nordic horizons
Film: Outdoor kindergarten in Arctic Norway
At long last, outdoor nurseries and kindergartens are getting some official encouragement in Scotland. Pioneers like the Secret Garden in Fife and about a dozen others have offered an alternative to indoor early life for over a decade. But now Inspiring Scotland’s been funded by the Scottish Government to work with eight councils setting up new outdoor play projects. The need to get kids moving and enjoying outdoor activity is urgent. Five years ago, a study of 38 nations ranked Scotland joint last for physical activity, while childhood obesity levels here continue to rise, with a quarter of five-year-olds deemed to be at risk of becoming seriously overweight. So what does the future look like? Maybe a bit like Norwegian kindergarten today – minus the snow. So here’s a sa...Read More
On Thin Ice – is the Arctic safe?
Russia’s first floating nuclear power plant has left Murmansk for its 4700 kms trip to a remote Siberian port – according to Arctic Today. News agencies suggest China is building another 20 floating nuclear rigs. Meanwhile Donald Trump didn’t managed to buy Greenland but he can still wreak Arctic eco-havoc in Alaska. A new 200 kms motorway, a copper mine & oilfield have been proposed in the remote Brooks Range foothills – and it seems there’s little or nothing small, surrounding Arctic states can do about these developments. In 2011, Nordic Horizons organised a Festival of Politics debate about the safety of the High North, after Statoil (now Equinor) announced that its latest North Sea oil discovery (Aldous Major South) was the biggest Norwegian find in 20 year...Read More
Is the Future Arctic?
Is the Future Arctic? The Arctic Circle Forum, a roaming regional offshoot of the annual Arctic Circle Assembly, came to Scotland in November 2017 and Nordic Horizons ran a packed out Fringe event, with a great panel of speakers from across the Arctic. Our panellists were – Tukumminnguaq Nykjaer Olsen, a young student and campaigner from Greenland, who won this 2017 Arctic Innovation prize. Scots-born Rachael Johnstone, Professor of Law, Arctic Oil and Gas Studies at Greenland University Jon Baldvin Hannibalsson, Iceland’s former Foreign Minister, who took Iceland into EFTA and was the first to recognise the sovereignty of the Baltic states Rune Rafaelson, mayor of Sør-Varanger, Norway’s most northerly municipality, former Director of the Barents Secretariat and an expert on oi...Read More
Why do Nordic countries have three times more trade union members than Scotland?
Nordic Workplace Democracy This event on 20th February 2019 marked a rare trip outside Edinburgh for Nordic Horizons. Hosted by the University of Glasgow and introduced by Professor Chris Chapman, Director of Policy Scotland, University of Glasgow, the session focused on Nordic workplace democracy and was well attended by trade union activists and officials as well as the usual mix of students, researchers and policy officers. So why do Nordic countries generally have three times more union members than Scotland? Obviously, a societal framework of mutual respect, equity, negotiation and compromise helps trade unions thrive, in contrast to the casualised UK where unions have never recovered from the Thatcher period, and find it hard to win collective bargaining rights over wages in Britain’...Read More
Danes 1 – Fox News 0
Danes 1 – Fox News 0 – Event Details Sponsored by the Scottish Government Chair: Lesley Riddoch, Writer & Broadcaster Speaker: Dan Jorgensen MP, Danish Parliament Wednesday 30 January 18.00- 20.00 50 George Square Lecture Theatre Edinburgh University What do you expect MPs to do when a rightwing US TV station slags off their country? Well, Danish MP Dan Jorgensen decided not to get angry, but more than even. His Youtube video riposte to Fox News last year got almost forty million views online. Now he’s coming to Edinburgh to tell MSPs and a Nordic Horizons audience about Denmark’s success in appearing at the top of the Unicef Child Wellbeing Index, the UN’s World Happiness Index and lots of other international league tables for so long. What is Denmark doing right, why is C...Read More
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.
Is the far north safe in Nordic hands? – More details
Is the far north safe in Nordic hands? 13:30 – 14:30, Committee Room 1, FREE. The Arctic region contains a high proportion of the world’s fish stocks, includes important breeding grounds and has huge untapped supplies of oil and gas. The Norwegian government is pledged to exploit natural resources without harming this precious environment. On the 150th anniversary of the birth of explorer Fridtjof Nansen, the Chief Secretary of the Barents Secretariat, Rune Rafaelsen will outline Norway’s ambitious plans for human, natural and safe energy development in the High North, challenged by Anna Kireeva from the environmental group Bellona. The debate will be chaired by Lesley Riddoch, — co-Director of Nordic Horizons. Tickets are free but must be booked. Bookings open in “early July” ...Read More