Committee: reconsider unsustainable savings on education and culture!
The committee visited the Þingvellir National Park, which Unesco has designated as a World Heritage Site and where the Icelanders held their first national meeting, the Althing.
At its meeting on 28 June 2022, the Nordic Council Committee for Knowledge and Culture discussed the Nordic Council of Ministers’ proposed budget for 2023 and the proposed savings in the field of culture, and the field of education and research.
The committee unanimously calls on the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation to reconsider their decision to finance green initiatives with funds from the education and culture sectors.
Culture, education, and research are indispensable components in realising the prime ministers’ vision that the Nordic region be not only the world’s most sustainable region but also the world’s most integrated region by 2030.
Making savings in these areas is ill-considered, unreasonable, and unsustainable.
On the contrary, the need for investment in culture, education, and research has increased as a result of the pandemic.
The consequences of, among other things, completely withdrawing funding for Orkester Norden, Nordic Literature Week, the Nordic Debut Seminar at Biskops Arnö, and Nordic Panorama are devastating for both practitioners and audiences.
The committee looks forward to the forthcoming dialogue with the Nordic ministers for education and the Nordic ministers for culture on the negotiated budget compromise between the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers, which will give the culture sector and the education and research sector an additional DKK 15 million for 2023.
Nordic Council Committee for Knowledge and Culture
