More than 30 Norwegians will be visiting the island this week in a bid to foster closer relations between the Isle of Man and Norway.

The trip will have a focus on Manx history, culture, crafts and loaghtan wool.

It is organised by the Summer Academy, which is an organisation that arranges tours around islands and other countries with Nordic links.

Karin Svarstad, who set up the Summer Academy 25 years ago, said that she had been intending to organise a trip to the Isle of Man for a while.

She has visited the island a few times and was last here in 2017, to attend the North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool Conference, and it is the native sheep that drove her particular interest.

Karin said: ‘I started the Summer Academy based on the idea to see if you could use art, craft and history as a tool for district development.

‘So that’s development based on local resources and activity based on what is there to attract people to an area.’

‘The main reason for the trip is to establish a closer connection between the Isle of Man and Norway, based on the historic links.

‘It is so Norwegians can understand a bit more about the Isle of Man, and hopefully encourage people in the Isle of Man to visit Norway.’

She planned the trip so it coincides with Tynwald Day, an event that she says is very similar to ‘Gulatinget’ which is one of the oldest and largest parliamentary assemblies in Norway.

She added: ‘We also want to see if we can try and set up a research project between the Isle of Man and the Westland County in Norway based on the democracy and history and things like that.

‘I chose the Isle of Man because you have a very special type of sheep.

‘For five years I have been working on projects around the North Atlantic Sea to focus on the wool, the native sheep, how to use the wool and take care of the sheep so we don’t lose them.

‘Loaghtan wool is historical, it is completely brown, and there are not so many sheep around the North Atlantic that have this brown colour.

‘Loaghtan sheep also have a historical link to Norway and the Vikings.

‘There is also a project that very low quality wool can be used as fertiliser, you can make pellets out of the wool and use it as fertiliser, which I can talk about to people who are interested when I come to the Isle of Man.’

Where Karin’s particular interest is in the loaghtan wool, another individual who is visiting is doing research for a book about archaeological and historic sites in the Isle of Man, some others have a particular interest in crafts and gardens in the island.

The group will be in the island from Monday, July 3, to July 10.

If you are interested in any of the projects that have been mentioned, you can contact Karin on 0047 90079022 or email [email protected]

The group will also be at Tynwald for Tynwald Day.