Institutt for global utvikling og samfunnsplanlegging UiA

22/05/2026

We are excited to announce 1-3 PhD Research Fellow positions in Global Development and/or Planning! 🌍
Join a dynamic academic environment and contribute to research addressing key societal challenges within our listed themes:

• Contested energy transitions
• Reimaging and repoliticizing planning
• Challenges and alternatives in a polarized and unequal world.
We welcome projects that address one or combines two or all of the these themes.

Learn more and apply: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/302407/phd-research-fellow-in-global-development-and-or-planning

Please share with anyone who might be interested!

Job title: PhD Research Fellow in Global Development and/or Planning  (302407), Employer: University of Agder, Deadline: Saturday, August 1, 2026

14/05/2026

Field course in Sri Lanka, part 2:
After visiting Kithul farmers and gem mine workers in Ratnapura («Gem City»), our master students spent a few days at our partner university of Ruhuna, where they attended many interesting and engaging lectures on relevant topics like economic and political crisis, labour, migration and social mobility, gender equality, marginalization, climate change and research methods. The students also visited NGOs, a garment factory and a tea plantation in Matara, and engaged in critical discussions. In the last week of the field course, the students will go to Hambantota for homestays and field research. We wish them good luck, and extend our heartfelt gratitude to Ajith Wasantha Liyanage for organizing the field course and homestays!🙏🤩🌸🏡💖

07/05/2026

Students in our Master program Global Development, Crisis and Change are currently visiting Sri Lanka for our annual field course. They had a very interesting program in Colombo, with visits to Asian Development Bank, the Parliament, different development institutions and NGOs. The last visit was to Ranbath Organic, which was started by a woman entrepreneur who wanted to promote organic sustainable farming and healthy food. The inspiring success story was told by the founder’s daughter. Now, the students will continue their journey towards Ratnapura.🌱🌶️✨🌸🙏

25/03/2026

We are proud of our Master´s programme in Global Development, Crisis and Change, which has existed for more than 20 years as a global and digital/hybrid program, and still going strong despite certain challenges with regards to closed borders and the imposition of tuition fees for our highly valued students from the South. Luckily, we still have many great students from all over the world who engage in critical discussions and are committed to contribute to positive change in the world! Please spread the work and encourage young people to apply to our MA program! 🌎🌍🌏🌱✨💚❤️

In a world marked by increasing conflict, shrinking aid and rising barriers between countries, the University of Agder is educating people to do the opposite: collaborate across borders. After 20 years, the programme is more relevant than ever.

18/03/2026

𝗧𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆 (𝟮𝟬) 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Last week we held a conference to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our Master’s program in Global Development, Crisis and Change. Established in 2005, formerly known as Master’s in Development Management, the program has over the years produced graduates that are excelling and showing leadership in their respective fields.

The anniversary conference ran under the theme 𝙀𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨? 𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙨. This theme was timely as it reflects the realities prevailing in the world which challenges us to act. Our current and former students, colleagues, partner universities and organizations and founders of the program sat under one roof to exchange ideas.

Participants were taken down memory lane where they got to learn about how and why the program was established. We are thankful to all the speakers and panelists who engaged in exciting discussions and to everyone who attended and contributed in making this occasion a special one.

Special mention goes to Dr. Sebeka Plaatjie from University of South Africa (UNISA) and Dr. Hilde Refstie from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) who accepted to come and share their reflections as keynote speakers.

We wrapped up the anniversary with the screening of “A fox under a Pink Moon” a documentary that follows a teen Afghan artist in her struggle to escape Iran and reunite with her Mother in Austria. The screening was made possible through our collaboration with HUMAN international film festival in Oslo and Cinemateket Kristiansand.

26/02/2026

Please join us in the celebration of our MA program🥳 and take part in critical discussions on key global challenges!🌍🌎🌏 We will celebrate the 20th anniversary of our Master’s program with an international and hybrid conference on 12-13 March 2026: "Education without borders? Global development studies in times of crisis".
Please see the program on this website and sign up for physical or digital participation for the seminar on Thursday 12.03 (NB: the program on Friday 13.03 is only physical).🙏🙌

Welcome to the 20th-anniversary of our Master's programme in Global Development, Crisis and Change, which was established in 2005 as Master's programme in Development Management. In this conference, we will discuss current challenges facing global development studies in a world increasingly characte...

23/01/2026

January means fieldcourse for the first year bachelor-students and one-year students in Global development studies. This year 15 students are attending the fieldcourse in Sri Lanka, and will throughout the end of the month visit Matara, Ratnapura, Colombo and Hambantota, attending lectures at the University of Ruhuna, and visit different NGOs and development projects in the Southern part of the country. The field course is such an important component in the bachelor program, allowing students to connect theories with practical experiences at an early stage in their studies. We are so thankful for the close collaboration with our partner University, University of Ruhuna and Dr. Nisantha Kurukulasooriya for designing a cross-disiplinary introduction program, providing a thourough theoretical foundation about the Sri Lankan context for our students. We are also truly thankful for our fieldcourse coordinator, Ajith Wasantha Liyanage for planning, logistisc and timeless efforts in creating a unique fieldcourse in Sri Lanka. Thank you! ඔයාට ස්තූතියි!

09/12/2025

https://www.uia.no/om-uia/nyheter/uia-forskar-til-chile-for-a-gi-rad-om-havvind.html

Norske erfaringar med havvind kan hjelpe Chile å unngå konfliktar. Det var bodskapen då professor Mikaela Vasstrøm frå Universitetet i Agder møtte det chilenske energidepartementet.

26/11/2025

Skal vi være et land som bygger broer og deler kunnskap, eller et land som vender blikket innover? Norge har en stolt tradisjon for å bruke utdanning og forskning som verktøy for fred, likestilling og utvikling. Nå er det på tide å vise at vi ønsker å videreføre denne arven — og ta vårt ansvar i den globale kampen for en mer rettferdig og bærekraftig verden.

Regjeringens forslag til statsbudsjett for 2026 forsterker en utvikling der internasjonalt utdannings- og forskningssamarbeid bygges ned.

28/10/2025

Hvorfor er det mye mer motstand mot vindkraft i Norge enn Danmark?

Mikaela Vasstrøm har forsket mye på hva som ligger bak den sterke skepsisen til vindkraft i Norge. Hun er professor ved Institutt for global utvikling og samfunnsplanlegging ved UiA.

Den store skepsisen er i hovedsak en unorsk måte å drive energipolitikk på, tror hun. Det har skjedd i sterk kontrast til måten vannkraften har blitt håndtert på.
– Lokalbefolkningen opplever ofte vindprosjekter som urettferdige og udemokratiske. Det er nedfelt i folkesjela at energi skal være felleseie og komme alle til gode.

Nylig ble verdens største kommersielle vindmølle reist på Jylland, og det skjedde uten én eneste klage.