//podcastplus.net/feed/podcast~199ff96386ea0f4943d5b5e0dee50899d0064b6abbf070a756250daaa73c6155 How do the Nordic nations consistently top international league tables? Between Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland they are the world's best democracy, the best place to be a woman, the best educated people and the happiest. They regularly top UNICEF's child wellbeing index, lead on the Green Transition and have an enduring emphasis on equality that's the envy of the world. Nordic Horizons is a Scottish-based group that's been interested in learning more from our nearest European neighbours since devolved government resumed 20+ years ago. We've invited experts over to speak in the Scottish Parliament on Norwegian outdoor kindergarten, Finnish prison reform, Swedish electoral systems, Iceland's crowd-sourced constitution and Copenhagen's claim to be the world's first eco metropolis. Since the pandemic, our events have gone online - but all were recorded and will now be available - updated and edited - via this podcast on a monthly basis. Mon, 04 May 2026 02:15:08 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/6ddf1dfb/7795d287.mp3 Iceland has a stunning landscape with glaciers galore … but is more properly fire island. Lava, earthquakes eruptions and volcanoes dominate life and world headlines. Around Christmas 2023, an eruption forced people from their homes in the fishing port of Grindavik. One year and six eruptions later – the townspeople are back. But another eruption nearby is spewing lava into the car park of the famous Blue Lagoon. By the time you hear this podcast, that eruption could be over… or much worse. Yet despite all the risk and uncertainty, many Icelanders would say they live here because of their volcanoes not despite them. Why? That’s what this podcast is all about. Credits Thanks to Easyjet for flights – direct to Reykjavik each weekday from Edinburgh.  I travelled to the Westman Islands in a Europcar vehicle (complete with winter tyres) from Keflavik airport, took the dual fuel Herjolfur ferry (government owned and council run) courtesy of Business Iceland and stayed at the family ru... Fri, 13 Dec 2024 23:07:46 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/6ddf1dfb/7795d287.mp3 https://media.transistor.fm/c398afe2/1c79f33c.mp3 Gothenburg in Sweden once boasted the world's largest shipyards, but in the face of Japanese and Korean competition, the oil crisis and a world economic downturn, the city was brought to its knees in the 1980s, with 5 kms of empty dockland and 20 thousand people without jobs. So far, so very like the Clyde. But though shipbuilding was down, Gothenburg was not out. The City Council bought the empty shipyards for one Swedish krona – that’s 2 pence - financed new house-building, new secondary schools and linked up with Chalmers University to set up Lindholmen Science Park. It attracted the Swedish mobile phone maker, Ericsson who created a cluster of ten thousand people in other IT companies around its new HQ. This inter-dependency helped the sector survive the dot.com crash. The biggest advance though, followed the biggest setback, when Sweden’s innovation agency, rejected a big bid for an open research area at Lindholmen. Undaunted, the Science Park owners (council and business) went ahead withou... Wed, 17 May 2023 21:16:32 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/c398afe2/1c79f33c.mp3 https://media.transistor.fm/c398afe2/1c79f33c.mp3 Gothenburg in Sweden once boasted the world's largest shipyards, but in the face of Japanese and Korean competition, the oil crisis and a world economic downturn, the city was brought to its knees in the 1980s, with 5 kms of empty dockland and 20 thousand people without jobs. So far, so very like the Clyde. But though shipbuilding was down, Gothenburg was not out. The City Council bought the empty shipyards for one Swedish krona – that’s 2 pence - financed new house-building, new secondary schools and linked up with Chalmers University to set up Lindholmen Science Park. It attracted the Swedish mobile phone maker, Ericsson who created a cluster of ten thousand people in other IT companies around its new HQ. This inter-dependency helped the sector survive the dot.com crash. The biggest advance though, followed the biggest setback, when Sweden’s innovation agency, rejected a big bid for an open research area at Lindholmen. Undaunted, the Science Park owners (council and business) went ahead withou... Wed, 17 May 2023 21:16:32 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/c398afe2/1c79f33c.mp3 https://media.transistor.fm/543b9e21/581488ad.mp3 Finland has a particular source of propaganda to deal with in the shape of Russia. Misinformation attacks have focused on familiar issues like immigration and the EU, but also Finland’s application to join NATO. Now the Finns have devised a strategy to teach all social groups to spot fake news and fact-check. This includes lessons in community colleges, digital literacy toolkits and a critical thinking curriculum in schools. As a result, online interference by Russia in Finnish politics appears to have waned. Now other countries are looking to learn from Finland’s strategy. Jussi Toivanen is a former adviser to the Finnish PM on media literacy and was recently appointed Head of Communications at Finland’s National Cyber Security Centre. He believes the country’s cyber security success is due to something deeper; it is a cohesive ‘superpower’ - a society with high levels of trust in institutions and the media, plus a strong sense of identity rooted in human rights and the rule of law. He offe... Tue, 13 Dec 2022 21:12:49 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/543b9e21/581488ad.mp3 https://media.transistor.fm/543b9e21/581488ad.mp3 Finland has a particular source of propaganda to deal with in the shape of Russia. Misinformation attacks have focused on familiar issues like immigration and the EU, but also Finland’s application to join NATO. Now the Finns have devised a strategy to teach all social groups to spot fake news and fact-check. This includes lessons in community colleges, digital literacy