A Right to an Age-Friendly Environment with a Focus on the Rural Nordic Arctic

A meaningful enjoyment of human rights depends on an environment that provides conditions under which humans can exercise the rights guaranteed in human rights law. The age-friendliness of an environment depends on the solid presence of three sets of environment, namely, natural environment, human-built environment, and social environment. This chapter aims to show how an age-friendly environment (AFE) is pertinent to older people’s wellbeing, conforming to fundamental human rights norms. The study is constructed on some recent literature available on this topic and empirical information derived from several field studies and visits conducted from years 2013 to 2020 at Northern parts of Finland (Rovaniemi, Inari, Ivalo, Hetta, Angeli, Petovuoma), Sweden (Umeä and Jokkmok) and Norway (Tromso), where the purpose was to learn challenges facing the aging population in their rural settings.