The Confederation of Scandinavian Societies of Great Britain and Ireland, COSCAN, dates back to the 1950’s. It acts as a coordinating body for societies which work for cultural exchanges between UK and Ireland on the one hand and the five Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway, on the other.

We, the COSCAN member societies and individuals, all share a continuing and passionate interest in that special area of Northern Europe. There is a widespread interest in the Nordic region, and we believe that there is a wide community around the world of individuals, societies, clubs and institutions with an interest in matters Nordic.

Each of the five Nordic countries has numbers of citizens, and a network of admirers, in the UK and more widely, served by bilateral societies and also by its own national Embassy, and we hope to consolidate COSCAN’s position at the centre of this worldwide community.

There is a diversity of culture between the five Scandinavian countries, but also many common threads which together make up the Nordic identity.

In a constantly changing world, at a time of unusual stresses for us all, the sanity and clearity of Nordic attitudes is more valuable than ever.

We hope that COSCAN can play a part in bringing this to a wider audience.