Narvik kommune brochure 2017

Photo: Espen Didriksen, Š2017

[Almost] Everything you need to know about Narvik narvik kommune 0

Narvik in the heart of northern Norway Wild, Historical & Beautiful!

As Mayor of Narvik, I am proud to welcome you to our beautiful town and region here in northern Norway.

We hope your stay will be a memorable experience, whether you are just passing through, on business, studying, work, as a tourist or maybe you are planning a visit in the future.

Myself and the residents of Narvik, welcome you to our community.

The Mayor of Narvik

Rune Edvardsen

i Contact Narvik

Town Council

Telephone: +47 76 91 20 00 E-Mail: postmottak@narvik.kommune.no Street Address: Narvik Town Hall before 01. May 2017: Havnegata 2, 8514 Narvik Street Address: Narvik Town Hall after 01. May 2017: Kongens gate 45, 8514 Narvik Post Address: Narvik kommune, PB. 64, 8501 Narvik, Norway www.narvik.kommune.no Publisher: Narvik Kommune Text, photo and advertising sales: FremoverLab Design and production: Amedia Ressurs Printing: Nor-Trykk Narvik AS Coverphoto: Espen Didriksen, Norway ©2017 Edition: 2500 + digital distribution

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Narvik – A Natural Hub Narvik has a beautiful location between the fjord and mountains. Narvik is attractive because of the surrounding scenery, but also as an area for businesses to establish themselves.

Narvik is a great place to create a safe and good life, surrounded by great scenery, in a pulsating hub.

Main transport link Narvik is the main transport link for logistics and for supplies of merchandise and goods to the north and south. There is optimism in the municipality for future development and growth through cooperation, being open to new ideas and adaptations based on the municipality’s and region’s best interests. Narvik municipality’s aim is to be an attractive workplace with a focus on service and facility services for its inhabitants. A positive and engaged population is important for the municipality, something we see through voluntary work, voluntary communal work and cooperation between municipal services, education and businesses.

Regional centre in Ofoten Ofoten Regional Council is a political liaison body for the municipalities in the Ofoten region. It is actively and strategically working to continue to develop the region’s community. Due to its advantageous geographical position and competence, Narvik municipality has great potential to be the regional initiator. Narvik stands out as a natural hub for logistics, transport and trade. The Europe road 6 (E6) runs through the town and is a good transport link. The E6 links up with the E10, which goes to Å in Lofoten and to Bjørnfjell and Kiruna in Sweden. Narvik harbour is ice-free year round and the Ofot railway gives a railway link to south Scandinavia, Central Europe, Asia and Russia. There are also daily direct flights from Harstad/Narvik Airport Evenes to, amongst other places, Oslo Airport.

Hit hard: There are currently several shipwrecks from the 2nd world war in the Ofot fjord by Narvik. Photo: Narviksenteret

Beautiful, wild and dramatic A small beautiful town in northern Norway with a big history.

Narvik, the iron ore town The first industrial community in North Norway started to grow at the inner end of the Ofot fjord, in line with the construction of the Ofot railway. The Ofot railway enabled iron ore to be transported from Kiruna in Sweden for shipment via Narvik harbour. The work on the railway started in 1883 and the export of iron ore started in 1903.

Today 10-12 iron ore trains run in each direction on the Ofot railway every day. In addition to the transport and shipment of iron ore from Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara (LKAB), the Ofot railway is an important goods corridor for the Nordic region; 90% of the grocery supplies to North Norway are transported by train via Narvik. In the coming years a double track will be needed on the Ofot railway and plans for this have already started.

The battle of Narvik Due to its ice-free harbour and the iron ore transport from Kiruna, Narvik was an important strategic target at the start of the 2nd world war, both for the Germans and for the allies. The battleships Norge and Eidsvoll were sunk in the Ofot fjord, just by Narvik, when German destroyers attacked on 9 April 1940. Several hundred Norwegian soldiers lost their lives and many German destroyers were sunk in the days that followed.

