Available online: https://pub.norden.org/nordiskkulturfakta2022-01/ In this research anthology on public subsidy systems for culture in the Nordic region, researchers from each Nordic country contribute with a chapter on the status and challenges of public subsidy systems for culture in their particular country. In addition, a former civil servant with the Nordic Council of Ministers provides descriptions of Nordic co-operation grants for culture, as well as grants in the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. While the authors have chosen which issues to focus on in their respective chapters, all in one way or another concern themselves with the question of how Nordic welfare policies are reflected in Nordic cultural policies. The research anthology has been produced by Kulturanalys Norden and edited by Sakarias Sokka, senior researcher at CUPORE.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/politiknord2023-728/ Our Vision 2030 describes what it will take to make the Nordic Region the most sustainable and integrated region in the world. The sheer ambition makes it important to monitor progress closely. To this end, the Nordic Council of Ministers commissioned Rambøll Management Consulting to conduct baseline measurements back in 2021. The idea was to map out the starting point for work on the vision. This status report follows up on the baseline measurements and assesses progress towards realising the vision. It is based on the 45 indicators adopted by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021 and the methodology used for the baseline report. Overall, the 2023 status report shows that the Nordic Region remains on track to become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world. This is particularly true for the visions of a competitive Nordic Region and a socially sustainable Nordic Region. However, there is room for improvement with regard to the visions for a green Nordic Region.

The creative and cultural industries (CCIs) have recently been debated widely, and access to finance has been at the forefront. This KreaNord report, created in 2012, maps the Nordic CCIs’ financial environment, and shows that the environment is facilitating the same access to corporate finance for CCIs as for other sectors. However, the supply of project finance requested by CCIs, is rare/non-existing, and mostly provided as debt. This report concludes the findings as market failure in supply of debt instruments for CCIs, and recommends a development process be initiated. Republished in 2015 following the end of KreaNord, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ initiative on cultural and creative industries (2008–2015).

The Media Welfare State: Nordic Media in the Digital Era comprehensively addresses the central dynamics of the digitalization of the media industry in the Nordic countries—Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland—and the ways media organizations there are transforming to address the new digital environment. Taking a comparative approach, the authors provide an overview of media institutions, content, use, and policy throughout the region, focusing on the impact of information and communication technology/internet and digitalization on the Nordic media sector. Illustrating the shifting media landscape the authors draw on a wide range of cases, including developments in the press, television, the public service media institutions, and telecommunication.

David Bell and Kate Oakley survey the major debates emerging in cultural policy research, adopting an approach based on spatial scale to explore cultural policy in cities, nations and internationally. They contextualise these discussions with an exploration of what both ‘culture’ and ‘policy’ mean when they are joined together as cultural policy. Drawing on topical examples and contemporary research, as well as their own experience in both academia and in consultancy, Bell and Oakley urge readers to think critically about the project of cultural policy as it is currently being played out around the world. Cultural Policy is a comprehensive and readable book that provides a lively, up-to-date overview of key debates in cultural policy, making it ideal for students of media and cultural studies, creative and cultural industries, and arts management.

The 2030 Agenda, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, outlines an ambitious and universal plan of action for people, planet and prosperity as it seeks to strengthen universal peace and freedom. This report presents national and Nordic action on Agenda 2030 with the aim to inform and support the Nordic Council of Ministers in formulating a new Nordic Sustainable Development Programme. All Nordic countries are engaged and strongly committed to implementing Agenda 2030 and there is a broad societal interest in joint Nordic action. The existing Nordic Strategy for Sustainable Development and several other key initiatives within Nordic cooperation already contribute to the goals of Agenda 2030. A new Nordic Sustainable Development Programme can build upon a strong foundation and add further value to the national and international work done by the Nordic countries.