As a Nordic node of the global SDSN, it is valuable to look at what challenges and opportunities the Nordic perspective brings to sustainable development. Ever since SDSN started producing the Sustainable Development Reports, the Nordic countries have been at the top of the rankings. SDSN has tried to analyse why and some factors have become evident. The Nordic countries:
- collect government revenue of around 50 percent of their GDPs
- demonstrate relatively high support for the SDGs
- perform strongly on socioeconomic goals, public institutions, and the rule of law
- are the happiest people in the world according to the World Happiness Report
- perform relatively strongly on some local environmental priorities (for example, wastewater treatment, air pollution, or deforestation)
Yet the Sustainable Development Reports rate rich countries, including Nordic countries, as “red” on several SDGs – particularly those related to responsible consumption and production, climate action, and biodiversity – meaning major challenges remain.
Since the Nordic countries share all these common challenges and opportunities, the SDSN Northern Europe secretariat decided to dedicate the latest member meeting to Nordic research collaboration for sustainable development.
The first speaker was one of the two co-chairs of SDSN Northern Europe, Professor Katherine Richardson from the University of Copenhagen. Her presentation circled around the advantages of Nordic societies in catalysing sustainability, which she said can be found in how we collaborate and have high trust between sectors and actors, as well as how we use our biological resources in terms of e.g., forestry and agriculture.
The newly published updated planetary boundaries framework, Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries, with Katherine as the first author, shows how six of nine boundaries are now transgressed. Politically the focus in the Nordic countries, and in general, is currently strong on climate change and finding “solutions”. However, Katherine said that earth is a complex adaptive system, and change in such systems comes from strategic and incremental changes, rather than instant solutions. Katherine expressed pressing concerns underscoring the delicate balance between resource consumption and conservation. She underscored the critical role of collaborative efforts and research in fostering transformative changes towards sustainable development.
The focus then shifted to ReNEW – Reimagining Norden in an evolving world which was presented by Professor Peter Stadius who is Research Director of the Centre for Nordic Studies at the University of Helsinki. ReNEW is an excellence hub, financed by Nordforsk, in research, education and public outreach. It brings together Nordic universities to develop new and path-breaking research about the Nordic region in a challenging global context. ReNEW’s versatile activities include working with emerging scholars, mobility programmes, hosting an annual Nordic Challenge Conference, running the Nordics.info website, as well as providing seed money for new research projects.
Next, Dr. Tuire Liimatainen’s discussion on the concept and practice of ‘Nordic added value in Nordic research cooperation‘ provided valuable insights into the dynamic landscape of Nordic research collaborations. Her report, published in May 2023 and supported by Nordforsk, highlighted the multifaceted nature of the ‘Nordic added value’ concept. In her report, she says that today, “Nordicness” may trigger thoughts on a range of beneficial features such as democracy, welfare, pragmatism and openness. At policy level, the Nordic added value is defined as the positive effects of a joint Nordic effort that take place through:
- Nordic solutions: activities that could otherwise be undertaken at the national level, but where concretely positive effects are generated through common Nordic solutions;
- Nordic solidarity: activities that manifest and develop a sense of Nordic community;
- Nordic capabilities: activities that increase Nordic competence and competitiveness;
- Nordic influence: activities that strengthen the Nordic international influence; and
- Nordic sustainability: activities that foster equal and balanced social, economic and environmental interactions in the Nordic region.
Finally, the amplifying role of NordForsk in facilitating Nordic research cooperation was emphasised by Director Arne Flåøyen. NordForsk finances research projects in a wide range of research areas, and form research calls in collaboration with national funders in the Nordic countries. Applications to their calls should always include funding bodies from at least three countries.
Currently, NordForsk has a Nordic-Baltic call for research projects on Green Transition open until 5th of December. Another upcoming large call is about Research on Sustainable Development of the Arctic. The call will fund interdisciplinary research projects, including indigenous perspectives.
The meeting concluded with updates from the SDSN Northern Europe secretariat, including the launch of a LinkedIn group to enhance collaboration among members and exciting developments such as the upcoming Sustainability Research & Innovation (SRI) Congress in Finland.
