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Meet John Løvdal, the Incoming CEO of The Oslo Center

The Oslo Center is excited to welcome John Inge Løvdal as its Incoming CEO, bringing fresh energy, a deep commitment to inclusive governance, and decades of experience in democratic development. Having worked across Ethiopia, Kenya, Ukraine, Somalia, and Nepal, John steps into this role at a time when democracies around the world face growing pressures, but also renewed momentum for participation, accountability, and reform.

In this interview, John shares his vision for the The Oslo Center’s future, reflects on lessons from Norway’s democratic model, and speaks candidly about the urgent need to protect democratic values worldwide.

Full interview transcript: John Løvdal, Incoming CEO of The Oslo Center

Question: What does it mean to you to become CEO of The Oslo Center?

John: I think it’s a great opportunity to work in an organization that is doing fantastic programs, especially on young people being involved in political processes.

It creates that opportunity to continue working on inclusion and participation, and working with key stakeholders or key actors, both from the citizen side and also from decision-makers, and contribute to a meaningful and inclusive dialogue between citizens and decision-makers. Be it at the local level, be it at the national level, be it with governments, be it with political parties, or with civil society.

I think The Oslo Center is a place where these opportunities already exist in our current programs. And I think that with The Oslo Center, and working for The Oslo Center, we can create more opportunities in places where we are not yet engaged.

Question: What are some of the key lessons we can learn from Norway’s approach to democratic governance?

John: I think that in the Norwegian context, some of the key lessons learned from Norway are around representation and inclusion, that there is formalized representation.

So young people and women, for instance, within political parties have had formalized representation in the party structure. And that has helped women and youth to be part of the decision-making process. I think that’s a lesson that we have learned and seen, and maybe it could be part of sharing the Norwegian experience.

Another lesson we have is how important it has been in the Norwegian context to build broad-based coalitions on issues of national importance, where various political parties are able to come together, discuss issues, and try to find common ground.

Now, this is not easy. In Norway, it’s also challenging, even though Norway is a very small country. But it’s one of those lessons where we’ve seen the importance of trying to identify common ground and build consensus on issues of national importance. So I would say those two things could be Norwegian experiences and lessons learned that are important in the broader global discussion about democracy.

Question: From your perspective, what are the most pressing challenges to democratic governance today?

John: So really just focusing on the most pressing challenges of democratic governance, I think there are two.

One is the challenge to democracies themselves: that citizens lose a little bit of trust in them because they might not deliver according to the expectations that citizens have, based on promises in election campaigns or plans developed by government. So I think that’s a challenge to democracies, how can they actually deliver on promises and improve the lives of citizens? Democracies have a job to do in that regard.

The other challenge is, of course, democratic backsliding, that democracies are under pressure from various actors, and there are a lot of questions being raised about the basic ideas of democracy. Some of the values we think are important in democracy, for instance, equality and inclusion, are being questioned.

We’ve seen a trend over the last year that democracies are moving toward more authoritarian regimes. So I think that’s also a challenge: how do we protect values that we think are important — participation, inclusion, accountability, transparency?

Those are some of the key things that we, as democracies or democracy assistance organizations, need to come together and discuss. How can we, as actors or stakeholders in our own democracies, or in democracies where space is shrinking, come together and discuss strategies to protect democratic values that we all believe in, so that we can also protect and demand democratic space?

Question: How does this work connect to everyday life and the global picture?

John: It’s part of a global effort to protect democratic governance. And that has an impact on the day-to-day life of a Norwegian, a Kenyan, or a Ukrainian.

Protecting democracy, strengthening democracy, strengthening democratic governance globally, all of that contributes positively to issue-based discussions, peace and security, and development.

When governments can sit down and discuss issues, listen to each other, and respect different opinions in a democratic way,that’s when we also find good solutions to challenges.

The work of The Oslo Center is small in this big picture, but it’s meaningful.