The Nordic Council of Ministers’ action plan for Vision 2030 has been approved by the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation and runs from 2021 to 2024. The vision’s three strategic priorities: (i) a green Nordic Region, (ii) a competitive Nordic Region and (iii) a socially sustainable Nordic Region. There are 12 objectives linked to the strategic priorities and the Action Plan is divided into 12 sections, each one linked to one of the 12 objectives.

The new strategy document and Action Plan stresses that Nordic co-operation on disability contributes to the inclusion of people with disabilities by way of the enhanced sharing of knowledge throughout the region and close co-operation with regard to disability policy issues.

Nordic co-operation on disability is conducted primarily through a special Nordic programme for co-operation on disability issues, the Council for Nordic Co-operation on Disability, the support scheme for co-operation between Nordic disability organisations, and Nordic deafblind activities.

Areas in the action plan that are especially important and which Nordic co- operation on disability contributes to are:

•  the development of the labour market (Goal 7),
•  digitalisation and education (Goal 8),
•  health and welfare (Goal 9),
•  the Green Transition & Circular Economy (Goal 10),
•  and inclusion (Goal 12).

The basic idea of Circular Economy is to move away from the so-called linear mindset, where value creation is based on the ‘take-make-use-dispose’ dogma.

Circular Economy is a concept, based on the principle of decoupling value creation from resource consumption and achieving maximum value by increasing resource productivity, enhancing energy efficiency, lowering resource consumption and decreasing waste. To do this, we should continue to extract value from resources for as long as possible, by extending their productive lifetimes.