Norsk Forening for Utviklingsforskning / Norwegian Association For Development Research
In order to be considered for inclusion in the program, please indicate clearly the number and title of the panel that you wish to contribute to.
We are also aiming to accommodate a limited number of panels for paper submissions that do not fit under the themes of the open panels listed below. If your paper does not fit with in a pre-identified panel, please label your submission with “Undefined Panel”.
The list for Open Panels can be found by clicking the link bellow:
We are calling for paper abstracts to the Open Panel Sessions listed below. Submissions of abstracts of no more than 250 words can be sent to conference-nordev25@nmbu.no.
Deadline: Friday, April 4th.
In order to be considered for inclusion in the program, please indicate clearly the number and title of the panel that you wish to contribute to.
We are also aiming to accommodate a limited number of panels for paper submissions that do not fit under the themes of the open panels listed below. If your paper does not fit withing a pre-identified panel, please label your submission with “Undefined Panel”.
List of Open Panels inviting abstract submissions
Growing inequalities, geopolitical instabilities, political polarization, new and protracted conflicts, anti-democratic and nationalistic tendencies and environmental and social injustices linked to unsustainable development trajectories and the “green transition” within and beyond the Nordic countries and Europe threaten to undermine academic and civic freedoms, human rights and development gains and efforts worldwide. The need for collaborative efforts, and critical thinking on “the global development project” and the root causes and solutions to the interlinked sustainability challenges of our times has never been greater. Yet while Nordic universities and development research environments have traditionally played a key role in championing global perspectives, and pursuing collaborative, internationally oriented research and teaching approaches, these activities are under increasing threat. Reforms in academic funding models (leading inter alia to the introduction of study fees for international students in Norway last year), changing geopolitical realities, and new and changing development assistance priorities and modalities are undermining the “global classroom” and weakening possibilities for international collaboration and solidarity. There is an urgent need in this changing context for enhanced Nordic cooperation and rethinking of the roles, responsibilities and possibilities for Nordic development research environments to foster and support inclusive and just transitions to sustainability both at home and abroad. The role of Nordic universities in contributing to inclusive and safe spaces for cross-cultural dialogue and fostering academic-civic solidarity and long-term institution building and reconstruction in the context of increasing geopolitical instabilities, war and protracted conflicts are also important and urgent topics.
🌍 Join the conversation on Solidarity, Social Justice, and Sustainability! 🌱✨
Our upcoming conference embraces inclusivity and broad perspectives on these critical themes. 🎤 Call for Panels, Workshops, & Side Events opens early December and closes January 24th—perfect timing to showcase your ideas!
Encourage PhDs, young scholars, and colleagues to start brainstorming submissions now. Let’s shape an inspiring and impactful program together!
💡 Learn more on our website https://www.nmbu.no/evu/nordev25-solidarity-social-justice-and-sustainability-be-held-nmbu-24-26th-september-2025.
Dear NorDev25 supporters and those who have expressed an interest in receiving updates.
Here comes an update on the timeline, planning and action items ahead for the 8th Nordic Development Research Conference!
The Call for Panel, and themes for workshops and other side events for NorDev25, which will be co-organised by NMBU and NFU and held at NMBU in Ås 24-26 September, will be announced on the NMBU conference webpage.
The conference themes “Solidarity, social justice and sustainability” are aimed at being broad and inclusive and are described more fully on the conference website. You are encouraged to start spreading the word about the conference in your networks to encourage as many relevant and high-quality panel and other submissions as possible and to get PhDs, young scholars and others thinking already now about possible abstract submissions in advance of the call for panels and other submissions, opening.
The timeline for submissions and other deadlines will be as follows:
As with previous NorDev conferences, there will be a possibility to publish papers presented at the conference in the Journal Forum for Development Studies.
NMBU and NFU are looking into supplementary funding avenues which will be specifically directed at covering costs for conference participants and keynote speakers from the Global South, but these funds are not guaranteed, and the moment, we are reliant on covering almost all of our costs via conference registration fees (which will be differentiated).
Ways that you can help us to support bringing more Global South scholars to the conference include:
· Organising a panel session and drawing on existing research, NORHED, PhD school, sustainability arena, and other funding to subsidize conference and travel fees for keynote speakers and Global South scholars in the panel to enable them to attend
· Organising planned project meetings that will take place in the Nordic countries in the days before and after the conference where possible, to economise on costs and emissions for scholars travelling internationally (i.e. start the planning now!)
· Looking into possibilities for additional funding for e.g. dissemination and travel activities connected to existing Research Council projects in your respective countries that could be devoted to e.g. funding “project dissemination panels” and/or similar outreach or societal engagement sessions
· Tip us about other possible sources of funding for organising high-level panels with Global South scholars and keynote speaker representation
As a member of EADI, NFU invites you to follow the updates and learn more about recent collaborations.
Dive into a packed issue of the EADI newsletter, brimming with news and opportunities to inspire your development journey:
Step into the spotlight! We’re inviting applications for editors of the EADI Global Development Series. Shape the discourse on pressing global development issues. Apply now.
Plurinationality and Epistemic Justice explores the transformative potential of education in Ecuador. This compelling work champions Indigenous voices, blending themes of decolonization, ecological diversity, and poverty alleviation. Read more.
Join the celebration for Equity in COVID-19 Mitigation and Policy Responses in Africa. Gain insights into how policy shaped pandemic responses across the continent. Event details.
