In September 2024, a proposal will be presented to the university board for the establishment of a new Centre for Global Sustainability.
The centre will actively work to improve critical interdisciplinary research, education, and communication necessary for a global sustainable and more just future. The centre will have a flexible structure that will allow for both permanent and temporary research groups across all academic disciplines, and it will be open for affiliation of researchers who remain based in their own discipline at an institute/faculty. The centre should be attractive as a study, meeting, and networking space for students, researchers, and external partners and guests, and it should also build environments with the potential to increase external funding for research and education on global sustainability.
We propose that the Centre for Global Sustainability be established prior to July 2025, and that it be co-located in Bærekrafthuset (the Sustainability House) – the current Pharmacy Building at Blindern, which will undergo renovations following the move of the Pharmaceutical Institute to the Life Science Building in 2026/27. During the fall of 2024, further planning will take place in collaboration with all parties involved. A position as centre director will be advertised, provided that the University Board approves the establishment of the centre.
Call: Co-working space for interdisciplinary project groups
We now offer a co-working space in Domus Academica for researchers working on topics related to climate, environment or sustainability – for periods of two to eight weeks.
Research groups consisting of a maximum of 12 people can apply for the duration of two to eight weeks to develop new projects or educational initiatives or simply write together. The call is open to all scientific staff at UiO while projects and ideas across disciplines will be prioritised. Applicants will be notified in due course, there is no application deadline.
Background
Under UiO's climate and environmental strategy, one of the sub-goals is to propose a comprehensive sustainability effort in the area of lower Blindern campus. In 2023, a working group was established to develop a proposal for Bærekrafthuset. Following the report, the proposal has been discussed in various academic environments and forums, and now a proposal is being presented to the University Board in September 2024 to establish a Centre for Global Sustainability that will move into a building named Bærekrafthuset – the Sustainability House – which is currently known as the Pharmacy Building.
More information
- The group’s mandate (in Norwegian, pdf, 175 kB)
- Supporting document ’The Sustainability Hub – the catalyst in UiO’s sustainability efforts’ (in Norwegian, pdf, 162 kB)
- UiOs budget proposal to KD (in Norwegian) v-sak-41-2023-uios-innspill-til-satsningsforslag-til-kd-for-statsbudsjettet-for-2025.pdf