Photo Agaton Strom/Norden.org. Mathias Engmark/Roskilde Festival/Visit Denmark. Ricky John Molloy/Norden.org

A socially sustainable Nordic Region

Our Nordic welfare societies are largely based on trust, but several trends are now putting both the welfare model and social cohesion under pressure. We must keep the Nordic Region socially sustainable and robust. The Presidency will focus on ways to develop and improve the services that help more people live independent lives and participate in society. This applies to all citizens, including older ones who need care and attention. A robust welfare society is also one in which we create welfare together in close interaction with local communities and civil society. This entails promoting active citizenship, so that people, including those from a migrant background, engage in their communities and participate in democratic processes.

Social sustainability entails equal opportunities for a good life and the same freedoms for all. Naturally, that includes girls and women with an immigrant background who are subjected to negative social control. At the same time, we must all protect the environment and resources for future generations, which also means that society must be resilient in the face of external challenges and pressures. Our democracy and values such as equality and fairness are at the core of our Nordic identity. We must keep it that way.

Figure 4 shows the Gini coefficients for the Nordic countries and the EU. The Gini coefficient illustrates the degree of inequality in a country’s income distribution on a scale of 0–1. At 0 everybody has the same income, at 1 a single individual has all the income.

Source Nordregio, Nordic Statistics Database (GINI01) and Statistics Iceland

Strong democracies

Social cohesion is the foundation of the Nordic welfare societies, and we must continue to strengthen it. Social cohesion helps create a safe and supportive environment for individuals and groups, which makes us more resilient in times of crisis. Another challenge to social cohesion is when individuals and groups do not adhere to the rules and principles of the community as a whole. Such behaviour reduces cohesion and faith in the rule of law and makes the community less resilient in the face of crises. The Presidency will focus on combating cross-border crime, strengthening democracy and raising levels of trust.

Stronger democracy and greater trust

The Presidency will focus on how to strengthen the unique Nordic association life – the important everyday local democracies in which children and young people learn to be part of democracy and get into the habit of participating in it. This will greatly contribute to future-proofing national democracy and trust-based societies.

As a boost to civil society, the Presidency will commission the Nordic Association and the Danish Youth Council to organise a civil society conference.

Organised crime and gangs

The Nordic countries face multiple problems with organised crime and gangs, problems that are increasingly cross-border in nature. Close co-operation is of great importance to the Nordic countries’ ability to deal with these problems. The Presidency will continue the fight against cross-border, organised and gang-related crime. Specifically, we wish to strengthen Nordic co-operation to combat the misuse of digital services by organised crime, including the recruitment of children and young people. We also wish to beef up Nordic co-operation with third countries from which criminals orchestrate serious crime in our part of the world.

Promoting equality for all in the Nordic Region and globally

Gender equality is a pillar of democracy and a core value in the Nordic Region. Gender equality and equal rights for LGBT+ people are essential for individuals’ ability to shape their lives and for the development of society. If the Nordic Region is to remain competitive, everybody must feel able to contribute and have equal opportunities to influence society.

The Nordic Region has made a great deal of progress toward gender equality, but we are not there yet. Pressure has also begun to be exerted on gender equality and LGBT+ rights in other parts of the world. To address this situation, the Presidency will take a broad approach to promoting gender equality.

Pushing for Progress

In a number of countries and international forums, coordinated and targeted opposition is being waged against women’s equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as equality for LGBT+ people. The Nordic countries have adopted the multi-year programme Pushing for Progress to highlight that we are united in our opposition to those forces and in our determination to promote equality.

The Presidency will organise a Nordic celebration of IDAHOT+ (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) and a conference on gender equality and women’s right to control their own bodies and lives.

Men, masculinity and gender equality

In recent years, the Nordic Council of Ministers has focused increasingly on men and masculinity. Gender norms and expectations also affect the lives of men and boys, their opportunities and the challenges they face.

The Presidency is writing a report, ‘State of Nordic Men 2026’, which examines men’s online lives and attitudes towards gender equality, among other topics.

Early detection of intimate partner violence and treatment for perpetrators

Gender-based violence is a violation of an individual’s integrity and has serious negative consequences for the individual, for the family, other close relationships and for society as a whole. Combating violence is a priority in Nordic co-operation and other international forums.

The Presidency will focus on developing new methods in preventive and early intervention throughout the Nordic Region and in collaboration with the Baltic countries.

Competitiveness and equality

Gender equality is important for the competitiveness of the Nordic Region. It is a prerequisite for people to be free to contribute to society with their talents and competencies.

The Presidency will launch a study of competitiveness and gender equality, including how gender equality boosts economic growth.

Children and young people

Making sure that children and young people have good lives is an important foundation for a socially sustainable Nordic Region. The Presidency will prioritise young people, including their involvement in society. We must help them to learn about and feel a sense of ownership of the Nordic Region and countries. In other words, we need to make coming generations enthusiastic about Nordic solidarity.

