NORD+ IC 2026 Sweden

2026 NORDPLUS intensive course (5 ECTS)

Sustainable practices and development for depopulating and peripheral localities in the European North

10th – 25th of April 2026, Linköping, Sweden

We invite students from the Baltic States and Nordic countries to join our international intensive course dedicated to the relationship of de-populating periphery development with sustainable transition strategies and practices. Students will have a unique opportunity to learn and actively engage for two weeks with experts and academics, business, and governmental stakeholders active in sustainable transition in depopulating localities. During the course students will attend numerous meetings with regional/local authorities, enterprises, and NGOs. They will carry out their own empirical research project in international small groups and enjoy interactive excursions, but also local culture, environment, and cuisine. Finally: the course enables participants to establish international contacts and meet students and professors from many countries!

Background of the course

The course is based on a long-lasting collaboration between a variety of Nordic and Baltic universities with a key focus on rural areas and their development. The key theme of the course, “Sustainable transition practices and development for depopulating and peripheral localities in the European North” rests on today’s challenging socio-economic processes in the same:

Outmigration, loss of local service infrastructure and an ageing population are a harsh reality for many Nordic/Baltic (peripheral) communities. Accompanied with an economic downturn this limits capacity to engage in sustainability transition. Smart shrinking or right-sizing approaches have accepted demographic realities and are slowly integrated into local practices of resilient development (see GEONRODBALT topic 2022-2024), at the same time sustainability strategies remain often at the margins in depopulating, peripheral communities due to a variety of reasons. For instance, livelihoods and socio-economic parameters in peripheral localities (e.g. long distances, car oriented, weak finance, etc.) render many urban sustainable transition practices unfeasible and require adjustment to the needs of depopulating, peripheral localities. The course concretely focuses on the assessment of these needs, and on how to activate the social capital of the localities to actively engage with suitable sustainability transitions strategies and particularly local sustainability practices. The course directly addresses these issues in the context of Southern/Central Sweden.

Main questions of the course

What are the key potentials, challenges and needs to employ sustainable transition strategies and practices in de-populating and peripheral areas in the Nordics, and how to activate the social capital of such localities to act on their own potentials?

The course outline

The course takes place in the Central/Southern Sweden. The intensive course framework is twofold: 1) pre-fieldcourse activities: “homework” and half day online seminar; and 2) activities during the excursion/field course part: lectures, topical excursions & expert meetings, group works and data collection with rich feedback from the teachers, report writing and presentation of research results (see detailed program below).

The course will be implemented in six stages:

  1. Every national group is obliged to carry out a preparatory homework: reading and discussing course literature in the seminars and preparing a presentation
  2. Intensive theoretical, methodological and topical teaching sessions (online/pre-field course & during field course).
  3. Regional interactive excursions in Östergötland and surrounding regions including the visit of local and regional administrations, institutions, companies, and NGOs.
  4. Carrying out fieldwork in 4-6 chosen peripheral, depopulating case studies in mixed, international groups.
  5. Drafting reports in close consultation with supervisors:
  6. About 15-20 pages (Font 12, single spaced, max 10,000 words) including tables, figures and sources. Additional appendixes in the form of audio-visual materials and virtual reality instruments are an important part of the course.
  7. In addition to the case reports, practical recommendations are prepared with collaboration of all groups.
  8. The reports will serve rural municipalities and other rural development stakeholders in their efforts for improving local quality of life and sustainability.
  9. Presenting of group reports
  10. Grades and diplomas will be awarded during the farewell dinner (Grading scale 1-5).

Homework

Every national team should prepare and present a (literature and web based) small report of about 10 slides (ppt) that displays the state of play and relations between sustainable transition strategies and practices and the geographical challenges and potentials of shrinking places in their country. The aim of the student presentations is to extend empirical knowledge about sustainable transition in depopulation localities.

Case studies

After presenting homework new international teams (6 groups of up to 6 persons, depending on participant numbers) will be established. Every group will have one or two native speakers. Each team will design their empirical research plan for a pre-chosen case study in one locality.

We will provide one local informant in each fieldwork site, who can consult you about local services, recommend interviewees etc.

Organizational information

All costs (including accommodation, catering, travel expenses, car rental etc.) will be covered from the Nord+ project grant. Students are themselves responsible to have a (travel) insurance during the course. Course and encouraged communication language is English throughout the course.

Students should bring their own laptops & cameras. Special equipment (e.g. audio recorders) are provided by partner Universities.

Organizers

The course has been organised by GEONORDBALT network for many years (See some previous activities https://sites.uef.fi/geonordbalt/ . This years course is organized by 6 Nordic/Baltic institutions: Linköping University (LiU), University of Tartu (UT),University of Latvia (UL), Vilnius University (VU), University Center of the Western Fjords (UW) and the University of Eastern Finland (UEF, coordinator). In 2026, the main organizers for the course are LiU and UEF.