3. About the Nordic network on complex welfare services
The Nordic network on complex welfare services is an arena for government actors in the Nordic countries for reflection, discussion and knowledge sharing on how to structure and coordinate efforts in the face of wicked problems.
The network's target group is users of welfare services with complex needs – regardless of age and diagnosis. Therefore, the network's focus is not limited to a specific service area as the network is concerned with the organisational and structural level of the entire spectrum of welfare services.
The discussions in the network are based on a user perspective and examine how systems, rules, structures and forms of cooperation promote or hinder holistic services. The main challenge is regarding organisation, responsibility, coordination and cooperation between the state, regions, municipalities and other relevant public actors.
The network is supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers in the period 2023–2025, and the participants is representatives from government organisations from Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Åland Islands, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
The Greenlandic Social Agency (Isumaginninnermut Aqutsisoqarfik, Greenland), the Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing (Félags- og Húsnæðismálaráðuneytið, Iceland), the Department of Social Services (Almannaverkið, the Faroe Islands), the Social and Environmental Department of Ålands Provincial Government (Ålands landskapsregering, the Åland Islands), The Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir, Norway), the Directorate of Labour and Welfare (Arbeids- og Velferdsdirektoratet, Norway), the Directorate of Health (Helsedirektoratet, Norway), the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen, Sweden), and the Danish Authority of Social Services and Housing (Social- og Boligstyrelsen, Denmark).
The network's working group has carried out a mapping of complex welfare services. The entire network has met twice – once in October 2023 in Reykjavik, where the mapping was launched, and once in Tórshavn in May 2025, where the preliminary findings of the mapping were discussed.
In addition, the network hosted a network seminar in Copenhagen in November 2025, where the results of the mapping were presented, and where several speakers discussed different solutions and perspectives on the complex challenges facing the Nordic welfare model.