Development of interventions in the social field in the Nordic countries
Authors:
- Economy and Governance
- The Social Sector Economy and Governance, The Social Sector
On an overall level there are both similarities and differences in how state actors in the Nordic countries work with the development of interventions in the social field.
For example, most of the Nordic countries have a structure where state actors take on an overall responsibility for gathering knowledge about effective interventions while local levels – e.g., municipalities and regions – have the primary responsibility for choosing which specific interventions to use.
However, there are important differences across the countries regarding for example how active state actors are in the development of specific interventions, how many resources are available for development activities and what specific criteria are used for assessing interventions.
Potential for cooperation
The study concludes that there is potential for more cooperation between the Nordic countries about interventions in the social field. The interviewed state actors in the different Nordic countries generally express that there are important similarities in the structure of the social field across the Nordic countries and that it is very giving for them to get input on interventions from the other Nordic countries.
However, making one or more new platforms for trans-Nordic knowledge sharing about interventions might be challenging. First and foremost, it is important to ensure that a potential future platform focuses on themes and aims that all of the involved countries agree are highly relevant.
This might seem quite basic, but it can be a challenging task because of differences between the countries regarding distribution of responsibility, available resources, specific national priorities concerning areas of interest, as well as different preferences regarding, for example, how knowledge about interventions is disseminated in the best way.
Stimulate curiosity in the Nordic countries
It is our hope that the report will stimulate curiosity among state actors in the Nordic countries as well as international actors working with Nordic cooperation on how the countries can learn from each other and will inspire further Nordic cooperation on the development of interventions in the social field.
The state actors who were interviewed for the study especially point to the following focus areas as relevant for a potential future trans-Nordic platform for sharing knowledge about effective interventions in the social field:
- Interventions focusing on specific issues in the social field that currently take up a lot of attention across several Nordic countries, for example, increasing dissatisfaction with their life circumstances among children and young people and an increasing number of children and young people with diagnoses, e.g., autism.
- The roles state actors play in assessing and recommending interventions for, for example, municipalities. How to best work with evaluation and implementation of interventions. How to best gather and present data on different interventions or target groups in the social field.
Method
The study is based on analyses of:
- Numerous websites and documents from state actors such as ministries and agencies in each of the Nordic countries who work with developing interventions in the social field. Examples of material included are strategies describing the development of interventions and websites containing information on specific interventions and criteria for assessing the effectiveness of interventions.
- Qualitative interviews with relevant state actors in the different Nordic countries. In total, 27 interviews were conducted with a number of interviewees from state actors that are important to the development of interventions in the social field in the different Nordic countries. In addition, an interview was conducted with the Nordic Welfare Centre to include the center’s extensive experiences with Nordic cooperation in the social field in the data material.
Authors
About this publication
Financed by
The Danish Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and Senior Citizens and the Nordic Council of MinistersPublisher
VIVE - Det Nationale Forsknings- og Analysecenter for Velfærd