Contents

This publication is also available online in a web-accessible version at https://pub.norden.org/nord2022-011

Preface

We are very pleased to introduce the main takeaways from the Culture and Arts Policy Dialogues between Canada and the Nordics on 27 September, 27 October and 2 December 2021.

The dialogues were initiated by the Finnish Presidency in 2021 for the Nordic Council of Ministers for Culture and Canadian Heritage, and took place in the form of three virtual gatherings for a total of 180 senior officials and experts in the fields of arts and culture from Canada and the Nordics.

The objective was to give added value and strength to Nordic-Canadian cultural cooperation by complementing it with policy-level discussions. Additionally, the objective was to provide civil servants a platform to share information and exchange on cultural policy related issues. New connections and relationships have been formed between cultural policy administrators and experts. This will help shape the ongoing work on cultural sustainable development, diversity of content online, cultural mobility and the economy of the creative sector, which are of significant social, economic and international importance.
 

The 12 main takeaways are:

• Move culture in from the margins to the centre: Emphasise interrelated variables
• Support and inspire commitment towards positive action
• Identifying the tools for a systematic change
• Influence the industry as a whole
• International engagement and multi-stakeholder collaboration is key
• More algorithmic transparency both for consumers and content creators
• The first step in combating misinformation and disinformation is to understand what they are
• Current policy responses: not a one-size-fits-all approach
• Supporting tools for exporting; case Canada
• Promoting and marketing the creative industry; case Iceland
• Investing in content with low risks and high growth; case IPR.VC
• Further opportunities for dialogue; case Nordic Bridges

This series of dialogues between Canada and the Nordics has made it clear that the regions are committed to cultural sustainable development and diversity both in a national and an international context. Common concerns and initiatives show that Canada and the Nordics aim to promote strong democracies, social inclusion, cohesion and well-being in the societies by supporting and harnessing the arts and culture.

– The Finnish Presidency 2021 for the Nordic Council of Ministers for Culture

Introduction

In 2019, the Nordic Council of Ministers for Culture chose Canada and one of its top contemporary arts institutes, Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, to lead the Nordic cultural initiative Nordic Bridges. Built on shared values of creativity, innovation, inclusivity, resilience and sustainability, Nordic Bridges serves to connect the Nordic Region and Canada by means of collaboration between Nordic and Canadian artists, innovators and thinkers. It will be presenting multidisciplinary contemporary art, culture and ideas across Canada over the course of 2022.

The momentum created by Nordic Bridges and its expanding artist-to-artist dialogues offered a unique opportunity to also examine another opportunity within the international collaboration of arts and culture by creating an exchange between decision-makers in arts and cultural policy to facilitate in-depth dialogue, knowledge-sharing and network-building on a governmental level.

The Nordic countries and Canada have many things in common. The Vision 2030 Declaration issued by the Nordic Prime Ministers in 2019, as well as the Nordic Co-operation Programme on Culture Policy 2021–2024, affirms that Nordic cooperation concentrates on developing a green, competitive and socially sustainable Nordic region. Canada wants to achieve a sustainable future as well. The Nordic countries and Canada are strong democracies, sharing principles of equity, gender equality and respect for diversity as well as freedom of arts and culture. The Northern and Arctic dimension with its sparsely populated regions is another characteristic shared by these countries.

The dialogues examined topical questions related to the cultural dimension of sustainable development and the green transition, diversity of content online and the future of mobility and cultural export. The topics tackled in the dialogues were selected based on discussions between the Finnish Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Canadian Heritage. The themes, which were chosen together, proved relevant for cultural policy and beyond – both nationally and internationally.

NORDIC LIGHTS^{[1]NORDIC LIGHTS (Part of the Nordic Bridges). Photo courtesy of the Artist Daniel Iregui} /  LONG JOURNEY HOME^{[2]LONG JOURNEY HOME (part of Nordic Bridges). Designer: Liv Aurora Jensen, Inuk Design. Photo courtesy of the Artist.}

Dialogue 1

Cultural dimension of sustainable development and the green transition in the field of culture

Dialogue 1, hosted by Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture and the Nordic Council of Ministers, covered themes such as the role of culture in the national and international implementation strategies of the 2030 Agenda and the promotion of the green transition in the field of culture. Both policy development and best practices and tools in the field were shared during the dialogue to enhance a transparent and systematic change.

