We are pleased to share a call for abstracts for NORKOM 2026, the 35th annual Nordic Local Government Research Conference, which will take place at OsloMet on 26–27 November 2026.
This year’s conference will have a special focus on Ukraine, and we particularly encourage researchers working on Ukraine to submit abstracts and join us in Oslo.
The programme includes a plenary session entitled “Ukraine – a learning ground for Nordic local governments? And vice versa?”, with a keynote presentation by Oleksandra Keudel (Kyiv School of Economics), followed by comments from representatives of Norwegian local government and research.
In addition, the conference will feature a dedicated workshop for research on Ukraine and local government. The organisers welcome contributions addressing a broad range of relevant topics, including local governance and democracy during wartime, decentralisation, resilience and crisis management, reconstruction and recovery, local–central government relations, public service provision, and cooperation between Ukrainian and Nordic municipalities. Contributions from different disciplinary and methodological perspectives are welcome.
NORKOM is a Nordic network for researchers working on local government and local democracy. While some parts of the conference are in Scandinavian languages, the Ukraine-focused plenary session and workshop will be held in English.
Key dates
- Abstract submission deadline: 16 October 2026
- Final paper deadline: 16 November 2026
- Conference: 26–27 November 2026
For further information, including the call for abstracts, registration and practical details, please visit:
https://www.oslomet.no/en/about/events/norkom-2026
More information about NORKOM:
https://www.norkom.se/sv-fi/
We hope that the special Ukraine focus will make this year’s NORKOM conference an interesting meeting place for researchers working on local governance in Ukraine, as well as on Nordic–Ukrainian cooperation. We would be delighted to see many UKRAINETT members and colleagues in Oslo in November.