Greenland and the Åland Islands.
- Regional Rural and Demographic Development
- Urban Planning and Sustainable Development
- Regional Innovation and Green Growth
- Governance and Policy: Regional Reforms and Strategies
Read more about each research area in the Nordregio Strategy 2020 - chapters 2-5.
Other core competencies include mapping and GIS analysis (see chapter 6 in the strategy and our maps section), and communications and outreach (see chapter 7).
Policy support
Nordregio is recognised and respected as a leading Nordic and European research institution within the broad research fields of urban and regional development studies. We primarily conduct solution-oriented and applied research, addressing current issues from both a research perspective and the viewpoint of policymakers and practitioners.
Nordregio works on commissioned projects that help policymakers and practitioners to tackle economic, social, planning and governance challenges. This involves active participation in European, Nordic and national research programmes (e.g. ESPON, Horizon 2020, Interreg, NordForsk, Formas, The Research Council of Norway). We develop new knowledge and data, perform territorial analyses on a transnational and pan-European level, as well as conduct evaluations of various European and national support programmes.
Operating at the international, national, regional and local levels, Nordregio’s research covers a wide geographic scope, with an emphasis on the Nordic and Baltic Sea Regions, Europe and the Arctic.