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The Norwegian civil servant working for Sweden

(Mar 23, 2023) In January, Norwegian Finn Ola Jølstad swapped his day job as a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion in Oslo for a job at the Swedish Ministry of Employment. His job exchange lasts six months and falls right in the middle of Sweden’s EU Presidency.

It is time to get women on board again

(Feb 27, 2023) The number of female state leaders is falling. In rapid succession, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced their retirements.

When sustainability becomes the fashion

(Jan 19, 2023) The circular economy is only part of the solution for making our society greener. But it is very concrete and it is easy to measure its results. The circular economy is the theme for this edition, and we look at how it influences trade, fashion and the textile industry.

Nordics, Nato and the neighbourhood

(Nov 29, 2022) The Nordic Council is 70 this year, which was of course celebrated during its annual session in Helsinki. The Council President Erkki Tuomioja pointed out that parliamentarians cooperated for twenty years before the ministers got involved. In this edition, we take a closer look at the Nordic cooperation.

New ways of recruiting skilled labour

(Oct 28, 2022) 2023 has been designated the European Year of Skills by the EU Commission. Skills are about more than simply having knowledge, it is about having the ability to use them to carry out tasks and solve problems.

What is “real” work?

(Sep 22, 2022) Our need to be seen and appreciated is often as important or more important to us than pay. But what happens when the boss is an algorithm? Our theme this time is artificial intelligence, AI, and the Nordic labour market. That is quite a lot to chew on, so we only have space to take a few bites.

Nordic nuances regarding whistleblowers and paternity leave

(Aug 18, 2022) Nordic citizens have many rights that can seem nearly utopian to people elsewhere in the world. But in certain areas, there are surprisingly large differences also between Nordic countries. Paternity leave is one example.

Are left-handers discriminated against?

(Aug 11, 2022) 13 August is Left Handers Day. The day celebrates the uniqueness and differences of left-handed people and was launched 46 years ago. Yet it has still not had a major impact, and it remains a bit of a mystery why left-handed people have never organised better.

Green aims in uncertain times

(May 26, 2022) One of the most important goals for the Nordic labour market cooperation is to make sure the right knowledge and skills are available to meet the demands of the green transition. But new and surprising challenges must also be dealt with.

Social sustainability under pressure from many sides

(Apr 25, 2022) Street battles in Sweden between people from disadvantaged areas and the police have less to do with a Danish politician wanting to burn the Koran and more to do with a lack of social glue between different groups.

MEP Jytte Guteland: another Swedish climate champion

(Apr 25, 2022) After eight years as an MEP and chief negotiator for EU’s climate legislation, Social Democrat Jytte Guteland is ready to leave the European Parliament to run for a seat in the Swedish one.

From modest environmental goals to the world's most sustainable region

(Mar 25, 2022) 23 March marked 60 years since the signing of the Helsinki Treaty in 1950. It came into force on 1 July that year and saw amongst other things the creation of the Nordic Council of Ministers – the Nordic governments' cooperation body.

Nordic gender equality paradoxes and power distribution

(Feb 25, 2022) More than 100 years after Swedish women got voting rights, Sweden got its first female Prime Minister last year.

A new starting point for labour market research

(Jan 28, 2022) The pandemic created a need for new labour market research. NordForsk will soon announce nearly 50 million kroner of funding for future research. This is our starting point as we look at how the Nordic countries coordinate their research programmes.

Islands with their own point of view

(Dec 10, 2021) The Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland see the Nordic cooperation as a stepping stone to the outside world. But they also bring plurality to the Nordic table by enhancing awareness of different governance arrangements, peoples and their rights.

Fredrik Karlström works hard to make Åland more diversified

(Dec 10, 2021) Fredrik Karlström has become a veteran of Nordic labour market cooperation. The Minister for Industry and Trade in Åland’s government pops up in pictures everywhere in the Nordic Labour Journal archives. The first was taken in 2012, where he poses with Nordic colleagues on the quayside in Longyearbyen in Svalbard.

Do we choose new or old?

(Nov 27, 2021) Good cooperation can be about new initiatives as well as protecting things that actually work. What drives developments can be people, new organisations or pressing new circumstances. This issue of the Nordic Labour Journal is a mix of all three components.

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