Nykterhetsrörelsens bildningsverksamhet, NBV, has received around half a billion kronor in state support during the last mandate period. Yet the association describes the government’s cuts to Swedish adult education as a culture slaughter. "Half a billion over four years and 150 employees. That really is a slaughter", says Christian Ekström, chief executive of the Swedish Taxpayers’ Association.
131 million kronor in state grants in 2025
According to the Swedish National Council of Adult Education’s annual report for 2025, Nykterhetsrörelsens bildningsverksamhet received 130,994,284 kronor in state grants. In total the council distributed 1.42 billion kronor to the country’s eight study associations. Arbetarnas bildningsförbund received the most, 354.5 million kronor, while NBV’s share was the fifth largest.
For 2026 the grant to the study associations is reduced by 150 million kronor. In total, state support to the study associations falls from 1.8 billion kronor to 1.3 billion, according to the council’s annual report.
NBV was founded in 1894 under the name Godtemplarordens studieförbund and is Sweden’s oldest study association. It was also within the association that the first study circle was held in 1902.
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The history: 286,000 hours that never took place
The criticism of NBV is not only about the level of the grants. In the spring of 2019 the Swedish National Council of Adult Education received a tip from a whistleblower that something was wrong in the association’s reporting from Malmö. NBV’s own investigation then showed that more than 9,000 study circles and cultural events in Malmö could be a bluff, and that 42,500 claimed participants were only numbers in grant applications. 286,000 hours of temperance adult education had never taken place.
Two employees in Malmö were reported to the police, suspected of fraud and breach of trust. Both resigned and one of them is believed to have left the country. NBV deemed a total of 12,772 events across the country to be fake and repaid a multi-million sum to the state. The year before, a multi-million fraud against the temperance movement in Skåne had already come to light, where the association had paid for study circles that were never carried out.
The movement lobbies straight into the government’s inbox
NBV is part of the Swedish temperance movement, and within the same movement operates Narkotikapolitiskt Center, NPC. The network was founded in 2019 and is led by Peter Moilanen, who works for NBV. NPC pursues a restrictive drug policy through opinion pieces and reports, and lobbies the government directly by email. The network is funded by the movement’s member organisations, including NBV, which at the same time receives state grants.
Criticism of the oversight of adult education
The Swedish National Audit Office has sharply criticised the state for not following up how the grants were used. The authority has pointed out that money has gone to, among other things, private consumption and support for commercial operations, and that the study associations themselves are responsible for the oversight while having weak incentives to report fraud, since that could lead to lower grants in the future. The researchers behind an opinion piece in Altinget have estimated that only 5 to 10 percent of the activities are audited each year.
The government has responded with tighter requirements. From 2026 a democracy condition applies to the grants, the study associations must report annually which cooperation partners took part in the activities, and a special auditor has reviewed the council’s follow-up.
The clawbacks are small in relation to the grants today. In 2025 the council demanded 12,400 kronor back from NBV for incorrectly reported activities, compared with the association’s 131 million kronor in state grants.
Source
“286 000 timmars nykter folkbildning i Malmö var en bluff”, Sydsvenskan
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