TAKEAWAY 1

Move culture in from the margins to the centre: Emphasise interrelated variables

The absence of culture in the Sustainable Development Goals makes it difficult to integrate culture in the 2030 Agenda implementation strategies and reporting schemes. Despite this, 50% of the Voluntary National Reviews submitted since 2016 directly link to the SDG initiatives that have a cultural component, and about one in ten countries mention the transversal role that culture plays. We need to take a critical look through the reporting schemes, address the synergies between policies and place emphasis on interrelated variables.

“To put it simply: the lack of alignment of and synergies between different reporting systems may result in important evidence being neglected. And, in general, of course the position of culture and cultural policy being somewhat in the margins of sustainable development does precious little to the place of culture in the political agenda or to harnessing culture and its many positive externalities, such as well-being and health, the economy or trust and democracy.”
– Kimmo Aulake, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland

“The 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present sustainable development as a set of interrelated variables– from poverty alleviation to education, employment, social justice and climate change– highlighting the close linkages between different public policy areas. Critical development challenges reflected in the 2030 Agenda shed new light on the crosscutting role of culture for sustainable development as a lever for international cooperation and dialogue and an enabling factor for sustainability.” 
– Paola Leoncini Bartoli, Director for Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development, UNESCO

To put it simply: the lack of alignment of and synergies between different reporting systems may result in important evidence being neglected

Kimmo Aulake, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland

TAKEAWAY 2

Support and inspire commitment towards positive action 

Culture plays an important role in promoting social and environmental sustainability, in moving people in the right direction. There is a lot of innovative and transformative power in the cultural field but the capacity for realising the changes is sometimes lacking. Art and culture must therefore be supported, especially when collaborating with other countries and other sectors, so that sustainable development has a greater impact.

”Cultural experiences and institutions are key to supporting sustainability messages and outcomes, through: providing openings for dialogue; points of access that resonate with the public; providing opportunities for creativity and expression, where visitors can consider big questions and imagine how they can contribute to solutions; and helping visitors feel hopeful and empowered; promoting agency.”
– Stacy Wakeford, Director, Experience and Engagement, Canadian Museum of Nature

“The Nordic art sector is to a very large extent made up of nonprofit organisations, small enterprises with a lot of innovative powers but not necessarily with the means or the infrastructure to bring environmentally sustainable ways of production or distribution into life themselves, so therefore we will need to support structures that promote green innovation. We are, for example, launching a programme called Sustainable life styles in the Nordics, where the cultural sector works together with other sectors like tourism, education, food system etc. with the aim of developing ways to make it easier and more attractive to live more sustainably in the Nordics as a consumer.”
– Eva Englund, Senior Adviser, Nordic Council of Ministers

Cultural experiences and institutions are key to supporting sustainability messages and outcomes

Stacy Wakeford, Director, Experience and Engagement, Canadian Museum of Nature

TAKEAWAY 3

Identifying the tools for a systematic change

We have recognised that cultural content is important when it comes to sharing how urgent and imperative it is to take action. We need to create more sustainable production methods and the smartest thing would be to make a systematic change in the whole industry. However, this requires a macro-level overview of the situation and common tools and standards. 

“We have the idea that producing in a sustainable way makes us save money. But we don’t have any proper studies on this. First of all, we don’t have enough data from the audiovisual industry. Like what are the emission levels of our industry, let alone how many people are working there and how much TV and film each country is producing. The second part is that we also lack common tools and standards, which easily combine with the lack of data. We don’t have a common tool how to calculate our emissions, so we don’t have any specific number on how much Finland pollutes, for example. And then we also need someone to be in charge in the Nordics. It is not particularly smart use of resources if each country is doing the same thing simultaneously.”
– Anne Puolanne, TV freelancer and environmental specialist; sustainability manager in Audiovisual Producers Finland (APFI) and founder member of Nordic Eco Media Alliance (NEMA)

