The Nordic welfare society amid a whirlwind of changes
We need new solutions and new ways of action to ensure continued wellbeing and equality in the Nordic countries and across Europe. Demographic change, changes in the economy and working life, global policy crises and immigration are among the biggest challenges to the welfare society at the moment. How to ensure the continuation of the Nordic welfare society? Answers to this question are sought in a Nordic conference in Helsinki on 16–17 November.
Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Juha Rehula will open the conference ‘Nordic Welfare States and Public Health – A Need for Transformative Change’. The two-day event will bring together over 200 experts from the Nordic countries.
The conference will also discuss public health and healthcare and social services reforms. Keynote speakers at the conference include Professor Franco Sassi (OECD, Imperial College Business School), Olle Lundberg (chair of the commission for Equity in Health in Sweden), Professor Gunnel Gustafsson (NordForsk), and Docent Mirjam Kalland (Swedish School of Social Science, University of Helsinki).
The conference is one of the events under Finland's Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2016. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health organises the conference in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture and the National Institute for Health and Welfare, among others.
The future of the welfare state will also be discussed in the project ‘An Open and Innovative Nordic Region with Healthy People 2020 – Equal Opportunities for Welfare, Culture, Education and Work’ carried out in collaboration between the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. The starting point for three-year project, launched this year, is to seek for ways to modernise the welfare society on a broad scale with the help of research evidence. The conference will be the kick-off for the project’s second year.
Follow the conference on social media with #Norden2016
Inquiries:
Taru Koivisto, Director, tel. +358 2951 63323
Mia Mäkinen, Project Coordinator, tel. +358 2951 63075
Anne-Sofie Pesola, Communications Officer, tel. +358 2951 63625 (media contacts)