OUTCOMES & Learnings

Nordic Bridges has successfully enhanced interaction between the Nordic Region and Canada, primarily among participating artists and cultural organisations, through collaborations which fostered new networks and artistic partnerships.

Source: Oxford Research's evaluation of Nordic Bridges

The third-party evaluation of Nordic Bridges, executed by Oxford Research, concluded that the year-long initiative had been a successful programme, demonstrating how funding can create significant impact and benefits for participating stakeholders and artists. By aligning closely with Nordic culture policy goals, Nordic Bridges promoted democracy, diversity, and dialogue, providing a platform for ongoing conversation and new partnerships. The funding from the Nordic Council of Ministers led to substantial returns. The initial funding of DKK 5 million made a DKK 32 million programme possible.

The evaluation also stated that the programme received positive feedback from both artists and partners, highlighting its high artistic quality and relevance to local interests. Guided by four programming pillars, Nordic Bridges catered to Nordic and Canadian stakeholders and audiences, with audience attendance surpassing initial goals. The initiative enhanced interaction between the Nordic Region and Canada, fostering new networks and artistic partnerships.

Participants reported positive experiences and direct benefits, such as artistic growth and new market access. The initiative enabled artists to explore new directions and reach new audiences.

The Covid-19 pandemic posed significant challenges, leading to event cancellations, travel restrictions, and funding difficulties. However, it also offered extra planning time, which many found beneficial, and enabled more detailed curation. Artists had time to create original work, often sometimes through new collaborations.

Harbourfront Centre carbon offset all air travel and actively worked against single-use items and food waste. However, it is recognised that significant funds are needed to implement fully climate-neutral productions.

Nordic Bridges has been a successful programme and a prime example of how funding can be leveraged to have considerable impact and provide benefits for participating stakeholders and artists.

– Oxford Research's evaluation of Nordic Bridges

Overall, Nordic Bridges provided substantial Nordic added value by uniting the regions and promoting their commonalities in Canada on a larger scale than possible bilaterally.

Furthermore, Nordic Bridges was organised in an efficient and effective way, with continuos dialogue between Harbourfront Centre and the key organizing Nordic bodies; the embassies in Ottawa, the national contact points at arts councils in the Nordic regions, as well as the Nordic Council of Ministers´ secretariat acting as a hub and link to Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Culture.

Selected key results

Artists gained artistic development, exposure to new markets, and international networks

Nordic Bridges has led to strengthened interaction between the Nordic Region and Canada

Nordic Bridges provided an opportunity for Nordic artists to promote and share their work

Nordic Bridges was an effective platform for cultural diplomacy and presented the Nordic Region as innovative and creative

Nordic Bridges was successful in including artists from all Nordic countries and in highlighting different artistic fields

Audience numbers of 150.000+ people were achieved, despite the pandemic effects

A high level of Nordic added value was created, and in a way not possible by bilateral efforts

The programming pillars helped create a diverse, inclusive and topical programme

Recommendations for future Nordic joint cultural initiatives

Future initiatives should maintain seed funding with strong Nordic and local partners, and define focused, measurable goals while ensuring flexibility. Additionally, they should aim for a balanced programming period with a concentrated geographic focus and provide funding for sustainable collaborations and long-term impact.

Consider programme length and geographic focus aiming for a balanced programming period and potentially concentrated area
Define focused and measurable goals but ensure that flexibility is maintained
Give generous amount of time for research and planning - multilateral collaboration takes time
Establish clear definitions and expectation for each partner involved in the initiative
Provide access to continued funding for collaborations created by the initiative for long-term impact

Source: Oxford Research's evaluation of Nordic Bridges and Harbourfront Centre's final report

Nordic Bridges is about cultural exchange and how we can use international co-operation to bring about change. New pathways for collaboration have been created and strong links between Canadian and Nordic artists and other professionals have been forged.

Marah Braye, CEO of Harbourfront Centre (2022)

ART SPIN: Mobile Sweat. Catrine Pedersen and Stina Fagertun: Under the Northern Lights – Stories and more from Arctic Norway.
Photo by Eva Englund / norden.org