The allied forces, led by General Carl Gustav Fleischer, fought hard battles in Narvik and the surrounding mountains in spring 1940. The town was recaptured on 28 May 1940, but despite the progress made by the allies at Narvik, the remaining forces in Norway had to capitulate after the king, the government, the navy and the air force left the country in order to continue the fight from Great Britain.

75 year commemorative celebration in Narvik The recapture of Narvik during the 2nd world war was celebrated on 28 May 2015. This battle in 1940 was the German’s first defeat during the 2nd world war. Veterans, the Crown Prince,

Haakon, the defence minister, Ine Eriksen Søreide (Conservative Party) and representatives from the allied countries during the war participated in the commemorative celebration.

i Narvik’s history!

Museum North – Narvik: The theme is the industrial history and the town’s history. Here you can learn more about the history of the railway, iron ore transport, the shipment of iron ore and how Narvik has changed since the start of the 1900s.

Narviksenteret - Narvik War Museum: The theme is the 2nd world war in Narvik. This is a modern war museum focussing on the history of Narvik during the 2nd world war.

i Did you know…

”Vinterfestuka” [the Winter Festival] is held every March in Narvik.

This is a culture festival based on Narvik’s railway history. It is based on stories, myths and facts from the construction period for the railway between Narvik and Kiruna around 1900. The hard-working navvies who built the Ofot railway are remembered and celebrated during the Winter Festival.

The festival includes a number of cultural events and both men and women dress up in period clothes from the 1900s.

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Nurseries, Schools and Education Narvik municipality has a large commitment to children and adolescents.

There is a focus on making the most of these resources through good nurseries, schools and further education. nurseries There are approx. 1000 children in nurseries in Narvik, divided between 24 nurseries; ten municipal, twelve private and two family nurseries. Narvik municipality can currently offer a nursery place to all those who want a place. The nurseries are of good quality with a good professional environment and both the municipal and private nurseries cooperate closely and actively with each other.

Several of the children in Skarpen nursery know what is best about the nursery: - The very best thing is that we can play a lot together outside! priMary and secondary scHools There are approx. 2000 pupils in primary and secondary schools in Narvik municipality, divided between nine primary and secondary schools; three combined (1st – 10th years), two secondary

schools (a decision has been made to merge these in 2017) and four primary schools. The teaching standard in Narvik municipality is of good quality and it is appropriate for all pupils, in accordance with national guidelines. Continual work is being done to ensure that the benefits pupils have from school are the best possible within subject presentations, social learning, personal development, contentment and appropriate behaviour.

narvik adult education There are approx. 100 participants in Narvik adult education, divided between two departments; primary and secondary schooling for adults and FLIS-education in Norwegian and social studies for adult immigrants. Narvik adult education explains that they have workorientated Norwegian education, where participants also have language practice in companies.

They are also in the start-up phase of offering internet based Norwegian education combined with normal Norwegian education. narvik siXtH forM college There are approx. 850 pupils at Narvik Sixth Form College. The college consists of three study places; Frydenlund, Oscarsborg and Solhaugen. Nordland County offers sixth form education in Narvik within most programmes, both vocational and academic programmes, including specialisation in general studies, sports, electro and health.

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tHe arctic university of norWay In 2016 Narvik University College became a part of the University of Tromsø (UiT), also known as the

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Arctic University of Norway. There are approx. 2000 students who study at UiT Narvik. The courses on offer are future-orientated, including technology for the north and research education. Engineers and civil engineers, amongst others, are educated here and a masters education is offered within technological subjects. There

are also courses on finance and administration and nursing.

There are several central actors in Narvik who are working on developing Narvik and the entire Narvik region. This involves making the town more attractive; both by physical development of the area and as an establishment area for businesses and new inhabitants.

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1] Jentene i vinden [the girls in the wind]: The sculpture was made by Tone Thiis Schetne (1928-2015).

2] Nursery: Narvik has a nursery place for all pre-school children.

3] The Arctic University of Norway: The University of Tromsø, Campus Narvik focuses on technological studies.

i3 In Narvik municipality…

… all primary schools have SFO (before-and-after-school care) ... there is an education centre in Skjomen (nursery, including before-andafter-school care and a 1st – 10th year school with mixed-aged classes) ... a new secondary school shall be constructed in the town centre

A Yes-Municipality Narvik municipality shall be a Yes-Municipality. This means optimism for the municipality’s future development and growth, with the municipality being a positive contributor.

