The other day, I had the chance to interview the director of Ikea, who was visiting Japan from Sweden. We were in Hokkaido, the suburbs of Sapporo, surrounded by white birches, and she suggested that we step out for a walk. As we walked off, I remembered from my time in Sweden that the meetings tend to go this way.

When I spoke with Swedish designer Ingegerd Råman, we walked in the verdant park across from her studio, and when I met with glass artist Yoko Andersson Yamano, we walked through the woods near her house leading to a nearby lake. In Sweden, everybody has the right to enjoy the great outdoors. Even the capital of Stockholm is surrounded by woods and lakes. You’re free to walk anywhere you like, as long as you’re respectful to the land, its owners, and the vegetation that takes root there. Foraging for mushrooms or berries is permitted, but you can’t break branches or dig holes. Because the forest is the heart and soul of Sweden.

The Nordic countries tend to be spoken of collectively, but Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland all have unique cultures and distinct design aesthetics. Finland is home to Eliel Saarinen, a founding force of modernism and teacher of Charles and Ray Eames. The Finnish style is pragmatic, as seen in the work of Alvar and Aino Aalto. Kaare Klint, the father of Danish furniture design, put great stock in learning from history and was a major influence on Hans J. Wegner and Børge Mogensen. But what about Sweden? Carl Malmsten, father of Swedish furniture, based his designs on deep-rooted craft traditions, but most formative of all was his reverence for nature. Because without nature, a person cannot build a life. Sweden is a place where design and craft are more closely related than the other countries, as evinced by Capellagården, a school of crafts Malmsten founded on the island of Öland that has produced many talented alums, Råman included.

What, then, characterizes modern Swedish design? Designers and artists based in Sweden come across as having a more stalwart sense of ethics than anyone around. Strong when it comes to social issues, and equally strong when it comes to the environment, due to their deep respect for nature. Stockholm design studio Form Us With Love has put a premium on sustainable design from the beginning. Studio TOOJ, a highlight of this year’s Milan Design Week, displayed tables made from sand, corn husks, rice husks, sugar cane, and other renewable resources, thanks to advanced 3D printing. Their stated goal is to combine sustainability with ethical production. Through all this innovation, what remains unchanged are the clean forms and use of colours inspired by Sweden’s view of nature. If you walk the city streets, you’ll see this popping up not only in the furniture and products, but in fashion. It’s comfortable yet timeless. Reaching back to Malmsten, this reverence for nature props up the Swedish national identity. Sharing life with nature is what makes life here so good.