Live, Work & Travel in Scandinavia
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Roskilde Festival – It takes around 7,500 volunteers to make this large Danish music festival come together. Applications are taken from the end of March.
Worldwide Friends Iceland – A non profit NGO that promotes nature and peace orientated activities for people interested in spending some time in Iceland as volunteers. Participants can take part in short term workcamps or on longer projects. The Clean Up the Coastline project aims to clean the beaches of Iceland within five years by collecting waste in collaboration with international volunteers, school children, students, youth and environmental organisations and companies.
Employment in Scandinavia
Employers, Agencies & Placement Services
ARP-Hansen Hotel Group – A group of hotels in Copenhagen. Job information is only available on the Danish language version of the website.
Energy Au Pair – Norwegian au pair agency.
Legoland – Danish theme park. Unlike the rest of the site the jobs pages are in Danish only.
Employment Resources for Finding Work in Scandinavia
Advice & Useful Sites for Finding Work
Beitostolen – Norwegian winter resort.
Finnish National Agency for Education – Visit here for links to some of their external websites on studying in Finland.
Gaustablikk – Norwegian winter resort. The site only seems to be in Norwegian now but must have once been in English otherwise why the hell would we have added them.
Hemsedal – Norwegian winter resort. There’s a little bit of information for seasonal workers. In Norwegian and English.
Life in Norway – Life in Norway is your English language guide to all things Norway: From history and culture to practical guides on relocation, finding a job and learning the language.
Lillehammer Turist – Tourist info for the Norwegian winter resort that, with a bit of imagination, can be used as a way to find employers. In Norwegian, English and German.
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) – The UDI is responsible for processing applications from foreign nationals who wish to visit or live in Norway, the running of asylum reception centres and expulsion cases. You can be granted a residence permit in Norway if you are going on a working holiday for young adults, if you are a working guest in agriculture, an employee of a humanitarian/ non-profit/ religious organisation, or an artist, musician or performer.
Work in Finland – Information about living, studying and working in Finland. There were some jobs listed when we last looked but most were years old.
Work in Norway – The official guide.
Working in Sweden – A step by step guide to the Swedish migration process. The site is aimed mainly at non-EU/EEA citizens interested in working in Sweden for at least one year.

Gap Year & Voluntary Work in Scandinavia
Unpaid Positions & Adventure
Allianssi Youth Exchanges – AYE mostly sends young Finns abroad but they do place about 100 international volunteers with their work camps in Finland every year. Those volunteers are recruited from partner organisations abroad.
Amnesty International Finland – Though most of the website is in Finnish, the English version of the website provides an email address for English speakers interested in volunteer work.
CIF in Finland – An exchange programme where participants live with host families in Finland.
Húsavík Whale Museum – Aiming to provide interesting information about whales and their habitat, the whale museum has a volunteer programme. Volunteers aged over 21 and willing to work for two months work on reception, guide museum visitors and participate in the whale research project. Positions are available from May to September.
Maailmanvaihto – A reciprocal programme that hosts volunteers in Finland. Volunteers work in non profit organisations and communities such as social projects, environment or peace movements, women’s organisations and special cultural and developmental projects.
Roskilde Festival – It takes around 7,500 volunteers to make this large Danish music festival come together. Applications are taken from the end of March.
Seeds – Many and varied short term workcamps around Iceland such as supporting the Rekjavik Arts Festival or helping out at Vatnajökull National Park, the largest in Europe. Longer term volunteer work and internships are also available.
Study in Finland – A database of English language degree and non-degree programmes, information about Finland as a study destination, including higher education institutions and practicalities concerning scholarships, admissions systems and living in Finland.
Study in Sweden – Information about higher education in Sweden including scholarships and learning Swedish.
Wayoutwest – Two day festival in Gothenburg. Brief volunteer information, in Swedish, and contact email available.
Worldwide Friends Iceland – A non profit NGO that promotes nature and peace orientated activities for people interested in spending some time in Iceland as volunteers. Participants can take part in short term workcamps or on longer projects. The Clean Up the Coastline project aims to clean the beaches of Iceland within five years by collecting waste in collaboration with international volunteers, school children, students, youth and environmental organisations and companies.
WWOOF Denmark – WWOOF Dk is a group of farms, families and projects involved in organic projects.
WWOOF Sweden – Discover Sweden by volunteering on organic farms.
* Free or Cheap Volunteering *Your family might prefer if you go with a placement agency, but volunteering in Nordic countries can be cheaper when travelling independently. Visit our Free or Cheap Volunteer Work Abroad pages to find NGOs and grassroots organisations in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden. |
Living in Scandinavia
Real Estate and Resources for Staying Long Term
A Foreigner Living in Finland – A blogger’s opinions and comments. The blog was active from 2006 until it tailed off in 2011.
Expat Finland – For people living and working in Finland, the content ranges from residence permits, social security and taxation, to housing, employment, banks, media, social groups and events, travel and more.
Travelling in Scandinavia
Accommodation & Getting Around
HANEN – Rural tourism and food in Norway.
Visit Norway – Official tourist information from the Norwegian Tourist Office. It takes a while to figure out where the options are to change things from Norwegian.
Visit Sweden – Sweden’s official site for tourism and travel information.
Other Useful Scandinavian Websites
Culture, News…
Norwegian Embassy – Norway’s diplomatic representation in the UK.
Venabu Fjellhotell – Cross country skiing in the mountains of Eastern Norway.
Index page image courtesy of Ansgar Scheffold