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Projects within the Nordic Council of Ministers' Nordic Demographic Programme 2013-2014

Demographic challenges in Hedmark and Dalarna (Demografiske utfordringer i Hedmark og Dalarna)

Applicant: The Hedmark-Dalarna Cross-Border Committee
Countries: Sweden and Norway

The project focuses on the themes of competence provision, labour recruitment and local attractiveness. The regions of Hedmark and Dalarna in Norway and Sweden share similar demographic challenges and have been cooperating on finding solutions to those challenges since 2007.

The main activities of the project include gathering information concerning the project themes, mapping relevant project experiences as well as compiling good practice examples. A demographic guidebook for Hedmark-Dalarna will be published based on the gathered information. Organising a "demographic laboratory" for spreading information and knowledge to municipalities concerning demographic challenges and opportunities is one of the main tasks in the project.


Home is where the heart is (Mit hjem er hvor mit hjerte er)

Applicant: Centre for Regional and Tourism Research
Countries: Denmark, Norway and Iceland

The project focuses on young people who have migrated from their hometowns but maintain strong ties and participate in or organise social and cultural events in their local communities. The ties that young people have to their areas of origin, as well as their local identities, can be considered as significant place-specific resources in peripheral areas. The aim of this project is to make those resources and the role of young emigrants in local communities more visible. Another aim is to increase visibility and recognition of such place-specific resources by developing a "creative resource map", which not only shows concrete activities and events, but also visualises more intangible commitments and ties between the young who have moved and the communities they grew up in.

The regions in Norway and Iceland included in the project have had good experiences with earlier cultural and social projects involving young people who have migrated from their home regions. In the "Home is where the heart is" project, the aim is to gather good examples and experiences and develop them further in Bornholm, Denmark.

Read more about the Centre for Regional and Tourism Research: www.crt.dk


Participation and innovation in remote areas – focusing on local production, art, culture, and tourism (Lokal deltagelse og innovation i udkantsområder – med vægt på lokal produktion, kunst, kultur og turisme)

Applicant: The Research Centre for Social Development, Faroe Islands
Countries: Faroe Islands and Iceland

The main goal of the project is to encourage and support inhabitants of small local communities in the Faroe Islands and Iceland to organise activities that can attract jobs and income to the respective areas.

The project is rooted in the knowledge and needs of the local inhabitants. The participating institutions work together with local populations in developing new ideas and implementing them. The focus is on activities related to local production, art, culture and tourism that can achieve well-being to the remote areas of the islands. A model to suggest and initiate activities will be developed and these activities will continue even after the end of the project.


See beyond the horizon (Vidga horisonten)

Applicant: Sunderby folkhögskola, Sweden
Countries: Sweden and Norway

The project aims at finding new models and testing new methods for dealing with the generation shift in the Nordic countries. Citizens over 55 are the primary target group of the project. In Norrbotten, Sweden, the aging population and decrease in population will cause challenges in maintaining health care services and filling all open vacancies after retirements. Melsomvik, Norway is about to face similar demographic challenges.

The project aims at promoting entrepreneurship for person over 55, creating new mentorship models to transfer knowledge to younger employees as well as finding new methods for utilising the competencies of people over 55. The aim is also to promote a better understanding of the wishes and needs of individuals over 55 when it comes to issues such as more flexible employment.


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