Author: Chris Smith
The Rest & Be Thankful – Nordic Solution
The Rest & Be Thankful road is closed for the 5th time in 5 yrs. I reckon about 40k people in Argyll and Bute are facing a detour of 100 mile plus. In peak tourist season vital business may just go elsewhere – and it isn’t even winter yet!! But in this morning's Radio Scotland interview the local councillor didn’t even utter the T-word — tunnel. Maybe that’s because government minist...Read More
Small is beautiful
Small is Beautiful – Digital Notes Nordic local government works in much smaller units than Scotland or England. Their municipalities gather taxes and run education, health and housing. The average Norwegian municipality has a population of 12,500, the average Scottish council 162,500. Scotland has the largest “local” councils in Europe and politicians want functions merged further to save m...Read More
The Writing of the new Icelandic Constitution
The Writing of the new Icelandic Constitution This was a great meeting on March 29th 2012 in Parliament with Professor Thorvaldur Gylfason who won the highest number of votes in elections for the Commission to write Iceland’s “crowd sourced” constitution. The ICC had no elected politicians – now the Icelandic Parliament are chewing over the radical changes a referendum to a...Read More
McKommunes – People-sized local government?
McKommunes – People-sized local government? – Digital Notes The success of the Nordic nations seems tied to their systems of small and powerful municipal government. Join our round-table discussion on whether ‘McKommunes’ might help to create a similarly successful society here and reverse the trend towards merger and centralisation. With guest speakers Rob Gibson MSP (SNP,...Read More
The Revolution will be Nordic
The Revolution will be Nordic – Event Details As Scotland tries to find its way in a global economy that is in crisis we ask whether the Nordic Model offers a way forward to a more stable and just society. Join our round-table discussion on the strengths of the Nordic approach to social and economic policy, its weaknesses, and what it has to offer to Scotland (and the UK). With special guest...Read More
2012 – How the Finns emptied their prisons
Tapio Lappi-Seppälä, Director, National Research Institute of Legal Policy, Finland. MAY 2012 The open prison on the island of Suomenlimma near Helsinki is an astonishing place. The 100 prisoners living there learn stonemasonry and other skills to help keep the 19th century stone fortress intact. They’re paid a wage and the tiny municipality of 400 people voted to have them there. Some of t...Read More
Norway, independence, social democracy and Scotland’s referendum
Norway, independence, social democracy and Scotland’s referendum – Event Details Norway, independence, social democracy and Scotland’s referendum” organised by Nordic Horizons and the Public Policy Network Øivind Bratberg is a post doctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo. His primary research interests include social democracy and the ...Read More
The full “Finns can only get better ” presentation
As promised, Dr Tapio Lappi-Seppälä has sent on a full copy of his slides which he used at the recent meeting of Nordic Horizons. They are full and comprehensive and and available here as "the Scotland 2012 Finnish prison reduction presentation ". As a reminder, you can listen to the presentation recording in real time by downloading the audio recording below. ( Tapio starts...Read More
“Finns can only get better” – the podcast
Humza Yousaf MSP, the host introduced Dr Tapio Lappi-Seppälä, Director, National Research Institute of Legal Policy, Finland. Finland had one of the highest prison populations in western Europe until the 1970s. Since then, the imprisonment rate has fallen to the low Nordic average but crime rates have stayed the same. Today, Finland has 59 prisoners per 100,000 of popula...Read More
The full Pasi Sahlberg presentation
Pasi Sahlberg has kindly let us have a copy of his slides from his presentation. It’s a big file ( 3+ mb ) and you can download it here. Download Pasi Sahlberg Presentation in the Scotland Parliament 2012
Notes from Professor Thorvalder Gylfason – thanks to Lily Greenan
Nordic Horizons event, Scottish Parliament, 29th March 2012 From Collapse to Constitution: The Case of Iceland Lesley Riddoch; Welcomes and intros. Professor Thorvalder Gylfason, economist, from Reykjavik (Thor) Christina McKelvie MSP, Convenor of European and External Affairs Committee, hosting. Welcomes everyone. Special welcome to the Ambassador and the consular guests.
Public Policy Network Citizens Participation Group – Notes from a meeting
We are grateful to to the Public Policy Network Citizens Participation Group for a copy of the notes from a meeting with Professor Thorvaldur Gylfason. You can download the document – ‘Iceland’s Pots and Pans Revolution – Some Background’ here.