This open access book presents twelve unique studies on mediation from researchers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, respectively. Each study highlights important aspects of mediation, including the role of children in family mediation, the evolution and ambivalent application of restorative justice in the Nordic countries, the confusion of roles in court-connected mediation, and the challenges in dispute systems. Over the past 20-30 years, mediation has gained in popularity in many countries around the world and is often heralded as a suitable and cost-effective mode of conflict resolution. However, as the studies in this volumes show, mediation also has a number of potential drawbacks. Parties’ self-determination may be jeopardized, affected third parties are involved in an inadequate way, and the legal regulations may be flawed. The publication can inspire research, help professionals and policymakers in the field and be used as a textbook.

Fullst.tit. Nordic Research Cooperation on Reproductive Disturbances in Fish. Undertit.: report from the Redfish project. Engelsk tekst.

On cover: Working environment.

Developed in response to the theoretically driven mainstream sociology, institutional ethnography starts from people’s everyday experiences, and works from there to discover how the social is organized. Starting from experience is a central step in challenging taken-for-granted assumptions and relations of power, whilst responding critically to the neoliberal cost-benefit ideology that has come to permeate welfare institutions and the research sector. This book explicates the Nordic response to institutional ethnography, showing how it has been adapted and interpreted within the theoretical and methodological landscape of social scientific research in the region, as well as the institutional particularities of the Nordic welfare state. Addressing the main topics of concern in the Nordic context, together with the way in which research is undertaken, the authors show how institutional ethnography is combined with different theories and methodologies in order to address particular problematics, as well as examining its standing in relation to contemporary research policy and university reforms. With both theoretical and empirical chapters, this book will appeal to scholars and students of sociology, professional studies and anthropology with interests in research methods and the Nordic region.

The Danish programme for the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2015 focuses on the themes of growth, welfare, values and the Blue Arctic. Education, research and innovation play key roles in – and across – all four themes. The Nordic countries have close links with each other, sharing common history, culture and values. The Nordic welfare model is built on our understanding of democracy, the recognition that everyone has equal value and is entitled to equal rights, and respect for the community, to which everybody contributes and the benefits of which are enjoyed by all. Common strengths and strong Nordic values can be found across all of the Nordic education systems.

This study maps current and planned education and research cooperation that the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) have with Russia. The study includes bilateral, Nordic, regional, intergovernmental and EU levels, but focuses on the bilateral, national level. The study covers all the fields of research and all the educational levels: primary and upper-secondary schools, vocational, higher and adult education. This study is of use on both a national and international level. It serves both readers who wish to obtain an overview of cooperation in bilateral education and research between the Nordic countries and Russia, as well as readers interested in becoming acquainted with the various forms in which Nordic countries cooperate in the fields of education and research with Russia as a whole. This study, commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers, has been carried out by the Aleksanteri Institute, which is the Finnish Centre for Russian and Eastern European Studies at the University of Helsinki.

Introduction to Nordic Cultures is an innovative, interdisciplinary introduction to Nordic history, cultures and societies from medieval times to today. The textbook spans the whole Nordic region, covering historical periods from the Viking Age to modern society, and engages with a range of subjects: from runic inscriptions on iron rings and stone monuments, via eighteenth-century scientists, Ibsen’s dramas and turn-of-the-century travel, to twentieth-century health films and the welfare state, nature ideology, Greenlandic literature, Nordic Noir, migration, ‘new’ Scandinavians, and stereotypes of the Nordic. The chapters provide fundamental knowledge and insights into the history and structures of Nordic societies, while constructing critical analyses around specific case studies that help build an informed picture of how societies grow and of the interplay between history, politics, culture, geography and people. Introduction to Nordic Cultures is a tool for understanding issues related to the Nordic region as a whole, offering the reader engaging and stimulating ways of discovering a variety of cultural expressions, historical developments and local preoccupations. The textbook is a valuable resource for undergraduate students of Scandinavian and Nordic studies, as well as students of European history, culture, literature and linguistics.

This book contains the refereed proceedings of the 5th Scandinavian Conference on Information Systems, SCIS 2014, held in Ringsted, Denmark, in August 2014. The theme for this book as well as for the conference is “Designing Human Technologies.” The theme combines the interplay of people with technology—a classic theme in Scandinavian information systems research—with a growing interest within the IS research field in design and design science research. The nine papers accepted for SCIS 2014 were selected from 22 submissions.