We have the idea that producing in a sustainable way makes us save money

Anne Puolanne, TV freelancer and environmental specialist; sustainability manager in Audiovisual Producers Finland (APFI) and founder member of Nordic Eco Media Alliance (NEMA)

TAKEAWAY 4

Influence the industry as a whole 

“Audiovisual Producers Finland (APFI) is leading a three-year-long project, creating a nationwide strategy on sustainability in Finland, meaning that we will have targets and actions how to reach those targets in economic, social and cultural, and environmental sustainability. The most important thing is that everything is going through APFI, so we are gathering the whole industry, but we are also funded by the whole industry – the biggest and the key stakeholders of our industry. Not to talk big, but yes, we are aiming to create the actual systematic change for the Finnish audiovisual industry”
– Anne Puolanne, TV freelancer and environmental specialist; sustainability manager in Audiovisual Producers Finland (APFI) and founder member of Nordic Eco Media Alliance (NEMA)

“We are talking about putting together a sustainable industry as opposed to a sustainable organization. The spirit in which our strategy was developed and the research that went into it is really more about collaboration, working with our industries and our partners internally and externally in order to achieve our targets.”
– Athena Trastelis, CRSP, MHSC, Senior Manager, Environment, CBC/Radio-Canada

We are talking about putting together a sustainable industry as opposed to a sustainable organization

Athena Trastelis, CRSP, MHSC, Senior Manager, Environment, CBC/Radio-Canada

SASHA HUBER, STILL OF RENTYHORN, 2008.^{[1]SASHA HUBER, STILL OF RENTYHORN, 2008. Video, 4:30 mins (part of Nordic Bridges). Courtesy the artist and Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma. Photo: Siro Micheroli.}  /  NORDIC LIGHTS^{[2]NORDIC LIGHTS (part of Nordic Bridges). ‘Pressure’ by Hans E Madsen. Photo: Brian Medina.}

Dialogue 2

Moving forward – guiding principles on diversity of content online (DOCO)

Dialogue 2, hosted by the Government of Canada’s Department of Canadian Heritage, to raise awareness on the initiatives and files led by the Government of Canada and Nordic partners around the four themes of the Guiding Principles on Diversity of Content Online. A panel of Canadian and Nordic subject matter experts shared best practices, experiences, and government commitments. The ensuing discussion explored common priorities and potential collaboration between Canada and the Nordics.

TAKEAWAY 5

International engagement and multi-stakeholder collaboration is key

The online platforms that act as intermediates for our cultural content and information belong to a few global tech giants that are constantly changing the way they operate.  To promote diverse content online and to address challenges related to it, we need to collaborate internationally with a variety of stakeholders. We need to engage with platforms, civil society and researchers so that we can make sure work at the policy level is relevant.

“The internet crosses all borders and it is necessary to work with a range of stakeholders. The department of Canadian Heritage has established a multi-stakeholder working group with like-minded countries, civil society, and private sector. The current partners we are working with are Australia, Finland, France, and Germany, a number of civil society organizations, important private sector partners and a parapublic agency. Over the course of several months we did manage to negotiate and publish our international Guiding Principles.”
– Erin Murray, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

“We would like to exchange best practices for engaging with stakeholders. Given the international momentum and the rapidly changing digital landscape, it is important to share information and understand even from the platform perspective the challenges they face in the marketplace and ways to make our regimes more palatable and conducive to a better operating marketplace.”
– Pietro Cimino, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

”Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) is an initiative launched in June 2020. The idea was first developed within the G7 during the Canadian presidency. It’s an international and multi-stakeholder initiative that seeks to guide responsible development and use of artificial intelligence worldwide. Membership [,as of October 27, 2022,] includes eighteen countries and the EU. As member countries of GPAI we are working together to facilitate safe multi-stakeholder experimentation on key AI issues in order to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI.”
– Christophe Mariage-Beaulieu, Government of Canada, Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

The internet crosses all borders and it is necessary to work with a range of stakeholders

Erin Murray, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

TAKEAWAY 6

More algorithmic transparency both for consumers and content creators

The lack of transparency in how algorithms work affects consumers, and leaves a knowledge gap in how algorithms influence and recommend the content that is shown. Lack of transparency also affects news publishers and other content creators, who do not have insight into how their content is being used on the platforms. Algorithmic recommender systems that platforms often use have the capacity to place users in filter bubbles that reinforce their own biases and limit their exposure to a plurality of sources, diversity of types and genres of content. One concern is that the platforms are aggravating polarisation and radicalisation of opinions and are moving users towards violent and extremist views. The topic of algorithmic transparency is of great interest, and international research is being conducted together with platform companies and users to help policymakers develop appropriate measures.

