Opportunities and challenges for future regional development

Abstract

The Nordic model is about the egalitarian values that has guided it, the universalism in the institutions that underpins it and the democratic as well as research based 'modernization' process that continues to reform it. Starting with the oil-crisis in the 1970s, the model has been under a sort of permanent stress test coming from neoliberalism, globalization, Europeanisation, ageing populations, migration, climate change, and the Great Recession. The model is further challenged by emerging regional divisions of welfare. I argue that that the social investment approach provides an interesting starting point for addressing immediate concerns and long-term challenges and this also is relevant from a regional perspective. It is about combining economic perspectives with social objectives with the aim to promote a socially sustainable development.