The strategy for new Nordic co-operation on improving conditions for LGBTI people will be put into effect in 2021. Part of this work is the new Fund, which aims to promote Nordic co-operation in the LGBTI area.  

“LGBTI people should be able to live free, open and good lives in the Nordic countries. The Nordic LGBTI Fund is an important part of achieving this. The Fund is a unique way of supporting work for change in the Nordic countries in the LGBTI area,” says Thomas Blomqvist, Finland’s Minister for Nordic Co-operation and Gender Equality. 

Projects that contribute to work for equal rights, equal treatment and equal opportunities for LGBTI people in the Nordic countries can apply for financing from the Fund. A total of DKK 238,000 will be distributed. NIKK is the administrator of the Nordic LGBTI Fund on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers and will accept applications after the summer of 2021.  

As with the Nordic Gender Equality Fund, actors from at least three Nordic countries need to be involved in each application. Thanks to this co-operation, knowledge is growing and being shared across borders. We are finding common solutions and learning from each other. The activities should start during 2021 and are to be carried out within two years. The funding can be used to develop common methods and new knowledge, and to hold conferences and build networks, etc. 

“The new Fund will strengthen the work to ensure equal rights, equal treatment and equal opportunities for LGBTI people in the Nordic countries. We know that there is a great deal of expertise, knowledge and the will to drive this development forward, in particular in civil society. And we hope that this will be reflected in the applications received,” says Thomas Blomqvist. 
 

Preliminary important dates for the Nordic LGBTI Fund

You need to apply via a form, which will be available from nikk.no during the application period. 

• 1 September – the call opens  
• 30 September – deadline for applications  

• November/December – decisions notified to applicants  
• December – contracts will be signed 

 
Read more about the Nordic LGBTI Fund here.

Two new reports point to the importance of adding a gender perspective to regional policy and planning, especially in remote areas. Men and women have different migration patterns and educational aspirations. The gender-segregated labour market and traditional gender roles in responsibility for care are persistent. What if rural areas could be frontrunners in breaking gender stereotypes and enabling work-life balance for young families and local entrepreneurs?

NIKK, Nordic Information on Gender, and Nordregio, Nordic Institute for Regional Development, invites you to a webinar on March 25 exploring the connection between gender and regional development. What can we learn from research and proactive policies, regional experts and local change-makers from some of the most isolated places in the Nordics? Join the discussion on Zoom!

Read more about the seminar
Language: English
Questions about the event: Elin Engström, Head of operations, NIKK, +46 766-229 239, elin.engstrom@genus.gu.se

Men and women in the Nordic countries occupy different positions in the labour market and in social structures. This new report focuses on people living and working in geographically isolated areas of the Nordic region. How do they make a living and maintain ties to locality? And how do questions of gender equality impact on work and family life decisions? The places in focus are Narsaq in Greenland, Suðuroy in the Faroe Islands and Læsø in Denmark. While different in several important respects, these places face a common challenge in maintaining demographic sustainability. They are all characterised by declining population figures, and especially young women tend to leave.

The research project is partly funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, through the Nordic Gender Equality Fund.

The butterfly effect: minor changes leading to amplified developments

The report also has a subsection specifically focusing on youth and their views, as future decisions about where to live and work for this group is highly influential on long-term demographic sustainability. What is the basis for future work life and family life in these places? Helene Pristed Nielsen, associate professor at Aalborg University, has led the study.

“A main finding is that especially young women perceive local gender roles as more constrained or pre-defined than both the young men and the older generations – with the possible exception of the older Greenlandic women, who frequently concurred that local gender roles were too traditional. Almost universally, the young women saw very few career possibilities for themselves in their local communities”, she says.

Some of the report’s other main findings are that seasonal variation in workloads is most pronounced on Læsø (which also has the most developed tourism sector), family ties are important for settlement patterns especially in Suðuroy, whereas respondents in all three locations express a strong sense of belonging in place. Respondents in Narsaq are rather suspicious of externally driven development projects, but frequently highly supportive of local initiatives, the latter also characterising attitudes encountered on Læsø. Mobility is for obvious reasons most difficult in the Greenlandic context, but nevertheless, mobility is highly significant for both work lives and family life practices in all three locations.

The report points to six lessons learned from its analyses, which may have implication both at policy level but also locally for residents in debating how best to ensure viable demographic and economic future development in their locality. One of them is “the butterfly effect”.

“In small places, change can happen relatively quickly, and even minor changes have a tendency to develop amplified effects. For example, if you close a local workplace with only two or three jobs, this may mean that two or three local families will have to move away to ensure jobs for both parents. This may bring the number of children in the local school to a critical low. Furthermore, local sports clubs and associations are typically dependent on volunteers, and if people move away, it is difficult to recruit new volunteers. People tend to have many roles in small communities and can be difficult to replace”, says Helene Pristed Nielsen.

Read the report “Equality in Isolated Labour Markets – Equal opportunities for men and women in geographically isolated labour markets in Læsø (DK), Suðuroy (FO), and Narsaq (GL)”.

Six lessons derived from “Equality in Isolated Labour Markets”

1. Interactions of gender and place: small places may fruitfully consider how gender and place interact locally, potentially limiting (perceived) options in the labour market
2. Community networks: ensuring open and multiple local networks are paramount in supporting settlement/population retention
3. Supporting entrepreneurial spirit: entrepreneurship benefits from overt support
4. Prioritising ’the good life’: perceptions about ‘the good life’ often take presidency over perceived career possibilities when choosing where to settle
5. Mobility strategies: mobility is part and parcel of place, especially small places
6. Butterfly effects: because small places are small, even minor changes have a tendency to develop amplified effects