Conference 'Labour Mobility and Transnationalism in the Nordic-Baltic Region'

Free movement of people is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union. Mobility, including labour mobility, is an important way of balancing out demand for and supply of labour and thereby also balancing employment in the EU, solving the challenges caused by demographic developments and increasing the competitiveness of countries.

Last year the Nordic Council of Ministers initiated a project in the Nordic and Baltic countries that concerns labour mobility and associated demographic development.

The high-level conference 'Labour Mobility and Transnationalism in the Nordic-Baltic Region' that will take place in Kumu Art Museum in Tallinn on 7 March, 2014 will continue discussing the subject of labour mobility. A new subject that will be discussed is transnationalism as a new phenomenon associated with labour mobility.

Professor Tiit Tammaru from the University of Tartu explains that transnationalism means that the work activities and communication network of many people these days reach far across the borders of their home countries. This change is having an increasingly strong impact on many areas of life in the Baltic Sea region and throughout the world, incl. the labour market, thereby setting new challenges for the development of nation states.

Estonian Minister of Social Affairs Taavi Rõivas, Estonian Minister of the Interior Ken-Marti Vaher and European Commission Commissioner László Andor, among others, will speak at the conference.

Academicians, specialists and politicians will discuss the following topics at the conference:

• How many working-age people in Estonia would like to work abroad? Who wants to leave and why? The Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs will introduce a new policy analysis entitled 'Migration Potential of Working-age Population in Estonia in 2013'.
• How can people be helped to adapt to new circumstances in a new country and also to immigrant workers?
• How can we develop a smart migration policy in the Nordic and Baltic countries in such a manner that the region's competitiveness improves and people maintain ties to their home countries?
• The Praxis Centre for Policy Studies will assemble the puzzle of talent policy.

Find out more about the conference, speakers, practical details, etc. here! Don't forget to sign up latest on February 28, 2014!