“No direct compensation is owed to media organizations when portions of their news stories and/or links are shared on platforms under Canadian copyright law. Platforms like Google News have major products based on navigating copyright law in this way. Publishers note several impediments to building their own online businesses including duopolistic control of the digital ad marketplace by Google and Facebook, a lack of meaningful bargaining power with these entities over the way that the news are featured online, a lack of sharing user data on how this content is being used and unpredictability and lack of transparency in the algorithmic changes made by online platforms that could impact these news outlet businesses.”
– Pietro Cimino, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

“At the moment the working group will deliver a formal and technical proposal for the fact-finding exercise. This proposal will form the basis for a first pilot within a member country of GPAI that will focus on terrorist and violent extremist content. The fact-finding exercise will be a one-year duration and will be conducted by a researcher embedded within the selected social media company and working with the guidance of the engineers whose job is to study and update the company’s recommender system. Over the longer term they ought to undertake similar projects in other member countries of GPAI and with other social media companies.”
– Christophe Mariage-Beaulieu, Government of Canada, Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

At the moment the working group will deliver a formal and technical proposal for the fact- finding exercise

Christophe Mariage-Beaulieu, Government of Canada, Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

TAKEAWAY 7

The first step in combating misinformation and disinformation is to understand what they are

“The digital citizen initiative (DCI) is Canada’s program and policy center for disinformation and online harms. DCI has two steams of work. The first is programming and outreach – we want to understand and combat online disinformation. Understanding is really the first pillar of this; we find that disinformation could be better understood especially in the Canadian context. Second, and more recent, we want to develop new rules for social media platforms, so this involves a lot of policy and regulatory development.”
– Steven Wright, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

“The research project that I’m part of is developing a term like digital source criticism. Source criticism is a term that is very common among journalists, and also historians, like how can you trust the source, has the source some bias, where does the information come from, this is kind of an attitude among journalists. And now with the digital sphere you need different kinds of tools and approaches so we are doing research on how journalists work when it comes to verification and fact checking in a digital sphere and we also are looking into what the tech companies are doing when it comes to reducing the spread of mis- and disinformation. We are doing both empirical and theoretical work in this area.”
– Bente Kalsnes, Associate Professor in Communication, Kristiania University College

“We found that trust is extremely important to users and trust in social media is quite low, and yet social media is where most people get their information, so there is a big disconnect. We also found that when awareness about algorithms is higher, confidence in determining misinformation/disinformation also goes up.”
– Erin Murray, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

The digital citizen initiative (DCI) is Canada’s program and policy center for disinformation and online harms

Steven Wright, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

TAKEAWAY 8

Current policy responses: not a one-size-fits-all approach

During the dialogue, current Canadian policy responses were presented as means to address the issues and concerns that impact citizens and users’ exposure to diverse content online. Bill C-10 is an act that intends to modernize Canada’s Broadcasting legislation. It aims to better include new online broadcasting companies that have emerged and put an emphasis on creating broadcast programming that speaks to the interest of all Canadians.

“We recognize that services like Netflix look very different to services like YouTube and Amazon Prime. It’s acknowledged that a one-size-fits-all approach or one that looks identical to how Canadian traditional broadcasters are being regulated is not really appropriate. The regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), requires the flexibility to look at a service, see what makes it work and see how its business model would be most effectively regulated. Not to disrupt their service but to harmonize it with our federal regulation.”
– Patrick Smith, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

When talking about fair remuneration for news creators, two potential tools were outlined to redistribute the revenue of online platforms. One of the key points in this context is maintaining press independence, and to ensure that publishers of different sizes are able to benefit in a way that helps them be economically sustainable.