Welcome to the 8th Joint Nordic Development Research conference (NorDev) to be held at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in the Fall of 2025. The theme of the conference is “Solidarity, social justice and sustainability”: Nurturing academic-civic solidarity, fostering social justice, and cultivating collaborations in an era of uncertainty”. NorDev25 is organised by NMBU, with support from the university’s Global South Working Group, and the Norwegian Association for Development Research (NFU).
The conference will gather researchers, scholars, students, policy makers and civil society actors from the Nordic counties and from collaborating universities and partners in other parts of the world, including the Global South, to discuss how to strengthen solidarity and social justice across borders and secure progress towards social, economic and environmental sustainability and equality for all.
Find more detail here https://www.nmbu.no/evu/nordev25-solidarity-social-justice-and-sustainability-be-held-nmbu-24-26th-september-2025.
If you are interested and want to be updated, please click here to register: https://nettskjema.no/a/465907#/page/1
The government continues to weaken internationalisation and cooperation within research and higher education with countries outside EU/EØS
The proposed Norwegian State budget for 2025 continues to weaken the possibilities for international cooperation of research and education with partners outside of Europe. In Panorama Nyheter you can read some of the reactions to new cuts, and the model where school fees in Norway are paid by the development aid budget. NFU Chair Arnhild Leer-Helgesen (UiA) and the leader of SAIH, Selma Bratberg, are among those who warn against the consequences of these continuous cuts:
A translation of the second article can be found here: (and then add a link to your translation).
Routledge Handbook of Childhood Studies and Global Development.
This Routledge Handbook of Childhood Studies and Global Development explores how global development agendas and economic development influence children’s lives. It demonstrates that children are not only the frequent targets or objects of development but that they also shape and influence processes of development and social change in diverse and meaningful ways.
The handbook makes the case for the importance of placing children at the heart of development debates, examining the complex social, historical, cultural, economic, epidemiological, ecological, geopolitical, and institutional processes transforming what it means to be young in the world today. Through reports on field research as well as a critical engagement with theories in development studies and childhood studies, contributions unravel the structural connections of global development processes as they relate to children’s life worlds. They tease out and tease apart how global developmental processes influence children’s lives, how children inform and shape development, why it is important to keep children at the centre of debates linked to development and socio-cultural change, and ways of engaging children in development research, policies and practices.
Organised in seven sections and 45 chapters showcasing research from both established scholars and early career researchers, and with particular prominence given to the work of authors from the global south, this handbook will be an essential reference for policymakers, practitioners, and for researchers and students across childhood studies, education, geography, sociology, and international development.
Link for purchasing the book is also found here: Routledge Handbook of Childhood Studies and Global Development – 1st E
In 2023, the government decided that students from countries outside the EU must pay tuition fees to study at Norwegian educational institutions. Since then, the number of students from countries outside the EEA area has plummeted.
At UiA this year, only 17 international students pay tuition fees, nine of whom receive support through various scholarship schemes. This decline is clearly felt in studies such as the bachelor’s and master’s programmes in development studies, which were known for their international diversity among students. Now, almost all students in these programs have either Norwegian or European passports.
During Arendal Week, researchers at the Faculty of Social Sciences arranged a panel debate on the societal consequences of Norwegian lecture halls losing much of their diversity. The debate was chaired by Professor Ann Christin Nilsen at the Department of Sociology and Social Work and was arranged in collaboration with the Norwegian Association for Development Research (NFU) and SAIH.
The debate was held four years after the white paper “A world of opportunities”, in which it was argued that global problems require global solutions and more cooperation across national borders. Since then, a lot has changed. The introduction of tuition fees for students outside the EU is part of a pattern in which other support for collaboration with research and educational institutions in the Global South is also either cut or reduced. This includes support schemes such as NORGLOBAL and NORPART, which have long contributed to cooperation with countries outside the West.
A small band-aid on a large wound
To compensate for some of the drop in the number of international students, the authorities have introduced a scholarship scheme for students from selected countries in the Global South.
However, the scholarship scheme is only a small band-aid on a big wound, according to panelist and associate professor Arnhild Leer-Helgesen at the Department of Global Development and Planning. She pointed out that the scholarship scheme applies to few students and is also covered by the aid budget, which means that it in reality affects Norway’s ability to provide aid.
Came like lightning from a clear sky
UiA Rector Sunniva Whittaker also participated in the panel. She emphasized that the introduction of tuition fees came like lightning from a clear sky, but that it nevertheless draws into a pattern where the international aspect is given lower priority in research and education policy. Economy and savings were used as the main arguments for the introduction, but Whittaker wondered about the cost. UiA has largely managed to fill the study places with other students, but the diversity among the students has decreased. Whittaker fears this will affect the quality of the studies.
This view was shared by Professor Iver B. Neuman, director of the Fritjof Nansen Institute. He emphasized that discussions among fellow students from different backgrounds provide invaluable training in globalization and cosmopolitan conversation, which is essential for solving global challenges and living together.
Important to stand up for the principle of free higher education
SAIH leader Selma Bratberg also participated in the debate. She pointed out that the global situation for higher education is serious, with rising tuition fees and pressure on students’ freedom of expression.
“It is important that Norway stands up for the principle of free education,” she continued.
Bratberg also claimed that students, both now and throughout history, have been an important driving force for democracy, human rights and social change.
“In a world where authoritarian forces and nationalism are on the rise, it is extra scary
with such politics,” she concluded.
