Archives
2012 – How the Finns emptied their prisons
Tapio Lappi-Seppälä, Director, National Research Institute of Legal Policy, Finland. MAY 2012 The open prison on the island of Suomenlimma near Helsinki is an astonishing place. The 100 prisoners living there learn stonemasonry and other skills to help keep the 19th century stone fortress intact. They’re paid a wage and the tiny municipality of 400 people voted to have them there. Some of the astonishing facts that confronted members of the Scottish Prisons Commission on a visit in 2008 – after which the Finnish Penal system formed the basis of the Community Payback system recommended by Commission Chair Henry McLeish and adopted by the Scottish Government. Finland had one of the highest prison populations in western Europe until the 1970s. Since then, the imprisonment rate ha...Read More
2012 – How does Finnish education stay streets ahead?
This event in May 2012 was hosted by the Convenor of the Education and Lifelong Learning Committee, Stewart Maxwell MSP and sponsored by the Finnish Embassy with Nordic Horizons ‘The story of Finland’s extraordinary educational reforms is one that should inform policymakers and educators around the world. This book is a must read.’ Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford University. The book in question is Pasi Sahlberg’s Finnish Lessons which helps explains why Finland’s education system regularly tops world league tables for results, happiness of children, levels of literacy and esteem of teachers. The Finnish education system is so often cited as a blueprint that one Scottish union leader said he was fed up hearing about it! Most educationists, policy-makers and pa...Read More
Norway, independence, social democracy and Scotland’s referendum
Norway, independence, social democracy and Scotland’s referendum – Event Details Norway, independence, social democracy and Scotland’s referendum” organised by Nordic Horizons and the Public Policy Network Øivind Bratberg is a post doctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo. His primary research interests include social democracy and the Nordic model as well as British party politics and devolution. Øivind is co-author of The Nordic Model of Social Democracy (forthcoming at Palgrave, 2013) and runs the British Politics Society and newsletter in Oslo University www.britishpoliticssociety.no. He’ll be looking at Norway’s evolution through devolution and independence into the social democracy it is today and drawing paral...Read More
The full “Finns can only get better ” presentation
As promised, Dr Tapio Lappi-Seppälä has sent on a full copy of his slides which he used at the recent meeting of Nordic Horizons. They are full and comprehensive and and available here as "the Scotland 2012 Finnish prison reduction presentation ". As a reminder, you can listen to the presentation recording in real time by downloading the audio recording below. ( Tapio starts speaking about 7 minutes in ) . Download the "Finns can only get better" Podcast
“Finns can only get better” – the podcast
Humza Yousaf MSP, the host introduced Dr Tapio Lappi-Seppälä, Director, National Research Institute of Legal Policy, Finland. Finland had one of the highest prison populations in western Europe until the 1970s. Since then, the imprisonment rate has fallen to the low Nordic average but crime rates have stayed the same. Today, Finland has 59 prisoners per 100,000 of population; Scotland has 153. Finnish reform began when academics in the 60s argued criminal policy should be part of social policy, with employment and educational opportunities, and they also pointed out there was no evidence of a link between long prison sentences and less crime. Politicians legislated to turn prison sentences into community alternatives. The Scottish Prisons Commission modell...Read More
The full Pasi Sahlberg presentation
Pasi Sahlberg has kindly let us have a copy of his slides from his presentation. It’s a big file ( 3+ mb ) and you can download it here. Download Pasi Sahlberg Presentation in the Scotland Parliament 2012
Notes from Professor Thorvalder Gylfason – thanks to Lily Greenan
Nordic Horizons event, Scottish Parliament, 29th March 2012 From Collapse to Constitution: The Case of Iceland Lesley Riddoch; Welcomes and intros. Professor Thorvalder Gylfason, economist, from Reykjavik (Thor) Christina McKelvie MSP, Convenor of European and External Affairs Committee, hosting. Welcomes everyone. Special welcome to the Ambassador and the consular guests.
Public Policy Network Citizens Participation Group – Notes from a meeting
We are grateful to to the Public Policy Network Citizens Participation Group for a copy of the notes from a meeting with Professor Thorvaldur Gylfason. You can download the document – ‘Iceland’s Pots and Pans Revolution – Some Background’ here.
The Icelandic Constitution Explained
Great meeting on March 29th in Parliament with Professor Thorvaldur Gylfason who won the highest number of votes in elections for the Commission to write Iceland’s “crowd sourced” constitution. The ICC had no elected politicians – now the Icelandic Parliament are chewing over the radical changes a referendum to approve the constitution will take place on the same day in June as Presidential elections ( boosting turnout) or later in the autumn. Thor said many memorable things during the event – not least that he thinks anyone wanting an independent Scotland should consider handing the task of creating a new Constitution for Scotland to the people and should start the process now. What follows is not the whole event but Thor’s full speech – a riveting 45 min...Read More
Building Cabins and Building Character: A Knowledge Exchange event at the Scottish Parliament
Over seventy people crammed into Committee Room One of the Scottish Parliament last Friday to listen to two experts in different elements of the Norwegian outdoor experience talk about their own approaches to it and what this could entail for Scotland. Delegates from the 2012 Nordic Research Network conference, hosted by the Scandinavian Studies section at the University of Edinburgh, and members of the public heard from literary scholar Dr Ellen Rees and outdoor educationalist Dr Ralf Westphal about different aspects of Norway’s famous tradition of friluftsliv (outdoor life). To continue reading – click here.
Notes from a lecture
Lesley Riddoch, acclaimed Scottish journalist and commentator, visited the University of Oslo on 28 February to give a lecture on Scottish independence and Nordic linkages. The event was co-hosted by British Politics Society, Norway and the students’ union at the Department of Political Science. In front of a young academic audience, Riddoch emphasised the proximity between Scotland and the Nordic countries – geologically, historically and culturally – on the basis of which Scotland may be perceived as the southern tip of the Nordic region just as much as the northern tip of Britain. The relationship with Norway may have a particular relevance when seen against the latter’s short history as an independent nation and the many shared characteristics of the two countries, such as the extensiv...Read More
Iceland’s home-made Constitution – lessons for Scotland – Next Event
Iceland has made a steady recovery from the banking crash of 2008 which saw the country placed on the UK Terrorism Register. Slowly but surely this Nordic nation of just 300,000 people has been making sure such a crisis can never undermine the whole country again. It became clear that the 1944 Constitution (written when Iceland declared independence from Denmark), needed major revision. So a group of 25 ordinary folk was elected (from 550 self nominating volunteers) to rewrite the democratic rulebook. The Icelandic Economist Professor Thorvaldur Gylfason was involved from the outset and won the highest number of votes. The Icelandic Constitutional Council took 4 months to write the world’s newest Constitution with input by e-mail and social media (2/3s of Icelanders are on Facebook) and re...Read More