“First there is a mandatory contributions approach. This involves introduction of legislation to give an independent regulator the power to compel monitory contributions to the Canadian online news ecosystems by platforms. These financial contributions can be based on an independent determination of the value that news represent to the platforms or they could be based on the dominant and privileged role that platforms play in Canadian information ecosystem and base the contribution on an extension of this.” 
– Pietro Cimino, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

“The second approach is a potential arbitration framework. This would consist of an obligation for platforms to pay for news that they provide online together with an arbitration framework to settle any disputes in order to create an avenue for publishers and platforms to negotiate deals. This arbitration framework, which is sort of similar to what we have seen in Australia, would include a code of conduct so a regulator would be given the power to implement a mandatory code that would dictate the rules for negotiations between platforms and publishers in order to set a healthy negotiation environment. And the second aspect would be final offer arbitration. This is a method of resolving disputes where both parties submit their final offer and an arbitrator makes a binding decision as to which offer will stand.”
– Pietro Cimino, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

The Digital Citizen Initiative (DCI) is now developing new rules for social media platforms to combat online harms, which will be put into future legislation and regulation. Following public consultations that took place this summer, the DCI is exploring how to address harmful content online, make social media platforms more transparent and accountable, and create appropriate oversight mechanisms for the online environment that make the internet a safer place while respecting freedom of expression.

We recognize that services like Netflix look very different to services like YouTube and Amazon Prime

Patrick Smith, Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

STORY, STORY, DIE^{[1]STORY, STORY, DIE (part of Nordic Bridges). Photo credit: Mats Bäcker.}   /  SIGNMARK AT NORDIC SPOTLIGHT^[2] 

Dialogue 3

Export culture: International collaboration and the mobility of people and ideas

Dialogue 3, hosted by Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture and the Nordic Council of Ministers, took a look at the creative economy and artistic mobility. The takeaways from the dialogue present each case study; Canada’s and Iceland’s export and marketing strategy for the creative sector, an innovative venture capital fund investing in media content, and the joint Nordic cultural initiative Nordic Bridges.

TAKEAWAY 9

Supporting tools for exporting; case Canada

Canada’s Creative Export Strategy was launched in June 2018 with the goal of helping Canadian creators to maximise their export potential and to stand out in the global market.

The strategy is delivered by Canadian Heritage in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada and involves an investment of CAD 125 million over five years. Canada deems the creative industries as important to its economy, and considers cultural exports to be key for the development and strength of the creative sector.

Canada’s creative industry consists predominantly of small businesses and self-employed workers. Relative to other sectors, the pandemic hit them financially the hardest and longest with many sectors still recovering. Canada sees exports as a potential way to boost recovery form the pandemic and support long-term sectoral growth and resilience. 

“We know that only 7% of Canadian creative firms export, but they account for 30% of the GDP and employment. So, they account for a disproportionate amount, which is quite incredible. We also know in the last recession, if you look at the data from 2010 to 2015, the average annual growth of creative exporters was 25% compared to non-exporters of 5.2%. That’s really important because that 25% growth puts them into the category of high growth firms, which is something that is talked about a lot. Supplementally, we found that there are 2,400 to 7,800 cultural goods and services producing firms in Canada that could potentially trade but do not currently export. These firms could generate up to 6.4 billion in value.”
– Rupert Oliver Allen, Senior Economist, Creative Export Strategy International Trade Branch, Canadian Heritage

“Since the strategy was launched in 2018, we have supported over 1,925 businesses across Canada in all creative industry sectors. The Creative Export Canada (CEC) program so far has supported 66 export-ready businesses for a total of 32.9 million in funding yielding high economic returns for the sector. The two most successful projects alone were able to generate approximately 23.7 million in revenue. While there have been many positive results and successes from the Strategy, there are also some key lessons learned. For example, we initially focused on supporting export-ready business and prioritized return on investment, however, we are exploring the potential for new programs and service delivery models going forward.”
– Lara Thorpe, Acting Director, International Trade Policy, International Trade Branch, Department of Canadian Heritage

We know that only 7% of Canadian creative firms export, but they account for 30% of the GDP and employment

Rupert Oliver Allen, Senior Economist, Creative Export Strategy International Trade Branch, Canadian Heritage

TAKEAWAY 10

Promoting and marketing the creative industry; case Iceland

Iceland’s export strategy has gone through a strategic change since 2019. Previously, Business Iceland focused largely on tourism and destination marketing, sometimes at the expense of the arts and creative industries. Today’s strategy focuses on six industries, art and creative industries being one of them. This is a game-changer for the sector and for how Business Iceland can work with and for the creative industries in Iceland.

