Knowledge
for transformations towards sustainability relies on new kinds of collaboration and engagement. Sustainability issues are extraordinarily complex yet are often approached through technocratic, indicator-driven solutions. While quantification and modelling can help clarify the basis for some policy decisions and offer valuable guidance for future action, overdependence on them obscures the ‘fuzzy’, systemic nature of socioecological issues and engenders a misleading sense of control. Quantification can be a political tool, despite aspirations for numerical data to be axiologically neutral or 'postpolitical’, and to transcend national politics in the context of sustainability. Undue reliance on such methods can alienate people, communities and countries who do not find that these approaches resonate with their knowledge and lived experiences. Prevailing approaches in the sustainability discourse can be used to suppress contestation and marginalise other perspectives.
Technological innovation
has led to great progress in many areas, supporting more sustainable business practices, accelerating climate action, and expanding access to education. While many technological interventions offer great promise, they can also produce unintended consequences. The emphasis on technological solutions can function as a deflection device away from the need to respond to underlying structural issues of power disparities, entrenched inequalities, and continued pursuit of infinite economic growth. Technological innovations may contribute to mitigating climate change and other negative and social impacts as well as to increase negative effects on ecosystems, rural livelihoods and health. The increasing use of technology raises issues concerning energy use, the dependence on extractive industries providing critical minerals, and the growing problems of electronic waste. Technology can also be used to conceal control, to channel financial and other resources away from countries and communities where value is created, and to evade supervisory authorities as well as societal attention. The digitalisation transition and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools have spurred efforts to share and expand knowledge globally, yet technologies developed in a single geographic, linguistic, or socioeconomic setting—often in the Global North—may be less effective elsewhere, potentially intensifying epistemic injustice, inequalities, and discrimination. Our work champions context-sensitive design and implementation that anticipates and mitigates such risks.
Trust
is vital in the creation, translation and implementation of knowledge. Yet, public confidence in academic institutions is under pressure exactly when research-based guidance is urgently needed. Misinformation, conspiracy theories, and pseudo-science, especially prevalent on social media, erode trust in academic and political institutions, undercutting support for necessary and democratic sustainability measures. Trust is vital not only for crisis management and resilience but also for facilitating inclusive knowledge creation, and ensuring the legitimacy of decisions. Combating misinformation, fostering inclusive dialogue, and demonstrating the relevance of research to real-world needs are vital activities in our work.
Located within a European university, we acknowledge both the region’s colonial legacies and the continued risks of reproducing neocolonial dynamics. We respond to calls for decolonising academia by also actively seeking knowledge systems, perspectives, and leadership from across the globe—especially from communities whose insights have historically been marginalized.
Research topics within our Thematic Area
Our work is currently structured around four core topics:
1. Sustainability law
Concentrating on normative approaches to integrating sustainability into business, finance and circular economy.
Contact: Beate Sjåfjell, the research group Sustainability Law.
2. Sustainable health
Concentrating on implementation of sustainable solutions in health care.
Contact: Eivind Engebretsen or Jan Buts, the research group Knowledge in Translation.
3. Education for transformations to sustainability
Focusing on developing transformative learning approaches that enable individuals and institutions to contribute to systemic change.
Contact: Marianne Knarud or Svein Stølen, Global University Academy; and Tony Sandset, SHE: Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Education.
4. Sustainable food production and health
Examining undesirable effects of agricultural industrialization on rural livelihoods and ecosystems.
Contact: Mariel Aguilar-Støen or Jostein Jakobsen, the research group Rural Futures.
We are open to expanding these research themes and adding new ones.