In Focus
Norwegian youths set up company to help other youths
Ungt entreprenørskap – a Norwegian entrepreneurship education programme – helps youths access the labour market. At the youth company RaskJobb, five 17-year-olds want to show that young people can and want to work.
Finland’s Minister of Cooperation: Put young people first in difficult times
A father of five children, young people and education are among Minister of Cooperation Anders Adlercreutz’s areas of expertise. These are also among the focus areas for the Nordic countries in the coming year.
Swedish Emilia got a job thanks to Youth Power 2.0
Despite a growing business sector, many young people were long-term unemployed in Åstorp in southern Sweden in the spring of 2024. Now, new job opportunities have been created through building relations with both private and municipal employers. The motto is: Everyone must get a chance.
Danish students turn entrepreneurs to make a difference
An increasing number of students at Aarhus University choose entrepreneurship to solve important social challenges. One of them is medical doctor Christina Gravgaard Andersen, who has set up her own company while studying.
Nordic youth on what is needed to give them faith in the future
Many young people in the Nordics have a dim view of the future. Some struggle with mental health, remain outside education and work, and many worry a lot about their own generation. The Nordic Labour Journal has asked what they think is needed to create a brighter future.
Why Swedish countryside youths are ahead in the labour market
In Sweden, fewer young people from the countryside go on to university or other higher education compared with city youths. Yet more young people in rural areas – and especially men – start working earlier than their peers in towns and metropolitan areas. Many also work while studying.
Early intervention helps Icelandic youth back on their feet
In southern Iceland, a youth centre is working closely with other municipal agencies to ensure young people do not slip through the cracks on their journey to further education or the labour market.
Åland's government open for major offshore wind projects
“Åland must be an active climate and sustainability player and for us it is natural to exploit the wind as a resource. We don’t really have much else,” says Camilla Gunell, Minister for Infrastructure and Climate of the government that wants to open up for large-scale offshore wind power in Åland’s waters.
In Norway, fire extinguishers have entered the circular economy
Each year, millions of fire extinguishers that could have been reused are thrown out. At “Slåkkefabrikken” outdated extinguishers get a new lease of life. The circular economy is one of the tools used to reach climate goals. Still, the Nordic countries are lagging behind the rest of Europe.
More investments needed for Norwegian battery production to fuel the green transition
If the three Nordic countries Finland, Sweden and Norway worked together, they could become a major supplier of batteries and fuel the green transition, but professor Odne Stokke Burhei believes this requires a much greater willingness to invest than we have seen so far.
Five years left for Nordics to reach aim of being world’s greenest region
For five years, the Nordic Council of Ministers has been working with a vision to make the Nordics “the world’s most sustainable and integrated region”. This work has now reached its halfway point. Only five more years remain before the 2030 deadline.
Urban women in Denmark want to reform agriculture
Women from urban areas make up a majority of students in the Natural Resources bachelor’s programme at Denmark’s largest scientific research and educational institution, KU Science. The female students want to work towards healthier food systems, and job opportunities are good.
Special edition: AFI at 60
The Work Research Institute AFI in Oslo is 60 years old this year. It has been celebrated by a conference which presented some of the projects AFI researchers are currently working on. Sick leave is a hot political potato in Norway, and what is the true impact of working from home? The Nordic Labour Journal was there when State Secretary Per Olav Skurdal Hopsø openede the cionference and we have also interviewed AFI Director Elisabeth Nørgaard.
The joys of WFH versus the pressure of always answering emails
More than half of Norwegian employees have the opportunity to work from home, any time of day or night. But at what price? AFI researchers are looking at how the increased use of home offices impacts the work-life balance.
AFI and Arbeidsliv i Norden: A Nordic view of working life
The Norwegian Work Research Institute AFI turns 60 this year. For 24 of those years, the institute has published Arbeidsliv i Norden (the Nordic Labour Journal) on commission from the Nordic Council of Ministers.
When global supply chains are threatened, reshoring increases
It is better to manufacture closer to your market and pay a higher price than to lose sales and get dissatisfied customers. That is why several Swedish companies have decided to bring production back home.
Did Norway just find the industrial future in Telemark's bedrock?
The Fen Complex in Telemark has something the world needs: Europe’s largest documented deposits of rare earth elements. Now, plans are underway again for mining in one of Norway’s oldest industrial communities.
Do globes have anything to do with globalisation?
Has the world entered a period of deglobalisation? Or are the forces of globalisation so strong that trade continues to grow, only in new ways? When new barriers are erected, what will the consequences be?
Could fewer international students damage Norway’s international standing?
The number of international students in Norway is falling dramatically. Fewer Norwegian students are going abroad and fewer international students are arriving. A loss for Norway, argue educational experts.
Norway doing construction in a more orderly way, but EU temping rules might stop it
When Oslo’s new government quarter is constructed, it is done with workers who have regulated wages and working conditions. This is ensured, among other things, by the controversial hiring ban.
Document Actions