How children and young people live differs from country to country. It differs between big cities and peripheral areas, where it is difficult to organise. It is important that we empower the younger generations in peripheral areas.

The Faroe Islands will host the Generation North Atlantic event during the Presidency, bringing together young people from all eight Nordic countries for workshops, presentations and company visits to inspire innovative approaches and regional development

Children and young people’s well-being

Far too many children and young people in the Nordic Region do not have a sense of well-being, feel excluded from meaningful communities and are increasingly anxious about the future. We need to share good examples of ways to help children and young people grow up healthy and safe.

Early detection and prevention are key to children and young people receiving the right help in time, so that they do not suffer from prolonged periods with poor well-being. The Presidency also wants to see more knowledge sharing in the social sector about approaches to children and young people that work in practice.

The Presidency will organise a new version of the Nordic Mental Health Summit, which was first held during the Danish, Faroese and Greenlandic Presidency in 2015.

The Presidency will also focus on the well-being of children and young people by initiating activities based on the recommendations (2025) of the Danish Well-being Commission, activities that will reach out to children, young people and other relevant actors in the field.

The Presidency will also strive to improve public health in the Nordic Region, for example, by focusing on preventive measures to stop children and young people from using tobacco and nicotine products.

Harmful content and the protection of children and young people

Harmful and illegal content on digital platforms is a major problem, especially for children and young people. There is a growing need to protect children and young people from addictive algorithms, unethical business models and extensive data harvesting and profiling. The EU’s digital regulatory framework will be put to the test in our region. The Presidency will discuss the political question of what more the Nordic Region, as a digital frontrunner, can contribute in terms of good practices and tangible solutions, including the enforcement of EU legislation and future legislation in this area that can inspire the rest of Europe.

Children and young people in a digital age

Digitalisation has changed the lives of our children and young people. With the rise of new technologies, social media, artificial intelligence and the need for digital literacy, we need children and young people to learn to reflect critically on how they use technology and navigate the digital world. It is important that we protect Nordic children and young people in the digital age.

The Presidency will also focus on children and young people’s screen time, i.e., the negative consequences of more time spent on screen by children and young people, and in particular their safety online. It is important that new technology supports and promotes the well-being of children and young people and their learning.

Sustainable working life

We must safeguard the unique Nordic labour-market model and collective bargaining system, which ensures we have a safe and healthy working environment and fair competition in our labour markets. The model involves governments, employers and trade unions working closely together to find workable solutions that ensure both competitiveness and decent conditions for workers. However, we also live in changing times, in which the Nordic labour markets all have to deal with a range of new challenges.

Improving the Nordic labour market model

The Presidency will focus on how to future-proof our Nordic labour market model in a way that allows for a high degree of autonomy for the social partners and on encouraging ongoing dialogue to improve the model and support for it. This is especially important at a time when the workforce is changing. All of the Nordic countries face these challenges, and we can learn from each other and inspire each other to prepare for the future.

Greater Nordic efforts to combat workplace-related crime

The Presidency will continue Nordic co-operation to combat workplace-related crime and social dumping. Orderly conditions and fair competition must be a basic condition in the Nordic labour market. It is a matter of ensuring fair and free movement in the Nordic labour markets through proper pay and employment conditions, including for foreign and posted workers, and effective enforcement of the rules for this.

Workplace-related crime has proven to be a growing and general challenge in the Nordic Region, and the Presidency will focus on the countries sharing experiences and best practices to counter it.

A secure culture and media sector

Boosting culture in the Nordic Region

The current geopolitical situation emphasises the importance of the shared Nordic culture, which is bound together by a community built on trust, unity and democratic values. The Presidency will underline the role culture plays in the Nordic sense of community, including as a safeguard for cohesion, identity and democratic values.

Among other things, the Presidency will explore how the countries can protect and support the large swathes of cultural life that contribute to our unique Nordic human and social values. This will include providing greater access to culture, protecting our tangible and intangible cultural heritage, promoting the love of reading among children and adults, supporting Nordic language policy, etc. The work will be done in close dialogue with the Baltic countries, with which the Nordic Region shares strong values.

Supporting the cultural industries

In terms of boosting culture, the Presidency wishes to see greater emphasis placed on the cultural industries. The Nordic cultural industries are not only a symbol of innovation and growth, but also contribute to a stronger and more value-driven brand that stands for democratic values and openness. At a time when misinformation and polarisation are spreading, culture and creativity are becoming economic and strategic tools of which the Nordic Region can make greater use in order to spread our values.

Making the most of the cultural industries’ potential will entail closer co-operation throughout the Nordic Region and targeted efforts to make Nordic culture more visible across the region and on the international stage. To this end, the Presidency will examine how the Nordic countries can work strategically to export culture more widely, particularly in a geopolitical context.