Futurum The business development company for Narvik municipality is Futurum AS. The two largest owners of the company are Narvik municipality (43.25%) and Narvikregionen Næringsforening (22.8%). Futurum is a co-player in regional level matters, but also at county or national levels in cases where this is strategically important for the region. The company shall facilitate for existing businesses and contribute to the establishment of new businesses.

Narvikgården In order to develop businesses in Narvik, it is important to develop good area strategies, both in and outside the centre of Narvik.

Narvik municipality’s property company is called Narvikgården AS. Narvikgården facilitates the establishment of jobs and getting more inhabitants and businesses to Narvik. Narvikgården has extensive contact with local, regional, national and international environments and investors.

An important harbour town Narvik’s municipal coat of arms is a gold upright anchor on a red background, which was officially approved by the King in a cabinet meeting in 1951. The

anchor symbolises that Narvik is an important harbour town. A decision was made in 2014 for a further review of the localisation of the “New Narvik Harbour”. The development and localisation of the New Narvik Harbour will be of great significance for Narvik municipality as a central logistical hub for the future. 18-20 million tonnes of cargo is shipped via Narvik harbour annually. The conditions here can facilitate all types of container based cargo. The largest part of the shipment in Narvik is iron ore from Swedish mines, which is transported on the Ofot railway and shipped out via LKAB’s harbour.

Make Narvik prettier The connection between physical development of the area and positive growth is becoming increasingly obvious.

Strategic reputation work and the development of a pretty and welcoming town play a central role here. This plays a part in Narvik municipality’s plans for a car-free and greener centre. The Roads and Parks Agency in Narvik municipality has the motto “make Narvik even prettier” and they say: - Every single year we plant 50,000 flowers in and around the town!

Voluntary work in focus Voluntary work means a lot for democracy, welfare and the

general development of society.

Narvik municipality focuses on voluntary work, something that is important for facilitating culture and creating identity, community and social intercourse between people in the local environment.

Frivillighetssentralen [the Volunteer Centre] is Narvik municipality’s cooperation partner. This is a meeting place that facilitates contact between people; when someone needs help, others want to help.

The Hålogaland bridge. Photo: Narvik kommune ©2016 Tina Bøhler Seines.

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The Hålogaland Bridge

The Hålogaland Bridge will be 1533 metres long. The bridge, which will be Norway’s second longest suspension bridge, will shorten the journey time between Narvik and Bjerkvik by 15-20 minutes and shorten the length by 18 km.

This will reduce all journey times to the north, including to the airport in Evenes.

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Nursing home: One of Narviks nursing homes, Ankenes Bo- og Servicesenter. Photo: Narvik kommune ©2016 Tina Bøhler Seines.

Health and Quality of Life In Narvik there are several good offers that aim to improve the health and quality of life of inhabitants.

Quality of life and dignity are two central terms in Narvik municipality’s public health work.

Good public health is an important factor that forms the basis of decisions made by the municipality.

Public health Narvik municipality’s responsibilities in public health work are defined by the Public Health Act and the Health and Welfare Services Act. Some of the services that the municipality is responsible for are the GP scheme, substance abuse and mental health work, the public physiotherapy service, rehabilitation, the child health clinic and the school health service. The municipality’s public health work shall contribute to a good quality of life and health, prevent lifestyle diseases and other negative consequences for the populations’ health, as well as contribute to the population making good health choices.

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Open Health Clinic for Adolescents A good offer for teenagers in Narvik is the Open Health Clinic for Adolescents (ÅHU). This is a free, low-threshold health offer that offers individual advice, guidance and follow-up. Adolescents can talk to a health visitor, midwife and doctor at ÅHU on topics such as love, sexuality, prevention, venereal diseases, abortion, eating disorders and drugs and alcohol.

Various samples can also be taken here, including pregnancy tests, chlamydia tests and HIV tests.

