Read more about our speakers on both days on the Speakers page.
10 am Opening by KIGO’s choir.
10.10 am Welcome by Anita Leirvik North (Vice Mayor for Culture and Business Development, Oslo), Christen Krogh (OsloMet rector), Sigve Næss Røtvold (leader of The National Union of Students in Norway, NSO) and Master of Ceremony Ammal Haj Ahmed Mohamed.
Session 1 Futures: What is at stake?
The world is presently facing many critical cross-roads and diverse future scenarios. Some of these scenarios might lead to disastrous consequences and others might lead to major societal transformations that help to secure more sustainable futures. The future scenarios will be driven by current trends, and there are currently many diverse trends that could either facilitate us or derail us in taking a more transformative trajectory. How do we become proactive towards the futures we want/need?
10.30 am Keynote by Futures Literacy expert Riel Miller
«Is it the Voyage or the Destination? Anticipation in the 21st Century»
Riel Miller is Senior Fellow at the University of Witwatersrand and NIFU, and a leading authority on Futures Literacy and strategic foresight. He has previously served as Head of Foresight at UNESCO and led the Futures Literacy team in the Social and Human Sciences Sector. Miller holds a PhD in Economics from The New School for Social Research (1987). His career spans senior roles at the OECD, the Ontario Government, and as founder of the foresight consultancy xperidox. He has been involved in designing and implementing hundreds of participatory foresight projects worldwide since the late 1980s. His research and practice focus on anticipation systems, collective intelligence, and the transformation of governance and education. Miller has held advisory and teaching positions at universities in Europe, Africa, and North America.
10.50 am Dialogue with Author Ayesha Wolasmal and Thais Alfaro Sandoval (Students at Risk/The Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund, SAIH). Moderated by Ammal Haj Ahmed Mohamed.
11.20 am Break
Session 2 Education: What are the consequences?
What are the roles and relationship of education in these uncertain paths to more sustainable and more desirable future(s)? What has been education’s impacts on international development and has it previously been complicit in replicating business-as-usual approaches? And how could we reorient education into provide more transformative roles where learning becomes a mechanism for business-as-unusual. Quality education and education for sustainable development are intricately linked together in the context of education that is meaningful and relevant within the contexts and challenges of the 21st Century. How do education systems and higher education institutions specifically support a process in which we learn, think, understand and act differently?
12.00 am Keynote by Professor Karen Mundy: “Education and the New Global (dis)Order”
Karen Mundy is a Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Professor Mundy’s award-winning research is focused on the work of international organizations and transnational actors in education, and on educational reform and educational leadership in the global south. She has served as President of the Comparative Education Society (2014-2015) and as Chief Technical Officer of the Global Partnership for Education (2014-2018). She was a member of the UNESCO International Commission on the Futures of Education, and contributed to the commission’s report “Re-imagining our futures together: Towards a new social contract for education”. Her early career was spent as a teacher, researcher and consultant in East and Southern Africa.
12.20 pm Panel discussion with MA student and community leader Abdinor Mahamed, and Professor Karen Mundy. Led by Professor in Education Halla Holmarsdottir.
1.00 pm «Unscripted session». Lunch/streaming break. Learn more about the Unscripted session (uni.oslomet.no).
Session 3 Solidarity: Why, how and with who are we engaging in partnerships?
To increase solidarity in polarising times, we need to rethink education as a practice that we do together across divides, borders and sectors in society. In this session, invited speakers with extensive experience in working across commonplace boundaries will share their experiences of establishing and upholding partnerships and the challenges involved. The panel will address questions such as what is needed for partnerships to change institutional practices and how we can achieve lasting reciprocity.
2 pm Panel discussion with Alasdair Skelton, Nadia Rathje and leader of SAIH Henriette Reierson Johnstone. Moderated by Elin Sæther (UiO).
2.50 pm Break
Session 4 Collaborative Transformation: Sustainability beyond 2030?
As a result of eroding trust in multilateral collaboration and increased geo-political tension, the world is at a very different place than when the SDGs were adopted in 2015. In this session we ask what role the higher education sector can play in the post-2030 agenda and how universities can successfully integrate long-term sustainability concerns in a society where other topics are competing for public attention and political priority. Even though Norway has a self-image of being a sustainability leader and a much stronger economy than most countries in the world, we see that young people are less concerned about global warming and nature loss than just a few years ago. What can we do to turn these trends into a renewed collective effort for a just and sustainable world?
3.15 pm Keynote Noah Sobe (Unesco): «Research, relevance and regeneration: Higher education post-2030»
Noah Sobe is the Chief of the Section for Higher Education at UNESCO, where he leads initiatives aimed at promoting quality, accessible, and inclusive higher education globally. His previous research and teaching as a Professor of Modern European History at Loyola University Chicago explored the ways in which education systems evolve and interact across different cultural and historical contexts, shaping his expertise in the intersection of education, history, and culture. Dr. Sobe is also the past president of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), where he contributed to shaping the future of education policy and research at a global level. His academic background, combined with his leadership roles, has made Dr. Sobe a key figure in global education, with a particular focus on international collaboration, educational reform, and the emotional and cultural dimensions of schooling.
3.30 pm Keynote Professor Arjen Wals (Wageningen University): «Who’s Afraid of Sustainability? Education & Research towards Sustainability and Regeneration in Times of Collapse»
Arjen Wals is a Professor of Transformative Learning for Socio-Ecological Sustainability at Wageningen University where he also holds the UNESCO Chair of Social Learning and Sustainable Development. He obtained his PhD from the University of Michigan (1991). Wals also holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Gothenburg. Much of his research focusses on the development of Whole Institution Approaches to sustainability. Nationally and internationally, he has been and continues to be a persistent advocate for education, learning and capacity-building for sustainability, nature-connectedness and global citizenship in all levels of education.
3.40 pm Conversation between Noah Sobe (Unesco), Arjen Wals (Wageningen University) and Pro-Rector for Outreach and Social Responsibility Monica Rolfsen (NTNU).
3.50 pm Panel discussions, moderated by Ammal Haj Ahmed Mohamed, between:
Panel 1:
- Rector at Kristiania University of Applied Sciences Trine Johansen Meza
- Pro-rector Research and Development at Nord University Ketil Eiane
- Pro-Rector Outreach and Social Responsibility at NTNU Monica Rolfsen
- Student representative OsloMet Cinta Asmara Hondsmerk
Panel 2:
- Rector at NMBU Solve Sæbø
- Pro-rector at OsloMet Carl Christian Thodesen
- NSO representative Oscar dos Santos Hellberg-Kvalsvik
- Member of Parliament in The Standing Comittee on Energy and the Environment Frøya Skjold Sjursæther (Green Party)
4.45 pm End of stream
5 pm Reception in the City Hall. By invitation only, no streaming.
Welcome by Deputy Mayor of Oslo Julianne Ofstad. Performance by students from The Barratt Due Institute of Music.
7 pm End of official program Day 1
8 pm Studentnach «Education in crisis (utdanning i krise)»: Panel debate organised by The National Union of Students in Norway (Norsk studentorganisasjon, NSO), at Samfunnet Bislet, Pilestredet 52, Oslo (Oslo Metropolitan University). Read more about the Studentnach on the Facebook eventpage.