Norwegian fjord paradise offers free rent to digital nomads
The initiative, known as the
Arctic Digital Nomads Grant
, allows individuals with flexible, location-independent jobs to apply for free accommodation and office space in three sparsely populated winter destinations—Geiranger in Norway, Þingeyri in Iceland, and Vágur in the Faroe Islands.
"A colleague of mine said that we were probably not prepared for success," Katrin Blomvik Bakken, director of the Geiranger World Heritage Foundation told the public braodcaster NRK. "This time we will be more professional."
The pilot last winter saw 15 recipients settle temporarily in Geiranger and the neighbouring villages of Norddal and Eidsdal, with one of the temporary residents now planning to stay longer.
Last year's initiative included around 15 participants spread across Geiranger and neighbouring villages Norddal and Eidsdal. Some are already planning to return — and even settle.
'One family is moving back to the village of Norddal. They are coming this autumn and will stay for a year initially,' Blomvik Bakken said.
The goal, Blomvik Bakken said, was to inject life into towns village where centralisation is slowly killing off the countryside.
While Portugal and Italy have had success with similar digital nomad schemes, the Arctic variant is unusual in seeking to attract visitors during the area's harsh winter.
'We're looking for people who not only can work from anywhere but also want to engage in local life,' said Blomvik Bakken.
Advertisement
Last year's nomads included freelancers, entrepreneurs, and artists, many of whom ended up forming close bonds with residents.
A key lesson from the first round was the need for better infrastructure to manage interest. A new application portal, currently being developed by previous participants, is expected to go live in October.
'Then I won't get a flood of applications to my private email address this time,' said Blomvik Bakken with a laugh. 'And we are really looking forward to that, because it was quite a big task.'
According to Marit Mellingen, director of Norway's national District Centre, success depends not just on housing and jobs but on local integration. 'What we know is important to get people to stay in a place, is that they thrive and feel included in the local community,' Mellingen told NRK.
Local residents in Geiranger seem to have taken that advice to heart. Blomvik Bakken noted that the community made a strong effort to welcome this winter's nomads — an effort her own family noticed.
Her daughter Nora, for example, was 'happy to get new playmates.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Norway
3 days ago
- Local Norway
'Unacceptable': Norwegian minister slams rising food prices
Food and non-alcoholic beverages saw the sharpest increase, with prices climbing 5.9 percent over the year and surging 4.4 percent from June to July alone. Alcohol and tobacco products meanwhile rose by 3.9 percent, while clothing and footwear bucked the trend, falling 3.1 percent year-on-year. The figures come from the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks the overall price development of goods and services purchased by households and serves as a key indicator of inflation in the country. "This year's price growth in July is among the highest we have seen," Espen Kristiansen, section head at the SSB, said to broadcaster NRK . Oranges and orange juice have seen a drastic price increase of 126 percent so far this year, NRK wrote at the end of last month, with weather conditions and the exchange rate of the kroner cited as causes of the fruit becoming more expensive. Business Minister Cecilie Myrseth has criticised the steep rise in food prices, calling the situation "unacceptable." Myrseth told NRK in a written comment that she will not sit idly by while shops continue to raise prices. Advertisement 'If this continues, we will have to speak to industry stakeholders,' she stated, adding that shops must explain why "unacceptable" price rises are ongoing. Overall price growth is slightly higher than the inflation level expected by the market and Norway's central bank Norges Bank, according to chief economist at Sparebank 1 Sør-Norge Kyrre Knudsen. 'As I see it, this does not change the interest rate outlook much," Knudsen said to NRK.
