Crisis preparedness from media literacy to ocean currents – Nordic cooperation under Finland's and Åland's Co-Presidency in 2025

Finland and Åland led the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2025. The priorities for the Co-Presidency were children and youth as well as societal security.

The Secretariat for Nordic Cooperation coordinated the Presidency at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and  several Government ministries participated in the implementation of the Presidency programme.

“We are pleased with the work done over the year and the close coordination with Government ministries, the Government of Åland and numerous collaborating partners. Hosting the Presidency gave us a valuable opportunity to promote the common goals of the Nordic countries at a time when Nordic unity is of paramount importance,” says Ann-Sofie Stude, Chief of the Secretariat for Nordic Cooperation at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The key aim of the Presidency, which rotates between the Nordic countries, is to support the prime ministers' shared vision for the Nordic region to be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030.

The common vision and its strategic priorities guide the work carried out in the different sectors of the Council of Ministers, where multidisciplinary work covers a wide range of policy areas.

Focus on societal security

One of the priorities of the Programme for the Finnish and Ålandic Co-Presidency was societal security.

Finland has systematically emphasised the importance of comprehensive security and translating cooperation goals into concrete action. It is central that preparedness work covers different sectors of society, and that is why the Nordic Council of Ministers is a natural platform for cooperation.

Due to changes in the security environment, the Nordic countries have paid more attention to comprehensive security in recent years.

The cooperation to promote societal security aims to make the Nordic region more resilient and more comprehensively and broadly prepared for all kinds of civil crises and hybrid threats.

The joint statement following the Nordic prime ministers’ meeting  held in Turku and Paimio in May highlights the governments' firm commitment to strengthening comprehensive security at the Nordic level.

Over the year, themes related to preparedness and societal security were discussed at the summer meeting of the ministers responsible for Nordic cooperation in Helsinki and in many sector-specific ministerial councils. In the education sector, for example, an important theme was media literacy and democracy education to safeguard societal resilience.

Under Finland’s and Åland’s Co-Presidency, issues such as the impacts of climate change on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) were also addressed. With funding from the Council of Ministers, the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the Universities of Lapland and Helsinki organised an international seminar, the Nordic Tipping Point Week, on the impact of AMOC on the Nordic Region. Finland considers it important to promote discussion within the Nordic scientific community on the impacts of climate change on North Atlantic ocean currents.

Meetings in Mainland Finland and Åland

One of the objectives of the Presidency was to further strengthen Finland’s visibility in the other Nordic countries. At the same time, Nordic cooperation gained more domestic regional visibility than usual through meetings, seminars and other events organised across Mainland Finland and Åland.

For example, a high-level seminar on the future of Nordic cooperation was held in connection with the meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Mariehamn in September.

Denmark and the Faroe Islands took over the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers at the beginning of 2026.

In 2026, Finland will hold the Presidency of the Nordic Council, the forum for inter-parliamentary cooperation between the Nordic countries.