We would like to kindly invite you to the SAIH Conference 2025 with the theme ‘Universities as Sites of Resistance and Social Justice’. In collaboration with the University of Oslo, this conference will take place on Thursday 24 April at Georg Sverdrups hus Aud 1.
This conference aims to create a vital space for dialogue, strategy, and collaboration among students, academics, civil society, and decision-makers at the intersection of academia and activism in Norway and beyond. We will examine the role of academia in defending democratic values, fostering international solidarity and shaping a more just and equitable future.
Amongst others, we will hear from the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy, Henry A. Giroux, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Farida Shaheed, and Professor of Sociology at Wits University, Johannesburg, Srila Roy. More information on the program and speakers can be found on our website.
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”.
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 atNMBU 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:
Call for panel, workshop and side-event proposals: Opens first week in December; closes Friday, January 24th
Review of panel/workshop proposals with decisions communicated: Friday, January 31st (NMBU, NFU and Nordic Committee members) – calendar invites to block dates will follow*
Call for abstracts opens: Monday, February 3rd
Call for abstracts closes: Friday, March 7th
Review of abstract submission by NMBU, NFU, Nordic Committee members: March 10-13th
Decision on abstracts communicated: Friday, March 14th
Early bird registration: Until ca. April 15th
Deadline for full paper submissions to Forum for Development Studies: To be announced
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 NFUare 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:
📚 Call for Book Editors
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.
📖 Just Published: A Groundbreaking Open Access Book
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.
🎉 Don’t Miss the Book Launch Event
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.
📝 Fresh Insights: New Blog Posts and Initiatives
Explore four thought-provoking blog posts, including our latest from the “Decolonising Knowledge for Development” series.
Discover our new working group on Latin American Development Studies and the innovative Methods & Innovation task group. Visit our blog.
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:
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.