The Resource Team – Children, Adolescents and Family What is important for you? This is the question that the Resource Team – Children, Adolescents and Family asks, instead of “what is wrong with you?” The resource team is a low-threshold offer that offers free services to children and adolescents aged 0 to 23 years, as well as their parents and guardians.

The service wants to contribute to preventing, uncovering and

stopping lifestyle choices that will lead to lasting difficulties for the target group. The resource team is also responsible for foster home supervision.

Furugården Day Centre Furugården Day Centre is a daytime offer for adults with disabilities.

This is a social community for the users, which produces various items that are sold, such as ceramics and bakery products. There is also seasonal production, such as a greenhouse and the sale of outside plants and packing sand for gritting.

The highlight of the year for Furugården is the annual Christmas fair, which includes an open cafe and products from the entire year are sold.

Good initiatives within substance abuse and mental heath The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Agency in Narvik municipality runs initiatives for persons who are ill due to psychological disorders and/ or substance dependency. This

involves follow-up services, housing services and Været Værested – a low-threshold offer for persons with substance dependency and/or psychological disorders. Narvik also has the meeting places Platform 1 and Cafe Exit. Platform 1 is run

by Agenda AS on behalf of the municipality and it offers activities and a good social community for people requiring rehabilitation.

Cafe Exit is run by Marborg as well as employees and volunteers and it offers a permanent, drug and alcohol free meeting place for recovering alcoholics and drug abusers, relatives and others.

i Civil Protection and Stand-By

Narvik municipality is responsible for civil protection and stand-by in the municipality. The aim of the municipality’s civil protection work is to reduce vulnerability and the risk of loss of life, health, environment and material values and to make the community more robust.

Narvikfjellet, probably Norway’s most stunning alpine skiing destination.

Photo: Narvikfjellet

World Class Experiences In addition to Narvik’s history and the Winter Festival, the midnight sun, the northern lights and amazing alpine skiing are important reasons for an ever-increasing interest in Narvik as a tourist destination.

Narvik is beautifully located between the fjord and mountains, which gives opportunities for fantastic experiences in outstanding scenery. In the town centre you can experience everything from concerts and the theatre to sports events.

A rich cultural life The cultural live in Narvik is rich and all-round. Narvik kulturhus [Narvik Arts Centre], which had its 60 year jubilee in 2016, is an arena that has a varied programme within theatre, dance, music and art. Narvik kulturskole [Narvik School of Arts] is the country’s oldest and it celebrated its 60 year jubilee in 2013. The school currently offers music and dance lessons to approx.

450 pupils in the municipality.

The town’s cinema, which shows films in two auditoriums, is in the town centre. Narvik has a wide-ranging offer of activities, with teams and associations that cover the entire spectrum of culture, music, sport and outdoor activities. Narvik municipality

is also the host municipality for Music in Nordland, an ensemble that records CDs and goes on tour, mainly in Nordland, but also in the rest of Norway and abroad.

Nordkraft Arena Arctic Eagles is the top team in Narvik Ice Hockey Club. The team plays its home matches in the national 1st division in Nordkraft Arena. The ice rink has become one of the town’s central meeting places for inhabitants and ice hockey has become a phenomenon in the town. Almost 1000 enthusiastic supporters turn up for every home match to cheer on the “eagles”.

THE NEW LIBRARY BECOMES THE NEW MEETING POINT A new distinctive building in the town centre is the regional arts centre. The building has become very significant as it completes the town centre and also because it has become a meeting place for inhabitants. The building houses a cafe, bank, the war museum, tourist information and the town’s

library. The new library is 2000m2 over two floors and it has become a meeting place where people can enjoy themselves. There is also a place in the library where children can draw, read and play.

scenery, which has runs in varied terrain. In addition to alpine skiing venues, both Fagernesfjellet and Ankenesfjellet offers lightet, groomed trails for cross-country skiing.

World class Narvik offers fantastic opportunities for outdoor activities and great hikes, such as up to Rombakstøtta (1230m), Haugbakktind (1369m) and Kopparfjellvannet (517m). The most famous mountain in Narvik is Fagernesfjellet (1272m). In summer hikers are found on the mountain, whilst in the winter it is alpine skiing that is in focus with Narvikfjellet.

