6. Gravitational fields

Democracy and inclusion

An innovation district that focuses heavily on societal innovation, democratic development and inclusion will appear as somewhat unique and distinctive in today’s flora of innovation districts around the world. Oslo Science City has unique prerequisites for taking such an initiative.

MAJOR SOCIETAL CHALLENGES UNDER THE MAGNIFYING GLASS

Facing the great societal challenges of our time, democracy is put to the test. In this gravitational field, new knowledge is developed on the threats we face and the solutions that strengthen democracy and the democratic institutions in a time of technological change, increased economic inequality and growing anti-democratic forces. Much of this knowledge is developed through our understanding of what is often referred to as the «Nordic model». The goal of knowledge development in this field is, amongst other objectives, to increase our understanding of digitalization and its social and human significance, to identify the prerequisites for a fair green transition and to illuminate how medical breakthroughs can contribute to better health for everyone. Democratic development is consequently also intertwined with the areas of expertise that form the basis for the three other gravitational fields in Oslo Science City.

MORE THAN 2000 RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OSLO

Oslo Science City can draw on exceptionally strong and broad academic communities in the humanities, law and social sciences,and a number of research communities have particular expertise on democracy and inclusion. At the University of Oslo alone, there are over 2000 researchers in the humanities, social sciences, education and law. In addition to the University of Oslo, SINTEF has leading expertise within the social sciences in several areas, while NGI, the Institute of Transport Economics, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the Norwegian Computing Center have built expertise within the social sciences where this is relevant to their core areas. The expert communities in Oslo Science City naturally interact with a large number of research institutes in the Oslo region, which have a leading position within topics related to democracy and integration. These include the Norwegian Institute of Social Research, the Institute of International Affairs, the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), the research department of Statistics Norway, the Frisch Centre, Fafo and the Nobel Institute. There are also extensive research activities within the social sciences at the Faculty of Medicine, at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and at the institutes working on climate and environment-related topics (such as CICERO and the Norwegian Institute for Water Research).

The social sciences, law and the humanities are drivers for societal innovation that gradually transforms policy, administration and legislation in the direction of a better and fairer society. They contribute to democratic competence, not least through the school system. In addition to an extensive network of partner schools, the University of Oslo, through the Department of Teacher Education and School Research, holds collaboration agreements with 18 science schools in Oslo and Viken. The University of Oslo has decided to start a large, interdisciplinary initiative, UiO:Democracy, from 2023. The goal of the initiative is to draw on the full specter of democracy research by the university, and thus unite and display an internationally leading community in this field.

INTERNATIONAL ORDER AND DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT

Research on international order and democratic development from a global perspective has long been one of the strongest areas of expertise in Oslo. In recent years, the spotlight has particularly focused on issues related to the role of the UN, EU/EEA research and global climate policy. Actors such as the Department of Political Science, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and ARENA Centre for European Studies are central to this work. Cicero and the Oslo School of Environmental Humanities have a prominent position as research centers on international climate issues from a governance and democracy perspective. International order is also about international law. At the research centre PluriCourts at the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo, the legitimacy of international courts is being studied from a judicial, political and philosophical perspective. The research communities at the Faculty of Law also have internationally leading expertise on the law of the sea and maritime law.

THE NORDIC MODEL

Research on the Nordic model turns the attention towards the organization of working life, distribution of wealth, rights, social insurance and a wide range of other characteristics of the societies in the Nordic countries that differ from other developed countries. The University of Oslo has established strong research centres and interdisciplinary initiatives focusing on the Nordic model. UiO:Nordic is an interdisciplinary initiative at the University of Oslo anchored in the humanities and the social sciences with the aim of bringing researchers together who seek to acquire new knowledge about the Nordic region and Nordic issues in an international context. Here, collaboration with external stakeholders and users has been strengthened. Close to 300 researchers have been associated with the initiative over time and over 1000 articles in scientific journals have been published. At the Department of Economics, ESOP has functioned as a Centre of Excellence within research on the Nordic model from an economic perspective with particular emphasis on the institutional, on issues related to negotiation models and distribution, but also historical and cultural perspectives. Within UiO:Nordic, major projects have been established, such as «Living the Nordic Model», «NordED» and «Nordic Branding». At the ARENA Centre for European studies, in recent years the focus has been on how expert insight has affected policy-making in the Nordic model.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH

Norway has taken a key role in global initiatives for peace and reconciliation work, human rights and freedom of expression. Conflict resolution has a central position in both academia and the work of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The research institutes, with Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), the Fafo Research Foundation and now also the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution (NOREF) in the lead, have played a key role in this development work together with the Department of Political Science and the Centre for Development and the Environment, as well as other units at the University of Oslo. At present, much attention is being paid to extremism research, with the C-REX research centre at the University of Oslo leading the initiative. The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights is a leading European research centre where indigenous law and the rights of indigenous peoples in particular has received much attention.

DEMOCRACY AND ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE

The research communities in Oslo Science City have leading academic expertise on the topics of democratic development and organizational life. At the Department of Sociology, various forms of democracies are studied. New theories of democracy are being developed, and the research group on Comparative Institutions and Regimes (CIR) and others at the Department of Political Science are conducting research on the causes and effects of variation in political institutions and regimes. In addition, the TiNDe-project is carrying out an extensive analysis of the state of democracy in Norway, where informative measurements for various aspects of democracy are being developed. Research within education sciences at the University of Oslo includes research on democracy education in schools and ethical and moral dimensions of democracy and citizenship. Science and democracy is a central research topic at the university. Among other places, this research is conducted through the Centre for Philosophy and the Sciences (CPS) and through the well-established Forum for Theory of Science.

INTEGRATION AND IMMIGRATION

Immigration and integration have always been a key topic for researchers in sociology and social anthropology at the University of Oslo. Here, the emphasis is on how both immigrants and others are a part of – and experience from their own perspective – integration processes. At the Faculty of Humanities, MultiLing was established as a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in research. The centre’s vision is to contribute with knowledge about the opportunities and challenges of multilingualism so that society can effectively manage linguistic diversity and individuals can expand their communicative room for maneuver. The Norwegian Institute for Social Research, the Fafo Foundation and the institutes under Oslo Met conduct internationally leading research on integration and collaborate closely with the Norwegian state at the Norwegian Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi), the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and other directorates on policy formulation and integration measures. On these topics, there are strong research communities at the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Education at the University of Oslo.