Focus on co-operation with western neighbours

Knowledge-sharing and networking are the main objectives of the Northern Development conference, part of the multi-year development project Plan Nord in Québec.

“The Nordic countries have fostered rewarding and effective partnerships in their region for over 40 years,” Secretary General Dagfinn Høybråten said in his opening speech. Work to enhance this partnership continues, and is based on the ministers for Nordic co-operations’ vision statement “Together we are stronger”.

“Meanwhile, the Nordic Council of Ministers is focussing more intensively on relationships outside the Region – spreading knowledge of the Nordic model and our core values for example,” Høybråten continued.

“The challenges and opportunities, as well as social values that go beyond mere legislation, are the same for the Nordic countries and for Canada,” stressed Québec’s Premier Philippe Couillard, one of the key figures behind the conference.

Important conference themes include sustainable social development, green growth, education, research and the potential for working together in the Arctic.

The Nordic Development conference is being hosted by Université Laval and is a collaboration between the Québec Government and the Nordic Council of Ministers.