The Nordic formula: an analysis of policy learning in sectorial networks of the Nordic Council of Ministers

Organised policy learning among the Nordic countries—Finland, Norway, Sweden,Denmark and Iceland—has been around for more than 50 years, but it is an under‐researched subject. This article analyses the process as well as the output of policylearning among Nordic countries on adult education in networks under the auspices ofthe Nordic Council of Ministers. The data material consists of 10 in‐depth interviewswith actors herein over a period of 2 years, as well as the few documents available. Themost important results are that the policy learning process is characterised by so‐calledepistemic and reflexive learning modes dominated by cooperation, inputs from scienceand dialogue. The output from the Nordic policy learning networks mainly consists ofcombining elements from other Nordic countries that are frontrunners in the relevantpolicy area. The output of Nordic policy learning is certainly much more than just beinginspired by practices in Nordic countries. The results from the analysed networks caneasily be generalised to other Nordic networks, but to a lesser extent to internationalpolicy learning networks where‘value consensus’is not as pronounced as among theNordic countries.