Nora Conference - Podcast Extra
The Lesley Riddoch Podcast
Lesley Riddoch and Fraser Thompson
4.6 • 274 Ratings
🗓️ 16 September 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This podcast extra was recorded at the NORA conference in Stornoway. This was the first conference of its kind in Stornoway. It included Scotland and Scottish Isles, and the NORA countries: Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, and coastal Norway. The title of the event was Building Sustainable Futures for Island communities.
NORA, or Nordic Atlantic Cooperation, is an intergovernmental organisation under the Nordic Council of Ministers, uniting Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and coastal Norway. Established in 1981 and formalized as NORA in 1996 when coastal Norway joined, the organization strengthens regional cooperation to make the North Atlantic a dynamic part of the Nordic region.
https://nora.fo/
Lesley spoke with:
https://nora.fo/participants-stornoway
Gréta Bergrún Jóhannesdóttir, a researcher at Bifröst University, Iceland, focusing on rural Iceland, gender, and equality.
Ondrej Spala, Project Manager for ICE Kirkenes, Norway, and Director of the Arctic Circular Economy Summit. His role in fostering entrepreneurial networks in the Nordic Arctic.
Karin Marie Funding Lyster, an entrepreneur from the Faroe Islands, founder of MAI Learning AS, an EdTech company focused on AI integration. She has won awards for Arctic youth entrepreneurship.
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| 0:00.0 | Well, I'm here at a really fascinating conference in Storaway. |
| 0:05.0 | It's the first time that Nora Conference, which is North Atlantic nations, |
| 0:10.0 | not some smaller than Scotland, have chosen to come to Scotland to have this event. |
| 0:15.1 | It's been held for the last 25 so years. |
| 0:18.0 | So this is a bit of a big moment for the Western Isles. |
| 0:22.4 | And I've got four fascinating speakers here who have sort of mind-blown me in all sorts of different respects. But can I just get |
| 0:28.3 | them all to introduce themselves first? And you can hear which voice is whose. Yes. My name is Greta |
| 0:34.0 | Johannes Dohter. I'm from Iceland. I work as a rural researcher in Bavarst University in |
| 0:39.6 | Iceland and I specialize in gender issues. My name is Andrezbo. I work with South Warangar Development |
| 0:47.5 | Company and I lead projects focused on entrepreneurship and innovation in the region and across the |
| 0:52.6 | Nordic Arctic. Right. Because nobody will know where Saw Varangir is. |
| 0:56.8 | That is in... |
| 0:57.6 | That is in northern Norway by the Finnish Russian border. |
| 1:01.4 | Right, in the famous town of Chirkenes. |
| 1:03.5 | Yes, that is correct. |
| 1:05.7 | Yeah, my name is Ben Arabo. I'm from the Faroe Islands. |
| 1:08.2 | I run a small local investment fund. |
| 1:12.4 | That's my day job. |
| 1:14.4 | And? |
| 1:15.8 | Well, you sound like there's something more interesting that you do at night now. |
| 1:18.9 | No, no, no, no. |
| 1:20.3 | I do sit on various boards and get involved in various sort of projects, particularly with |
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