Following the path towards sustainability seems to be a very complex task, where all actors need to be engaged and stay aware in their interactions with the web of life. In this context the Nordic countries are sometimes refered to as norm entrepreneurs, scoring high in various global sustainability related indexes (e.g. Global Happiness Index, wealth, social system, SDG's, Ecological Footprint). In this book the reader will be shown what the main patterns of sustainability are in each Nordic country presented by researches from the respective countries. Does there exist a special Nordic Sustainability? What are the critical aspects of sustainability in the Nordics? By using systemic and narrative methods some knots are discovered in an interdisciplinary way. But the critical analysis finishes not in merely quantifying. It will be enlarged by a qualitative analysis as well. Each author was given the freedom to interpret sustainability in their respective countries but theUN SDG's are only used in an indirect way relative to the author's position. At the end of the book, German researchers offer an outside perspective by comparing and contrasting the information in the chapters about the different Nordic countries.

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Theoretical Designs of Sustainability in the Nordic countries (Torsten Graap); Chapter 3: SDG´s - an Indirect Way to Understand and Compare the Nordic Countries (Georg-Stephan Barfuß); Chapter 4: Cultural Impacts to Understand the Nordics (Bernd Henningsen, Hannes Saarinen, Joachim Krüger); Chapter 5: Sweden - Perspectives on Sustainability: Stuck between two paradigms? (Johan Jansson, Katarina Eckerberg, Jonas Nilsson, Herman Stål); Chapter 6: Denmark - Nordic Sustainable Futures (Urs Steiner Brandt); Chapter 7: Norway - Presence and Future of Sustainability (Ove Jakobsen, Vivi Storsletten); Chapter 8: Finland - Towards a Sustainable Society (Eveliina Asikainen, Päivi Rajala); Chapter 9: Iceland - A Role Model or Free Rider (Auður H. Ingólfsdóttir);Chapter 10: Greenland - Presence and Future of Sustainability (Tobias Etzold, Christian Opitz); Chapter 11: Sustainability in the Faroe Islands (Lau Øfjord Blaxekjær, Gestur Hovgaard, Erika Anne Hayfield); Chapter 12: Nordic Sustainability? Analysis and Critical Comparison (Torsten Graap, Georg-Stephan Barfuß)