IFSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – FINNMARKSL?PET 2023 and URO the NHO Arctic's annual conference.
On March 9th and 10th, I was traveling to Alta, to attend the annual conference URO of NHO Arctic and to participate in the opening of the Finnmarksl?pet 2023. This year, the Finnmarksl?pet also hosted the IFSS World Championship in long-distance dog sledding.
Finnmarksl?pet is the longest dog-sled race in Europe and challenge mushers to explore the limits of their capabilities and performance.?
It is impressive how far the race is (1200 km!) for the mushers and their dogs. Many visitors gather to participate and watch this fantastic race. Alta municipality has done a lot right in facilitating business development and at the same time investing in many exciting social activities for its residents and visitors.
At the NHO Arctic annual conference, I had the opportunity to meet our Prime Minister Jonas Gahr St?re and participate in a panel debate with the Prime Minister, Kristian Enger, Liza-Mari Widnes Isaksen, Mayor of Alta Municipality Monica Nielsen, and Director of NHO Arktis Sigrid Ina Simonsen.
We all agree that the region has opportunities and that there are challenges regarding power and demographics. Important growth factors in the north are local risk capital, tripartite cooperation, and predictable framework conditions. Business creates good municipalities, which in turn creates a desire to live and stay in these areas.
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Northern Norway has been defined as one of the most important focus area for the various Norwegian governments over the past 20 years, but unfortunately, few effective measures have been implemented to reverse the trend and attract investments. (The Norwegian Government's Strategy for the High North, signed by Jens Stoltenberg)
We have rather seen that several activities have been centralized, reducing the effectiveness of the services in the north. The latest is the postal service, which is now closing its centers in Bod? and Troms?, meaning that all mail in the north must be sent to the "?stlandsterminalen" before being sent back north again. As an example, it is just a straight line distance of over 2,500 kilometers (!) round trip to send a letter between two towns in the vicinity of Alta. The sum of all the different reductions in public services and centralizations that are being implemented makes it harder to retain young people, recruit new families, and conduct business in the north.
WSP has launched a report called Regionenes Kamp 2022, where they have measured the resilience of regions and municipalities in terms of how well they are prepared to handle the future and further development. The conclusion is that Northern Norway ranks at the bottom of the list, but Bod? municipality is one of the few exceptions. This is due, among other things, to the investment in a new airport - a new city that has created a lot of activity and belief in the city. This shows that larger investments must also be made in other areas in the north that create ripple effects and reverse the depopulation trend. We must recognize that it costs more to have a population in rural areas, especially in the Arctic. We need Action Now!
Download the report (in Norwegian):