Narvikfjellet has one of the country’s most beautiful alpine skiing venues – which is world class. There are many different runs, including two gentle runs for families and new beginners and amazing runs with 900m height difference. Ankenes Alpinanlegg is located approx.

5 km from the centre of Narvik.

This is a family venue set in lovely

Northern lights and the midnight sun There are good opportunities to see the fantastic northern lights in Narvik. The tourism company Visit Narvik offers northern lights trips to tourists from all over the world who would like to experience the northern lights dancing across the sky. Narvik officially has the polar night from 5 December to 7 January, i.e. the sun is below the horizon 24 hours a day. The opposite occurs in the summer.

From 25 May to 20 June the midnight sun shines in Narvik, and then it is light – 24 hours a day. The midnight sun is often mentioned as spectacular and it colours the sky with lovely yellow and red tones.

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ANNONSE Further info: UiT.no Tel.: 77 64 40 00 postmottak@uit.no

UiT in Narvik Number of students: Approx. 2,000 Study locations: Alta, Tromsø, Narvik, Bodø, Mo i Rana Studies: • Bachelor courses within many engineering subjects (Construction, Drone Technology, Machine, Automation, Satellite Technology, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Process Technology, Preparatory Course) • Master courses: Electrical Engineering, Engineering Design, Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, Integrated Building Technology • Nurse education • Business education

Chair of the campus assembly: Sara Kristine Nilsen chose to study process technology after reading an article on the Goliath oil field.

From special education in mathematics to engineer Sara Kristine Nilsen (23) needed special education in mathematics when she was younger. Now she’s going to graduate as an engineer: - You can go as far as you want if you work hard enough!

The University of Tromsø is the country’s third largest university and has study locations in the three most northern counties. UiT in Narvik is known for its focus on engineering studies and research.

Someone who has chosen to study process technology is Sara Kristine Nilsen from Alta. She is the chair of the campus assembly at UiT in Narvik and is a representative in the Student Parliament at UiT. Had to have special education The need for students who choose a technological education has increased in line with technological developments.

- When I had to choose an education, I did not know what the options were in North Norway.

Some career advisors tend to give girls information on typical “courses that girls study”.

Sara’s interest in technology was awakened when she read about the oil field Goliath in the Barents Sea. However, it was not certain that she would study technology.

- When I was younger I had to have special education in mathematics. It shows that you don’t have to have a so-called “maths head” to be a technologist – you just have to work hard.

The preparatory course was the toughest study year for the twenty three year old.

- It’s all about going for it and doing the work, she smiles.

Ragnhild Johanne Rensaa and Wei Deng Solvang, middle managers at UiT in Narvik, also believe that the word mathematics is scary for many.

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Solve new problems Figures from 2015 show that only 22% of engineering students in Norway are women. For UiT in Narvik, this means that many clever women can be brought into technology.

- Many exclude all technological studies as they believe that they don’t have a head for mathematics, but many are capable if they want to do it, explains Ragnhild, Vice Dean for education in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology.

- It’s all about clenching your teeth and achieving your goal. It’s what counts for all studies, elaborates Wei, Institute Manager at the Institute for Industrial Technology.

There are many exciting career choices within technology – everything from system development to programming games.

Electrical engineers work, amongst other things, on finding solutions to the environmental ques-

tion; how shall we meet the world’s energy needs without destroying the planet?

- Finding answers to new problems is partly what makes technology exciting, says Ragnhild.

Ragnhild has experienced that many students exclude engineering courses due to a lack of selfconfidence and misconceptions.

- Many women think that they are not good enough – despite achieving good results.

She says that others exclude engineering courses because they want to work with people, something that she and Wei believe that technologists absolutely do.

- For example we work to make old peoples’ lives easier. This can be by developing a helping robot or a special bed that can warn about deviations that occur at night, smiles Wei. - I hope that these solutions are available when I get old!

The newest addition to the lab: A 5-axis milling machine that can prepare everything from aluminium to titanium, e.g. an impeller for a gas turbine and chess pieces (pictured). From the left, Wei Deng Solvang and Ragnhild Johanne Rensaa.