Given the number of people I’ve personally met who have trouble naming the differentiating characteristics of the Scandinavian countries, a light-hearted rivalry is perfectly understandable. But the article also mentions a potential economic advantage of the amalgamation of Öresund/Øresund (the official geographical name for Greater Copenhagen – choose one according to your preferred language). International cities expert Greg Clark is quite correct in saying that ‘if two smaller cities become one big region they can mobilise their assets, populations and amenities’. Hey, if that’s not transnationality, then what is?
A search for Öresund/Øresund on Facebook reveals a start-up news group, which indeed hints at a promising economic future, most notably for young people who need a platform to realise their entrepreneurial dreams. Sweden’s youth unemployment rate sits at about 22% , which is pretty average compared to other EU member states, but staggering when you put it next to Denmark’s 11%. Are there tangible reasons for this? I’m no economist so I won’t attempt to analyse it in detail, but ultimately it’s up to residents of both countries to decide if it’s worth swallowing pride and making a leap for new economic adventures.
An Estonian-inspired INITIATIVE to tidy up the world
What’s Estonia’s place on the world stage? As part of the 2004 wave of new European Union members, it has been doing well in crawling out of neighbours' perceptions of former Soviet states.
I must admit that until about a year ago, I didn’t know very much about Estonia at all. Then my brother introduced us to his Estonian girlfriend, and my curiosity about this corner of Europe was fulfilled a little bit. For example, I learned that people living in these Baltic states tend to think of themselves as Northern Europeans as opposed to Eastern Europeans.
Estonian World is a nice blog I came across that sets about highlighting the country’s achievements – in English, so that it reaches a wider audience. This past week, in addition to naming 12 outstanding Estonian women for International Women’s Day, they showed more hard evidence that Estonia is generating international shockwaves – in the form of environmental initiative "Let’s Do It"!. The founder, Rainer Nõlvak, didn’t want to stop at ridding the country of illegal waste in five years – he claimed it could be done in a day. And in fact, it was achieved within just five hours. According to the article, the initiative has now inspired 11 million people the world over (that’s about 10 times the population of Estonia), and led to a further project being formed, called World Cleanup.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about all this is the motivation that people have shown – it’s a race to show your country is the fastest, plus it benefits the environment! The fact that it’s now even reaching countries that are still navigating their way out of conflict, like Ukraine and Afghanistan, is also wonderful.
It’s a testimony to ambition and teamwork (very transferrable and employable skills, by the way), so maybe you should think of joining in your country’s chapter of Let’s Do It! if you are looking to add something to your CV!
French rail company suspends openly homophobic employee
I first heard about the case of Dutch LGBT activist Mirjam van Heugten on a French site, and indeed, most of the articles on the incident are in French or Dutch. A few weeks ago, van Heugten kissed her girlfriend on a Paris train platform. An employee from Thalys – one of France’s biggest rail companies – spotted this, and took it upon themselves to let them know this was "intolerable". This came off as particularly hypocritical, as Thalys had previously put out an ad campaign showing two men contemplating a romantic weekend in Paris or Düsseldorf.
After van Heugten’s official complaint was ignored, she launched an online petition calling for action, and indeed, action was taken: it has been reported that last Wednesday, the employee in question was suspended.
At a time when many European countries are gradually granting same-sex couples the same rights as straight couples when it comes to marriage and partnerships – Slovenia being the latest, earlier this month – it is commonly overlooked that the simple act of existing in a heteronormative society is a struggle. Marriage is either a far-off luxury or simply not a priority for many, and the fight for rights and recognition doesn’t end there. Equal marriage could be legalised everywhere tomorrow, yet people would still be afraid to come out to their families and co-workers, they’d be hesitant about showing affection to their partner in public (as perfectly illustrated in this example), and they would still feel exasperated from dealing with strangers who presume heterosexuality by default or ask invasive questions about their sex life.
This is also a case that proves that a company’s image and the personal attitudes or beliefs of the company’s employees are not always in line with one another. Here, we are forced to ask ourselves whether a capitalistic world actually cares about the pursuit of happiness in oneself, or if it’s just one more strategy trying to pander to a certain market.
