Melissa Gjellstad

Maintaining the language and identity associated with heritage languages in the Nordic countries can be challenging: Official policies and economic opportunities, together with the cultural pressure to assimilate, can create a language shift away from heritage languages towards more dominant ones.

’Christian cultural heritage’ is widely discussed in public debates in Denmark and Norway, and often in polarising political discussions on integration. Headteachers and managers at public broadcasting services understand what is meant by Christian cultural heritage in different ways and likewise incorporate it in school curricula and TV programming differently. Some see Christian cultural heritage as fixed and self-evident, whereas others see it as a lived practice that develops and changes over time.

Contemporary research and evaluations of existing policy initiatives in the field of Romani studies reveal that cultural racism against Roma remains widespread in the Nordics today. An emphasis on ‘cultural difference’ is so endemic that it can make officials and decision makers blind to alternative reasons for exclusion, such as class and structural antigypsyism. Despite some evidence to suggest modest success with the Swedish “bridge builder programme", research and evaluations are often highly critical, suggesting that it may in fact support exclusory practices. This echoes our research and hands-on experience with teaching Romani students and collaborating with Roman civil society in Sweden. Meanwhile, other crucial steps for building trust, such as a permanent Roma agency, go unrealised.

Swedish artist Vera Nilsson developed an expressionist style and subjects included the landscape of Öland and the Spanish Civil War.

While Ibsen cannot go unmentioned in a discussion on Norwegian theatre, developments in other areas have also been varied and interesting. Regional theatres were established throughout Norway in the 1970s and these as well as others, such as independent theatres, have been used as fora for airing important issues as well as for entertaining since then.

University collaboration takes place on multiple levels, officially and unofficially. Academics, students and numerous institutions actively play a role in cooperation between universities across the Nordic region.

The concept of friendship towns quickly emerged after the Second World War, and the Nordic countries were no exception. Since then, friendship towns in a Nordic context have included various activities from cooperation among schools, organizations, associations and even official bodies, to more contemporary activities, such as place-marketing and branding.

Dancing was prohibited in Finland in December 1939 soon after the outbreak of the Winter War. With a short exception, this ban lasted until the end of 1944 when the war between the Soviet Union and Finland came to an end - although dancing was not permitted in restaurants until 1948. The ban was not just a harmless nuisance; it was controlled by police and thousands of people were punished for breaking the law, either for organizing or taking part in secret dances - the majority of whom were girls or young women.

Most food delivery riders fall outside the scope of the ‘Danish model’, its comprehensive system of social welfare and the industrial relations model where trade unions bargain collectively for a large proportion of workers. Steps are needed to protect riders in Denmark, although the degree of insecurity and contractual terms vary. Recent domestic and EU developments and a collective bargaining agreement at Just Eat may give riders a reason for optimism.

Bengt Pohjanen is a multilingual author and translator best known for his work in Meänkieli, which has been vital in establishing a literary and linguistic heritage for the population of the Torne Valley and the Meänkieli-speaking diaspora elsewhere. A central element of Pohjanen’s work is the notion that Meänmaa is more than just a geographical area, but also a virtual cultural space with an imagined Tornedalian community, their common identity and a shared Meänkieli cultural heritage.