Darkness, lousy weather, and a sleepover in the middle of nowhere. Sound fun? Apparently yes! The Nordic countries have successfully branded their remoter edges as desirable tourist destinations. Is it luck because the far north is 'in' right now? Or does it reflect a growing longing for alternatives to well-known, popular destinations? In this episode, we find out how the Nordics attracted visitors to their outer rural regions and why Scotland is now following suit. And we ask  just how long the coolness of the Nordic fringes can last.

This episode comes from an online Nordic Talks event jointly arranged by Finland's Åbo Akademi University and the Swedish Literature Society in Finland.

Bees are dying out and that’s a big problem for us human beings. If bees and other pollinators disappeared altogether, we would lose a third of our food supply. Half of all the fruit and vegetables on our supermarket shelves would vanish. And the impact on our planet's biodiversity would be catastrophic. So what's our Plan Bee? How do we save the world's pollinators? In this episode, we dive into an example from the Nordic countries where work is under way to save the local brown bee from extinction. And we look at what is being done around the world to protect bees and the global food supply.

This episode comes from an online Nordic Talks event organized by the National Nordic Museum in Seattle.

Education is a fundamental human right, yet only 70 percent of children worldwide are in school. How can we bridge this gap to reach the goal of free quality education for all by 2030? The Nordic countries are among the world leaders when it comes to supporting education in low- and middle-income countries globally. They also have the most experience to share in providing free public education for their own populations. In this episode, we look at how education is key to shaping our future and why education should take priority on political agendas worldwide.

This episode comes from an online Nordic Talks event, arranged by the Danish development NGO Oxfam IBIS and the Norwegian Embassy in Ethiopia.

Achieving gender equality in all aspects of society isn't just ethically right, it's also economically smart. Numerous studies show that increasing gender equality increases economic growth, making it a win-win situation. Women make up half the global population and half the workforce, meaning that society is missing out on a lot of valuable ideas if they are not properly included.

In this episode, we hear how economic justice and empowerment can drive prosperity for all and how businesses can push these issues to the top of the agenda. We also look at how public and private initiatives from the Nordic countries are accelerating global progress towards gender equality.

This episode comes from an online Nordic Talks event hosted by Mind Your Business, a Danish sustainable business consultancy, and the Danish government’s representation at the UN in New York.

More short-term or freelance work. Less steady employment with fixed pay. The labor market is undergoing massive changes, creating uncertainty for millions of people. Why is this happening? And is it possible to reverse this trend?

You can't see it, but you still breathe it in: Air pollution is an invisible threat to millions of people living in urban areas, and many lives are lost prematurely because of it. Increased efforts are being made, not the least in the Nordics, to tackle this health issue through urban design. Researchers are cooperating with urban developers to change transport systems, reduce pollution around schools, and help citizens by measuring the air quality from neighborhood to neighborhood, even from street to street.

The rollout of 5G, the superfast fifth generation mobile internet network, is underway. But will it mean more than just better networks and faster downloads? Can this more accessible technology be used to change society for the better and improve our everyday lives?

In this episode, we hear from three female leaders working with technology and 5G, who share their understanding of the key megatrends that will drive 5G and digitalization in the next 10-20 years. They discuss how a faster, better network can break down social barriers, empower female leaders, and enable older people to make full use of digital technologies.

This episode comes from a Nordic Talks online event arranged by the 5G Techritory Forum in Latvia.

Should more houses be built from wood? Yes, say some urban planners and architects. They believe the construction industry could drastically reduce its environmental footprint by using wood as a building material instead of concrete.

This is already a trend in the Nordics, driven partly by concern for the climate, but also thanks to a long tradition of using wooden materials – because of the belief that wood can make us happier and bring us closer to nature.

In this episode, we discuss the benefits of building with wood and also look at the challenges of making this switch – in Europe and globally.

This episode is the result of a Nordic Talks online event arranged by the Nordic Visit Organizations in France, hosted by the French newspaper Les Echos and livestreamed from Paris.

Can we change our economic behavior? With the planet's resources being increasingly overstretched, the warnings are coming loud and clear that the old, linear economic model must go. Experts want us to switch to a circular economy. This means ending the drive to produce and sell as many products as possible, while encouraging consumers to buy secondhand whenever possible.

In this episode, we ask just how difficult it is to make that transformation and we take a look at some successful Nordic attempts to promote circular consumption.

This episode is the result of a Nordic Talks online event livestreamed from Luxembourg. It was arranged by NOBELUX and the Swedish and Nordic Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Here's the paradox: To shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources, we need more raw materials for things like solar panels, wind turbines, and electric cars. But how can we ensure we have a steady supply of the metals and materials we need – some of which are quite rare – without causing more damage to the environment? Is there a greener way to mine minerals or should we be focusing more on recycling?

In this episode, we look at Nordic attempts to develop "green mining", European initiatives to improve recycling, and we examine the global need for a sustainable raw material supply.