Local Norway
06-08-2025
- Local Norway
Tourists seeking 'coolcations' in Norway and Sweden hit by heatwaves instead
Tourism has been on the rise in Nordic countries in recent years, driven in part by the trend of "coolcations" -- where tourists flee the heat of the Mediterranean for milder temperatures in the north. But this year record-breaking temperatures in July dashed tourists' hopes of escaping the intense heat. In Haparanda, in Sweden's far north, temperatures reached 25C or above for 14 consecutive days in July, and in Jokkmokk, the heatwave lasted over 15 days, something not seen in a century, according to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). July was also the third hottest month recorded in Norway since records began in 1901, with temperatures 2.8 degrees Celsius higher that the seasonal average nationwide, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. On Monday, the Finnish Meteorological Institute said in a statement that the country had just emerged from 22 days of temperatures over 30C - the longest such heatwave since records began in 1961. A two-week heatwave, between July 12 and 25, was also the hottest ever recorded in the country. So-called "tropical nights", where the temperature doesn't drop below 20C, have become commonplace in the region. Advertisement Tourists' hot surprise The unusually high temperatures have been a shock to tourists seeking to escape the heat elsewhere. Moussaab El Bacha, a Stockholm resident, told AFP about his parent's surprise when they came over from Morocco to visit. "They were actually quite surprised by the intensity of the heat here. They had expected a cooler break from the Moroccan summer, but instead, it felt like the heat followed them all the way to Sweden," he said. "It was a bit surreal for them to experience such high temperatures this far north — they kept saying: 'Are we sure we didn't just land in southern Spain?'" Advertisement An ice rink oasis In Rovaniemi, a Finnish town north of the Arctic Circle which bills itself as the hometown of Santa Claus, temperatures reached above 30C last week. The municipality of Joensuu in southeastern Finland opened an ice rink for people to cool off in, to reduce pressure on the local healthcare services, North Karelia's regional healthcare services chief Mikael Ripatti told AFP. Ripatti said emergency rooms had become overcrowded as people sought care for heat-related health issues. "The aim was to provide a place to go if it was too hot at home," Ripatti said. Other cities opened up similar cooling facilities to the public, with a shop in Helsinki letting people lie down next to its cooling shelves. Advertisement Arctic heating The Arctic region is heating far faster than other parts of the planet. Of the continents overall, Europe has seen the fastest warming per decade since 1990, followed closely by Asia, according to global data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "The length of the period and the high temperatures throughout the day in all parts of the country were very unusual this time," Ketil Isaksen, a climate researcher with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, said in a statement. "This type of heatwave has become more likely with climate change," the researcher added. Scientists say recurring heatwaves are a marker of global warming and are expected to become more frequent, longer, and more intense. "There have been heatwaves in the past and there will continue to be heatwaves in the future," Hannele Korhonen, a research professor at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, told AFP. But as climate change drives up global temperatures we are "exceeding the heatwave threshold more often, and the heatwaves are hotter", she added. "An in-depth attribution study would be necessary to pinpoint or assess the role of climate change in the prolonged heatwave (that struck) northern Sweden," Sverker Hellström, a meteorologist at SMHI, told AFP. However, he added: "The frequency of such weather events has increased and may continue to rise in the future."
Local Norway
05-08-2025
- Local Norway
Storm Floris lashes Norway: Transport hit as public warned to avoid travel
Packing wind gusts of up to 35 meters per second, the storm will hit Rogaland, Sunnhordland, and Agder. "The strongest gusts are expected along the coast and in the mountains," state meteorologist Alexander Skeltved told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation ( NRK ). High waves are also expected along the coast and into some fjords, he said. The heaviest rainfall is expected first in the southern parts of Western Norway, where a yellow warning has been issued with between 80 and 120 mm of rain within 24 hours. The storm had an impact on flights with a SAS flight from Copenhagen to Kristiansand and the return flight both cancelled. The dangerous conditions forced widespread ferry cancellations. All Fjord Line departures on Tuesday were cancelled, impacting thousands of passengers. Operator Color Line cancelled all Tuesday departures between Norway and Denmark due to the storm, the company's head of communications, Erik Brynhildsbakken, told Norwegian media VG yesterday evening. The cancellations affect a total of eight crossings between Hirtshals in Denmark and Norwegian ports Kristiansand and Larvik. Just over 8,500 passengers will be affected by the cancellations, Brynhildsbakken told VG. 'We can't do much about the weather, so we had to adjust to Floris,' he said. Residents in affected areas are urged to stay indoors, avoid unnecessary travel, and monitor further weather updates on as the storm system moves north. Advertisement In addition to the weather forecast, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) has issued yellow warnings for both floods and landslides for parts of Western Norway, Møre og Romsdal and Innlandet. The consequence may be local flooding and erosion damage in streams and rivers. By Tuesday afternoon the worst of the storm had passed, although strong gusts of wind may still occur during the day in western Norway, Agder and the Oslofjord, meteorologist Tone Christin Thaule of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute told news agency NTB. 'The low-pressure system has now made landfall northwest of Bergen and is therefore calming down, but we still expect quite a bit of wind until this evening,' she said.
