SWEDEN

Nordic culture week in Ida-Viru county 2017

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet —  Being held from 9-15 October, Nordic Culture Week invites everyone to discover Nordic culture and society! The week will add more than 20 events to the cultural calendar of Narva and Ida-Viru County this autumn, from great jazz concerts to a fun family sports day and from educational exhibitions, lectures and seminars to the latest movies and art events.

All of the Nordic authors taking part in the week of culture are relevant to the here and now. The topics and themes of the exhibitions, seminars and lectures and important to Estonia and the Nordic countries today. All of the films being screened are new. This is modern Nordic culture and society. Everyone will find an exciting event to attend.

Nordic Culture Week is an almost festival-sized event that is being held for the third time. It has grown bigger and bigger every year, and to our delight has attracted new cooperation partners – a great sign that Nordic culture and values speak to the people of Ida-Viru County.

In cooperation with Narva Jazz Club, we are pleased to present performances by musicians belonging to the elite of modern Swedish jazz, Ola Bengtsson and Erik Söderlind, and invite you to listen to the exciting joint performance by Mika Kallio (drummer) and Satu Rinnetmäki (dance) at Jazz Time Club in Sillamäe. The Narva Art Residency is where you can see the photo exhibition ‘Moments’, which was born in and then travelled around the Nordic countries and in which one of the participants is Sillamäe photographer Karel Kravik. Norwegian artists Ellen Suhkre and Hans Hansen, who are doing their residency in Narva on the invitation of Tallinn Photomonth, invite everyone to take a look at their art and have a chat at the same venue. In addition to these two events, around 10 exhibitions showcasing Norwegian society, culture and history will also be open in Narva, Kohtla-Järve and Illuka.

Nordic Culture Week grew out of Nordic Film Week in 2015. The exciting film programme – showcasing the latest Nordic films, from thrillers to comedies, with something for people of all ages – will once again take place in cinemas in Narva and Jõhvi. The end of the cultural week will offer a great opportunity to exercise with your family and get to know and compete in various sports at Nordic Sports Day.

Nordic Culture Week is being held on the initiative of the Estonian office of the Nordic Council of Ministers and in cooperation with its partners: the Nordic embassies in Estonia, the Finnish Institute, Nordic House on the Åland Islands, Narva College of the University of Tartu, Tallinn Photomonth, Narva Jazz Club, Sillamäe Jazz Club, the Narva Art Residency of the Estonian Academy of Arts, VitaTiim and Vestifex.

Source: SwedenAbroad.com
Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet

 

Speech by Prime Minister Stefan Löfven at the memorial ceremony at Stockholm City Hall

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet — On Monday 10 April, the Prime Minister participated in the City of Stockholm’s official ceremony for the victims of 7 April. The ceremony took place at Stockholm City Hall at 12.00.

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, Swedes, people of Stockholm, friends,
Losing a loved one is the most terrible thing that can happen in a person’s life.
I have thought so much about those of you who on Friday lost someone you loved more than anything in the world.
You now carry with you the memories – of conversations, looks, laughs – alongside your unfathomable loss.
I just want to say this: you are not alone. Our thoughts are with you. Sweden is with you.
* * *
And so many people have done so much for their fellow human beings in the last few days.
Sweden’s brave police officers. Our highly skilled emergency services. Our fantastic medical professionals.
And all of you who discovered the hero within you, who offered help and consolation.
We cannot thank you enough.
Your actions make Sweden proud, and are a testament to people’s incredible capacity in times of adversity.
You put me in mind of the following lines by priest and author Anders Frostenson:
“Our own wounds are healed when we heal the wounds of others.Bowed down by burdens, we are carried.
From the solace I gave another, solace my own heart received.In going to one who needed me, I came home.”
So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
You were put to the test. You stood firm. You have the gratitude of an entire country.
* * *
And I know that we will get through this as we in Sweden have always done: together.
The strength, the resolve, the steadfast values that Sweden has demonstrated in the last few days can never be taken from us by a murderer.
Our unity will always be stronger than the forces that seek to tear us apart.
Our way of life will never be suppressed.
Our democracy will triumph over fundamentalism.
* * *
Friends,
Sweden, Belgium and the United Kingdom stand together in mourning the citizens we have lost.
Our three countries have suffered horrendous acts of terrorism.But we have also seen the strength, determination and power of our democratic societies.
We will never surrender to terror. We will get through this, together.

Source: SwedenAbroad.com
Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet

 

Norway: Norwegians told to seek their fortune in Sweden

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet – Unemployed Norwegians are being urged to head for greener pastures in Sweden as the country’s oil boom peters out, reversing the age-old trend of young Swedes moving to Norway to work.

Sweden’s unemployment rate has been on a downwards curve in the past few years. In June 11,000 fewer Swedes aged 18-24 were without a job compared to the same month last year.

But the situation is starkly different across the border, where the number of unemployed Norwegians aged 15-24 grew by 22,000 people in the past year alone, according to Statistics Norway.

The well-known trend of Swedes moving to Norway to work peaked between 2011 and 2014. It was even the subject of the award-winning Swedish film Svenskjävel (Underdog in English), which follows a Swedish au pair who has an affair with her Norwegian employer.

But financial experts are now advising young Norwegians to instead look for work in Sweden, particularly in the construction sector, teaching and computer engineering.

“Norwegians should seek their fortune in Sweden. It is certainly worth the trip,” Terje Strøm, chief economist at the Ny Analyse institute in Norway, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

Even unemployed oil workers should quit Norway for Sweden, he added.

“Working a few years in Swedish industry could be very useful for future jobs when the labour market has improved in Norway.”

“In the past ten years more than 100,000 Swedes have come to the Norwegian labour market and helped us here. So it is good if Norwegians can go in the other direction now,” he said.

Swedes are the second-largest immigrant group in Norway after the Poles, but last year was the first time since the new millennium that the country saw a negative net migration of Swedes.

“Over the past year the demand for labour in Norway has been much lower, while demand has been very high in Sweden,” Harald Magnus Andreassen, the chief Norway economist for Sweden’s Swedbank, told Aftenposten in December.

“There have never been more vacancies than there are now in Sweden. There is simply much less reason to go to Norway.”

1...171819Page 19 of 19