Madeleine Bunting (Director, Demos)
Dr Catherine Fieschi (Demos) - Chair

As part of our Northern Lights seminar series, we will be discussing the intricacies of the Swedish, Danish and Finnish experiences of immigration and multiculturalism and draw parallels with policy and expectations in the UK. We are delighted to have the support of the Finnish Institute, the Swedish Embassy and the British Council Denmark for this event.

Immigration to the Nordic countries has grown rapidly over the last decade. In Sweden immigrant and refugee families account for nearly 20% of the 9 million strong population; Finnish immigration figures have trebled since the early 1990s; while Denmark demonstrates similar trends, despite having introduced tightened immigration laws in a controversial bill in 2002. The ability of the Nordic countries to deal with diversity is a huge challenge to the system, and to society as a whole. Understood in its own right the question of how to integrate minorities and migrants, especially unskilled workers at times of economic difficulty, is a hugely important issue. When considered alongside the dangerous growth of far right parties in Europe this challenge becomes a very real one. Scandinavia has to date served as a model of social policy to other European nations; its ability to deal with this new challenge will be tested over the next decade and beyond.

While the UK faces similar challenges, it has historically been confronted with issues of diversity. The UK’s multicultural policies, as well as its tradition of tolerance and integration, make it an obvious place to look when seeking innovative policy ideas in the field of diversity and ethnic management.