toolkits and a critical thinking curriculum in schools. As a result, online interference by Russia in Finnish politics appears to have waned. Now other countries are looking to learn from Finland’s strategy. Jussi Toivanen is a former adviser to the Finnish PM on media literacy and was recently appointed Head of Communications at Finland’s National Cyber Security Centre. He believes the country’s cyber security success is due to something deeper; it is a cohesive ‘superpower’ - a society with high levels of trust in institutions and the media, plus a strong sense of identity rooted in human rights and the rule of law. He offe... Tue, 13 Dec 2022 21:12:49 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/543b9e21/581488ad.mp3 https://media.transistor.fm/39fea245/fac6ad13.mp3 Finland has a 1300 km long land border with Russia, it fought two wars in the 1940s to defend then reclaim lost territory, and is now applying to join NATO.  There, most knowledge of Finland ends. Which is a shame. Because a staple of Finnish life could offer a permanent solution to supply crises in Britain – if we could learn to rely on cooperatives not corporations to deliver.  The picture shows composite wooden hand-basins and baths - a unique feature of the Solo Sokos Hotel in Lahti- part of a larger S-Group cooperative with more than 3 million members. How can such a massive coop give its local hotel managers freedom to make their own decisions? Lesley Riddoch went to Finland's seventh largest city to find out.  With thanks to Risto Turanen, Kari Huhtala, VisitFinland, Finnair and Sokos Hotels.    Sun, 30 Oct 2022 21:21:43 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/39fea245/fac6ad13.mp3 https://media.transistor.fm/39fea245/fac6ad13.mp3 Finland has a 1300 km long land border with Russia, it fought two wars in the 1940s to defend then reclaim lost territory, and is now applying to join NATO.  There, most knowledge of Finland ends. Which is a shame. Because a staple of Finnish life could offer a permanent solution to supply crises in Britain – if we could learn to rely on cooperatives not corporations to deliver.  The picture shows composite wooden hand-basins and baths - a unique feature of the Solo Sokos Hotel in Lahti- part of a larger S-Group cooperative with more than 3 million members. How can such a massive coop give its local hotel managers freedom to make their own decisions? Lesley Riddoch went to Finland's seventh largest city to find out.  With thanks to Risto Turanen, Kari Huhtala, VisitFinland, Finnair and Sokos Hotels.    Sun, 30 Oct 2022 21:21:43 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/39fea245/fac6ad13.mp3 https://media.transistor.fm/d74b5958/56bb553e.mp3 It's twelve years since Dan Wynn and Lesley Riddoch set up a think tank to focus on the policy successes of Scotland's Nordic neighbours. Since then, Nordic Horizons has organised almost 70 meetings - most of them in person until the pandemic lockdown in 2020. Now Nordic Horizons meets online - less disruption and travel for speakers and more access for Scots living outside Edinburgh. We're also producing monthly podcasts of recent events and edited versions of some 'Golden Oldies' - including a talk about Norway's education system where children attend kindergarten (often outdoor) until the age of six - a school starting age the SNP conference is set to discuss in October 2022. It seems many lessons learned over the past decade are still very relevant. So why did NH start and is the Nordic focus still relevant? Has the group made any real change to Scottish Government policy? What next? Here's a short podcast with online editor Chris Smith in the driving seat and Steering Group members Mike Danson, Dan... Sat, 01 Oct 2022 20:36:35 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/d74b5958/56bb553e.mp3 https://media.transistor.fm/d74b5958/56bb553e.mp3 It's twelve years since Dan Wynn and Lesley Riddoch set up a think tank to focus on the policy successes of Scotland's Nordic neighbours. Since then, Nordic Horizons has organised almost 70 meetings - most of them in person until the pandemic lockdown in 2020. Now Nordic Horizons meets online - less disruption and travel for speakers and more access for Scots living outside Edinburgh. We're also producing monthly podcasts of recent events and edited versions of some 'Golden Oldies' - including a talk about Norway's education system where children attend kindergarten (often outdoor) until the age of six - a school starting age the SNP conference is set to discuss in October 2022. It seems many lessons learned over the past decade are still very relevant. So why did NH start and is the Nordic focus still relevant? Has the group made any real change to Scottish Government policy? What next? Here's a short podcast with online editor Chris Smith in the driving seat and Steering Group members Mike Danson, Dan... Sat, 01 Oct 2022 20:36:35 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/d74b5958/56bb553e.mp3 https://media.transistor.fm/1e16c1e7/c51a936f.mp3 'Finland doesn’t have a long history of Kings and castles. We have always been occupied. When we finally became free the country was built on language, literature, music, paintings. Sibelius created the distinctive sound of Finland. You can hear his enthusiasm for the country – the Finnish sagas, the stories, folklore and the language that is ours and only ours - but at the same time you can hear how he was moving towards becoming a universal composer.'  Who wouldn't want to know more about Sibelius after hearing charismatic rising classical star Dalia Stasevska explain why she became Chief Conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in 2021 and Artistic Director of the world's only annual Sibelius Festival?   Nordic Horizons Director and longtime Sibelius fan Lesley Riddoch certainly did. She recorded and produced this special podcast during a trip to Lahti's Sibelius Festival during early September 2022 . Sadly, rules on copyright mean no excerpts of music can be included - but there's mention of th... Tue, 06 Sep 2022 22:11:21 +0000 https://media.transistor.fm/1e16c1e7/c51a936f.mp3