The Nordic Institute for Advanced Training in Occupational Health (NIVA) is a Nordic training institute, founded in 1982 under the Nordic Council of Ministers. The Nordic Council of Ministers is a forum for Nordic governmental cooperation (the Nordic countries being Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) which currently hosts 18 institutes within its mandate. In 2012, as NIVA celebrates its 30-year path, the aim remains the same as in the beginning –  to strive for a better work environment by providing high-quality training.

NIVA’s charter states that NIVA’s purpose is to provide advanced training for researchers, practitioners, experts, and specialists in the field of occupational health and safety. The main target groups have traditionally been Nordic researchers, experts and practitioners, but today the number of people with other backgrounds and/or from other countries is growing. Today, one in three of the course participants come from outside of the Nordic countries, the courses are highly international, and the language of instruction is English. All of these factors have contributed to NIVA’s appeal, but it is also the advanced level of NIVA EDUCATION that has clearly enabled NIVA to establish a specific niche.