Co-operation between the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) and the autonomous areas (the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland) is often considered as a pioneer of regional co-operation. Nordic co-operation is generally seen as being based on the shared history of the Nordic countries, their similar culture and language, and their shared values of democracy, the rule of law, trust, equality, freedom of expression and the welfare state. For a long time, official Nordic co-operation was seen as having an intrinsic value in itself, but as the world around the Nordic region has changed, the rationale for the continued need for operating at a Nordic level has had to be defined and articulated. For this, the “Nordic added value” principle has become essential as the justification and guiding principle of official Nordic co-operation organised around the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers.
In essence, the idea of “Nordic added value” refers to strategic co-operation in areas where a Nordic approach generates added value for the countries and peoples of the region. Although the concept has remained marginally discussed in the present day, the principle stems from a need to reweigh and redefine the continuing relevance of joint Nordic action after the end of the Cold War. In this context, the concepts of nordisk nytta (often translated as “Nordic benefit/advantage/usefulness”) and nordiskt mervärde (often translated as “Nordic synergy”) were introduced to define and articulate the rationale of operating at a Nordic level in the face of accelerating European integration and the desire to improve the quality and competitiveness of the Nordic region. In parallel with these Scandinavian terms, the English-language translation “Nordic added value” has become increasingly used over the last decade.
Although these concepts have been prominently used to maintain the legitimacy and significance of joint Nordic action, they have been considered ambiguous and lacking an established definition. This presents a challenge in various policy areas of official Nordic co-operation, where such concepts need to be operationalised in order to assess and evaluate the funding of various projects and activities as well as their outcomes.
This report examines the concept of Nordic added value in the context of Nordic research co-operation that is facilitated and funded by NordForsk under the Nordic Council of Ministers. Realising Nordic added value is one of NordForsk’s key objectives in addition to facilitating effective and trustful research co-operation in the Nordic region and ensuring that NordForsk-funded research has the highest international quality.[i] In practice, however, there is a need to advance the understanding of the concept, as it is an intricate part of different stages of research co-operation, from the implementation of research programmes to the evaluation of funding applications and monitoring research impact.[ii]
This report responds to the need to enhance our knowledge about ways to define and articulate the relevance of Nordic co-operation through the idea of “Nordic added value”. This report has been produced as part of the research activities of the ReNEW Reimagining Norden in an Evolving World university hub, funded by NordForsk, and carried out at the Centre of Nordic Studies at the University of Helsinki.
1.1 Aims and objectives
The aim of this research report is to enhance the understanding and operationalisation of the concept of Nordic added value in Nordic research co-operation. The study approaches the concept with a humanistic social-science-research approach, examining the concept in the context of broader historical and socio-political developments around the rationale of operating at a Nordic level. In this respect, the research focuses on official Nordic co-operation, especially after the end of the Cold War. In addition, the study looks at the ways in which different stakeholders involved in collaborative Nordic research activities operationalise and define the concept. The key stakeholders in this study are identified as the science advisors and experts who are members of NordForsk’s programme committees and participate in the development of Nordic research programmes and evaluation of the Nordic added value in research applications, and NordForsk-funded researchers who have a need to define, articulate and assess the Nordic added value in all stages of their research projects.
This study aims to answer the following questions:
- What is the history of the concept “Nordic added value” in Nordic co-operation and Nordic research co-operation?
- How do different stakeholders of Nordic research co-operation define and operationalise the concept in practice?
- What are the challenges and possible solutions for defining or clarifying the concept of “Nordic added value” in Nordic research co-operation?
In this study, concepts are considered as inconclusive and receiving their meanings through historical contestations.[iii] Change is thus a central basis for the contemporary understanding of concepts. Another point of interest in this study concerns how the meanings of social or political concepts shift when they are translated from one language to another.
This study focuses on the conceptual dimensions of Nordic research co-operation and does not aim to cover the comprehensive history of Nordic co-operation or Nordic research co-operation.
1.2 Material and method
The report is structured around two pillars: concept and practice. These two perspectives form the basis for a comprehensive understanding of the idea of Nordic added value. The material used in the study consists of:
- literature review: a review of relevant literature, reports, steering documents, websites and other sources of official Nordic co-operation, NordForsk and other Nordic institutions;
- expert interviews: data collected through semi-structured interviews with members of NordForsk programme committees (as of May 2022); and
- participant survey: data collected through an online survey sent out to researchers who have participated in NordForsk-funded research activities between 2018 and 2022.
The report is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the rationale,
aims and method of the study. Chapter 2
looks at the history of the concept of Nordic added value. Chapter 3 presents the findings from the expert interviews and Chapter 4 the results from the
participant survey. Chapter 5
summarises the findings from both the conceptual and
practical investigation and concludes by discussing the possible future steps
in efforts to define Nordic added value.
[i] NordForsk, NordForsk Strategy 2019–2022 (Oslo: NordForsk, 2019).
[ii] Leif H. Jakobsen, Daniel Holmberg, Vera Stafström and Göran Melin, Evaluation of NordForsk (Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers, 2022).
[iii] Reinhart Koselleck (ed.), Historische Semantik und Begriffsgeschichte (Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1979).