Arendalsuka

Arendalsuka

On the 19th of August, the Oslo Center participated in Norway´s largest political gathering Arendalsuka with our panel debate, “Who owns democracy? Collaboration between private, civic and public sectors”. We invited interesting panelists representing different sectors, discussing how their respective sectors contribute to the protection and strengthening of our democratic values.

The panelists joining this important conversation were Hanne Skartveit, Political Editor in VG; Karolina Olofsson, Executive Director at The Oslo Center; Odd Einar Dørum, former Parliamentary representative; and Kristine Beitland, Executive Director for Corp. Affairs in Microsoft Norway.
Our first panelist Hanne Skartveit provided interesting and insightful perspectives to the conversation. She underlined the significant role and responsibility of a free press in a well-functioning democracy. Additionally, our Executive Director Karolina Olofsson provided meaningful perspectives on the ownership of democracy, accountability, and the responsible actors within a democratic society.
Dørum underlined the role of the citizens as the primary owners of democracy as well as the importance of not taking our democratic values for granted, but rather continuously fighting for them. Beitland emphasized the crucial responsibility of the technology sector to protect democratic institutions and human rights.

To summarize, the panel discussion brought up insightful and meaningful perspectives on the owners of democracy and the importance of cooperation between the private, civic, and public sectors to protect and maintain our democratic values.

Annual Webinar 2021

Annual Webinar 2021

On May 27th, 2021, the Oslo Center hosted the webinar «The Legacy of Democracies and Violation of Democratic Standards», to discuss the topics of democratic resilience and global cooperation. With the COVID-19 crisis, the rising threats and challenges to democracies have intensified. Seeing the situation in a time where the global state of democracies has encountered a prolonged decline worldwide during the last ten years, it is more crucial than ever to raise the questions of how we can protect, promote, and build democratic values. The webinar was moderated by the Norwegian journalist, Christian Borch.

In the event, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown presented his keynote speech on «Global Cooperation and International Progress». Multilateral cooperation is one of the cornerstones of well-functioning democracies and essential for any country to face global challenges even stronger. During the webinar, Brown emphasized further the importance of addressing underlying social and economic injustice, and great international cooperation in order for the progress of democratization to continue.

“We don’t just cooperate out of need; we have a human need to cooperate”
– Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

In the panel debate of the Oslo Center’s webinar, Executive Director of DIPD, Lisbeth Pilegaard, Executive Director of TOC, Karolina Olofsson, Senior Researcher at PRIO, Henrik Syse, and Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway, Espen Barth Eide discussed the topic «The Backsliding of Democracy and the Rising of Autocracies».
In the conversation, democratic culture and representation were brought up as necessities to prevent democratic erosion. It was highlighted that democratic leaders need to create democratic culture from the top by encouraging free speech and a system built on accountability and transparency, as the success of a democracy is dependent on the people’s trust. Lastly, it was highlighted how the existence of a culture of tolerance is crucial, in order for groups of society will find space to engage in society.

Read the brief of TOC’s Annual Webinar 2021 here.

Global Democracy Coalition Forum

Global Democracy Coalition Forum

On the occasion of Biden’s Global Democracy Summit, the Oslo Center together with 47 democracy organizations has taken part in organizing a coalition – Global Democracy Coalition, convened by International IDEA, to promote democratic initiatives. In this coalition, we took the opportunity to create a forum on December 7. where experts and practitioners discussed the most important democratic topics the world is facing today. The main aim of the forum was to lead up and facilitate the conversations on Biden’s Democracy Summit. Additionally, the forum provided for a space to discuss challenges, opportunities, and democratic solutions to peace-building processes.

As a contribution to the Global Democracy Coalition Forum, the Oslo Center hosted a webinar – Afghanistan: Democratization and Responsible Exiting. Among the topics highlighted in the conversations was how the international community in the past focused on a westernized democratic model, rather than building a model that reflected the reality of the society in the country. The necessary approach in Afghanistan is as for every country, depending on a tailor-made approach, as there is not a recipe for democratic success. The discussions focused further on the international community’s role in creating broader collaboration and engagement. This includes a stronger collaboration with pro-democracy forces and civil society in Afghanistan. Through a broader involvement of partners, possibilities for creating a democratic model that reflects Afghanistan open. Further, the international community will stand stronger with a plan and roadmap of the democratization processes. Without a plan, there is no solution. The roadmap creates the opportunities for commitment and foresight to be established which are keys for achieving a sustainable democratic society.

Youth Assembly

Youth Assembly

Through the Oslo Center’s concept, Youth Assemblies, we aim to create a platform that enhances inclusive youth participation in transparent and accountable governance processes, that constructively identifies citizens’ needs and policy priorities at sub-national and national levels. In Lamu, one of the most marginalized communities in Kenya, the Youth Assembly through the dialogue forum, also known as baraza, raised pertinent issues around challenges within the education sector. These challenges affect youth’s access to existing and future opportunities which will have far-reaching negative impacts on communities such as poverty and high educational costs.

Through the Youth Assembly’s lobby and advocacy efforts, 200 high school graduates in the county were assisted to access existing sub-national and national governments’ University scholarships. Their ability to articulate these challenges and lobby key decision-makers led to the adoption of the amendment to the Lamu bursary fund Act 2019. The Lamu county bursary fund bill of 2019 had an eligibility criterion that only benefited the students in recognized public universities, a clause that locked out many deserving students.

Lamu Youth Assembly petitioned the amendment of the bill to include all students whether from public or private universities in the bursary eligibility criterion. The amendment of the bill also saw the deleting the word public, replacing it with recognized universities thus opening the fund to all students and access to higher levels of education. In addition, the amendment introduced an affirmative action clause for the minority community known as the Awer to access full education scholarships from the county governments’ bursary fund.

In addition, four Youth Assembly members have been appointed to the bursary fund implementation committees in the county to ensure the inclusion of youth perspectives. Lamu Youth Assembly has been a part of a fundamental process for the development of the education sector safeguarding access to opportunities for all citizens.

Future of the Nordic Model

Future of the Nordic Model

During the Oslo Innovation Week 2021, our Executive Director Karolina Olofsson participated as a moderator for a panel discussion called “The Future of the Nordic Model” on the 28th of September.
The panel brought together professionals from various fields to discuss how the Nordic Model contributes to value-driven innovation, including how it leads society into a more ethical and responsible direction. The speakers contributing to this discussion were Einar Kleppe Holthe, CEO and founder of Natural State, Marthe Haugland, Senior Innovation Advisor for Nordic Innovation, and Malin Frithiofsson, Programme Manager for Startup Norway and President for Women in Tech Gothenburg.

There are other models of innovation such as the Silicon Valley one, which worldwide entrepreneurs and policymakers alike have aspired to recreate as the perfect ecosystem for innovation. But Silicon Valley is no longer the only global paradigm for innovation. The Nordic Model offers a unique environment for socially responsible innovation that looks beyond narrow financial return.

The conversation was filled with insightful perspectives about the importance of innovation and how it can improve societies through ethical and responsible processes. We also heard about how innovation and ethical processes are connected to the Nordic Model, including its future.