Creative Iceland is a marketing initiative operated by Business Iceland, established to lead the promotion and marketing of Iceland in foreign markets and stimulate economic growth through increased export.

“Business Iceland put forth half of the funding towards the initiative and the government the other half. Combined we have roughly CAD 900,000 a year for the initiative. The project management of Creative Iceland is in the hands of Business Iceland, in collaboration with each and every creative center for each and every creative field. The centers also form the marketing advisory board for the project along with specialists from every ministry that fund the project as well as a representative from the University of the Arts in Iceland.”
– Kristjana Rós Guðjohnsen, Head of Creative Industries, Business Iceland

“What makes this project so exciting, in my opinion, is that we get with it the opportunity to work on a comprehensive strategy for the marketing of art and the creative industries and we get to be more focused on the promotion of art. The project also gives us the opportunity to be more focused in all of our conversations with foreign media about art and creative industries, this is something that has been systematically worked on for the tourism industry for over a decade, and we’ve seen the positive results it can garner. We measure all of the actions across different arts and thus manage to measure success and summarize in a holistic way how valuable art and creative industries are to our Icelandic image abroad.”
– Kristjana Rós Guðjohnsen, Head of Creative Industries, Business Iceland

Business Iceland put forth half of the funding towards the initiative and the government the other half

Kristjana Rós Guðjohnsen, Head of Creative Industries, Business Iceland

TAKEAWAY 11

Investing in content with low risks and high growth; case IPR.VC

In the context of the creative sector, one often hears that capital is lacking. Venture capital investors normally tend to invest in media technology and in platforms. However, often these have uncertain exit markets and investing in such companies is costly. IPR.VC is a growth capital fund that invests in film, TV and interactive media business. It is a private fund with investors such as foundations, family offices, fund-of-funds, state fund-of-funds and the managers themselves. The business model is built on investing in the growing global media and entertainment market, in royalty-based products. They make the investment together with strategic partners, such as distributers and film studios, that commercialise the products.

“There are certain roles that different financiers have to take. It’s IPR.VC’s job to make investments in the commercial content products with high revenue targets. Our Fund investors demand high profit for the capital. That is why we do not finance sub-contracting project work where the added value is low and there is no high profit opportunities for the investors. But there are separate financiers for project work: banks and credit facilities which can give financing against company guarantee, tax rebates or completion bonds. Their profit target is lower than risk financiers like us because there is less risk for the financier. Then there is non-refundable support. In Finland, for example, Business Finland can support technological development and product development, those investment vehicles are meant for project business or developing companies. For creative skills and education which is the basis for creative work and CCS business there is education, and foundations and state funding that make that possible. So there are separate roles and everyone should do their own task as well as possible.”
– Tanu-Matti Tuominen, Partner, Co-Founder, IPR.VC

“What’s the difference between media technology and media content? In media tech and technical platforms the creativiness is in functionality and in the code. But in the content IPR, the core is in story and characters, they are emotional products. In media technology, the companies and startups are sold to technological giants, most of them to large US companies. In the content IPR, investor exit and the profit of the products, they come in the long term on a royalty basis.”
– Tanu-Matti Tuominen, Partner, Co-Founder, IPR.VC

There are certain roles that different financiers have to take. It’s IPR.VC’s job to make investments in the commercial content products with high revenue targets

Tanu-Matti Tuominen, Partner, Co-Founder, IPR.VC

TAKEAWAY 12

Further opportunities for dialogue; case Nordic Bridges

The joint Nordic cultural initiative Nordic Bridges is not only an exchange of ideas for Canadian and Nordic artists to collaborate and share; it is also an arena for further dialogue in parallel with the Nordic Bridges programme. Two examples are the panel discussions held in association with the Nordic Talks initiative launched by the Nordic Council of Ministers, and the Arctic Arts Summit co-hosted by the Government of Yukon and the Canada Council for the Arts. Harbourfront Centre aspires to ask challenging questions around shared values and advance the conversation between Canada and the Nordics.

