Offices of the Nordic Council of Ministers
The mission of the office is to widely introduce Nordic cooperation and manage all cooperation projects and programmes. Both public and private sectors and civil society organisations can apply for NCM projects and grants. The goal of the NCM is to increase the competitiveness of the North Baltic region in the world through the creation and support of cooperation networks. The NCM is chaired by one of the five member states on a rotating basis (generally the order is: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland). Since August 2023 the director of the Estonian office of the NCM has been Maria Gratschew; Madis Kanarbik is the head of the Tartu branch office.
Cooperation
The cooperation between the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Baltic States is based on guidelines that are updated every five years. The guidelines define the focus topics of cooperation, which are:
- education, research, and innovation;
- business, cooperation between clusters, and creative industries;
- environment, climate, and energy;
- the challenges of welfare states, including cross-border issues that affect both the Baltic and Nordic countries, such as demographic changes, migration, organised crime, and human trafficking.
Cooperation between the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Baltic States has become more and more equal – the donor-beneficiary relationship has become a partnership on an equal basis (with 50/50 financing). Practical cooperation takes place through joint North Baltic cooperation programmes and projects.
The focus of the implemented projects has been primarily on the environment, sustainable development, education, research, creative industries, and culture. The Nordic Council of Ministers has supported the development of independent Russian-language media in Estonia (ETV+ programmes). The NCM office has also focused on the values and challenges of welfare states (fighting human trafficking, gender equality, etc.) and regional cooperation (population development, migration).
In addition, the Estonian office of the Nordic Council of Ministers has organised larger and smaller cultural festivals such as the Nordic Literature Week and the Nordic-Baltic Literature Forum. Migration and energy conferences are also regularly organised.
