Scan Magazine

Christmas Greetings from the Norwegian Prime Minister

“Norway shall be a leading nation in environmental policy”

Christmas Greetings from the Swedish Prime Minister

“I hope we can all give an extra thought to those who are less well off”

Scandipop

This month, two massive pop acts which are already well established in their respective Scandinavian homelands are being shipped to the UK. And two other artists, who’ve already been given the UK seal of approval, unleash their new wares!

Denmark

There are so many wonderful things about Scandinavia: there’s Norway, with its fjords and mountains, Finland with lakes and wilderness, Sweden, with forests and archipelagos…. and then there’s Denmark, known primarily for its bacon.

You are your calendar

Do you sleep with your mobile within reach? Do you read your e-mails in the bathroom and type sms messages and e-mails while walking the dog; in other words are you an accomplished multi-tasker? Then you might just suffer from a very modern disease called ‘busyness’.

Sustainability does not have to hamper the economy

Over 35 years have passed since the first Conference on the Environment was held in Stockholm in 1972. For the first time, environmental issues were put on the international agenda. At that time, Sweden had come to realise the importance of environmental action, and it has been a top priority for Sweden ever since.

Scandinavian Art in High Demand

Autumn is a vibrant, buzzing time for the art market in London; in the middle of October the leading and uber-trendy world contemporary art fair, Frieze took place. Scandinavian art held its own, with Danish, Swedish and Norwegian galleries all present at the fair representing artists such as Olafur Eliasson (who was responsible for the captivating Weather Project in Tate Modern’s turbine hall in 2004) and Mamma Andersson.

Norway less affected by the financial crises than many other countries

No country integrated into the global economy is left unaffected by the financial crisis. Norway is therefore no exception. However, compared to many countries, I would say Norway has managed relatively well. In the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 we did experience negative GDP growth, but growth picked up...

Scandipop

This month, each Scandinavian territory puts forward its own Chanteuse, in a proud display of what each country is capable of producing at the moment!

First to the Finnish line

Ben Kersley looks at how Finland gets the gold medal for sporting creativity. In 1952, the Finns hosted the Olympics and in what should have been their sporting zenith they even managed to come behind Hungary in the medals table. In ice hockey, the quintessential Nordic sport, Finland usually goes home with silver to Sweden’s gold. Other than the odd bit of ski jumping and some middle distance running, no major sport has ever been troubled by Finnish domination.