“There are four key pillars that we set to informing the Nordic Bridges programming: artistic innovation; programming that challenges the status quo, accessibility and inclusion; fostering belonging and participation through art and the engagement of diverse audiences and artists, Indigenous perspectives; engaging Indigenous voices from Canada and the Nordic region, in particular the arctic dimension of these conversations, and resilience and sustainability; exploring how our shared, rugged, natural landscapes inform and shape our art and design, and the measures that are being put in place to preserve these landscapes for future generations.”
– Laura McLeod, Project manager of Nordic Bridges / Director, Cultural Engagement at Harbourfront Centre

“One of the things Harbourfront Centre decided to do with this when building the budget, when outlining what this initiative would look like, we actually had two separate lines: One for accessibility and inclusion and one for sustainability. What are those additional investments that we need to make, to make sure we have that outcome? Our aim for this is to be a carbon-neutral festival. We aim for this to leave no mark on the planet. It’s bold, but again we put a separate line in the budget to say what do we need to invest to make this happen. Carbon outsets, zero food waste from reception, from the little to the big; we are invested in this. It’s a new way forward in how Harbourfront Centre produces.”
– Laura McLeod, Project manager of Nordic Bridges / Director, Cultural Engagement at Harbourfront Centre

We aim for this to leave no mark on the planet

Laura McLeod, Director, Cultural Engagement, Harbourfront Centre

About Nordic Bridges

Nordic Bridges, the cultural initiative of the Nordic culture ministers, will take place in Canada in 2022. Nordic Bridges is a year-long exchange of art, culture, and ideas between the Nordic Region and Canada, led by Harbourfront in Toronto and supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Built on shared values of creativity, innovation, inclusivity, resilience and sustainability, Nordic Bridges will serve to connect the Nordic Region – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland – and Canada through collaborations between artists, innovators and thinkers.

Learn more at nordicbridges.ca

Acknowledgements

We would like to extend heartfelt thanks to our main partner, Canadian Heritage, for their inspiring cooperation. Canadian Heritage held a central role in executing the dialogues. We would also like to express our warmest thanks to the secretariat of the Nordic Council of Ministers and to all the distinguished experts who contributed to the Culture and Arts Policy Dialogues between Canada and the Nordics. We look forward to keeping in touch with you all.

The takeaways are drawn up by Ida Enegren (BA), commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland. We would like to express our gratitude to Ms Enegren for her valuable contribution to the programme. Some of the quotes have been slightly edited for clarity.

Lastly we would like to thank all the participants that attended and contributed throughout the series. Hopefully you found the many insights and experiences of our speakers beneficial and that it inspired you to reach out and extend your networks.

Best wishes,

Director General Riitta Kaivosoja and the working group: Kimmo Aulake, Julia Hallberg, Riitta Heinämaa, Laura Mäkelä, Samuli Parkkinen and Marjaana Seppinen

About this publication

Changing the system – promoting cultural sustainable development and diversity

Expert opinions from the Culture and Arts Policy Dialogues between Canada and the Nordics in 2021

Nord 2022:011 
978-92-893-7283-1 PDF
978-92-893-7284-8 ONLINE
http://dx.doi.org/10.6027/nord2022-011

© Nordic Council of Ministers 2022

Layout: Gitte Wejnold
Cover photo: Outi Pieski, Gorži at Nordic Lights Festival 2022, Toronto. Photo: Brian Medina

Published: 04.04.2022

Nordic co-operation

Nordic co-operation is one of the world’s most extensive forms of regional collaboration, involving Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland.

Nordic co-operation has firm traditions in politics, economics and culture and plays an important role in European and international forums. The Nordic community strives for a strong Nordic Region in a strong Europe.

Nordic co-operation promotes regional interests and values in a global world. The values shared by the Nordic countries help make the region one of the most innovative and competitive in the world.

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