This will be done through a collaborative network of experts, continuous comprehensive data analysis, and establishing innovative research. Based on the existing European-wide GUIDE network, which examines children’s and families’ well-being through a comparative birth cohort study using harmonized instruments, UNIFAMN forms a Nordic network to examine and promote Nordic families’ resilience, future preparedness, and well-being. The partners come from five Nordic countries: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland.
The UNIFAMN’s aims are sixfold: (1) An expert network is established to promote knowledge exchange and research collaboration across the participating institutions and beyond. (2) Existing main knowledge and data gaps will be identified concerning families’ resilience, future preparedness and well-being. Systematic reviews will be conducted to provide an understanding of Nordic families’ resilience, future crisis preparedness and well-being, and existing Nordic data sets will be used to identify data- and knowledge gaps. (3)
In collaboration with wider expert networks, foresight scans will be employed to anticipate future risks and possible events influencing families’ resilience, preparedness, and well-being. (4) New survey module(s) will be developed and tested in each participating country to examine families’ resilience and future preparedness. These modules will also serve in establishing a representative survey panel for longitudinal Nordic family research. (5) Sustainability of Nordic research is promoted by involving young researchers in the network activities and summer school. (6)
Events will be organized in each partner country to engage stakeholders and disseminate research findings. For strong societal impact, UNIFAMN project will develop suggestions for policies and community resilience initiatives. The vision of the project is to promote resilient and future-prepared Nordic region where families thrive, supported by robust social policies, and informed by cutting-edge research and expert insights, and continuously monitored for improvement.
