When AFINO invites to the AFINO International Conference in Oslo in late August, it is about the steps in research and innovation towards desirable goals and a sustainable future. What can we achieve together?

The conference will be held at Soria Moria Hotel in Oslo, 28th to 30th August, and the Centre Director, Siri Granum Carson finds a good link between the name of the conference hotel and the conferences vision:

Siri Granum Carson
AFINO Centre Director, Siri Granum Carson

In the Norwegian fairy tales, Soria Moria symbolizes progression towards a promising future, a journey that everyone must venture upon in their own manner.
We hope that you will find your way to the AFINO international conference at Soria Moria outside of Oslo – we are certain that it will be a transformative experience for everyone working on directing research, innovation, and industry in a more responsible direction. We hope this will be a first in a series of international conferences – so you should not risk missing out on the starting point of this fairy tale!

Full programme
Two months before the opening session in Oslo, the details in the programme is falling into place. Titles and abstracts for the sessions is being continuously published at the conference website.
A strong line up of speakers for the plenary sessions are being presented here. We dare to raise the expectations when John Bessant (University of Exeter/University of Stavanger), Vincent Blok (Wageningen University), and Centre Director Siri Granum Carson meets in the opening session: CSR and RRI – past, present and future. Also notable is this one: Technologies for the good life, with Sissel Rønning (Nofima) and Kate Millar (University of Nottingham).
Find the full programme for the conference here.

Famous journalist and (almost) book release
Worth an extra mention is also these features in the programme:
Already the first night (Wednesday 28th) will be movie night at the conference. After dinner we will be showing the film “Official Secrets”, starring Keira Knightley, who plays the whistleblower Katharine Gun. We are honoured that British journalist Martin Bright, who was part of this story, will attend the conference.
The film directly relates to one of the parallel sessions at the conference: “Breaking the Silence.” Bright will participate in the “Movie Aperitif Talk” before the film screening.

For many of you, it might be a well-kept secret that an AFINO-book will be published. While we won’t reveal the book-title quite yet, we invite conference participants to the first pitch for the book. We are happy that Jacob Dahl Rendtorff, Professor at Roskilde University and part of the AFINO International Advisory Board, will be in charge of an presentation of the book on the second night of the conference.

Graphic illustration for the AFINO conference

More than 20 nationalities signed up
We are excited to see that the conference is gaining international attention. So far, we find participants from over 20 nationalities represented at the registration list, from New Zealand, South Africa and Australia to more neighborly countries like Germany and Iceland.
We really look forward to meeting all and the exchange with everyone.

The good news is that it is not too late to join. We encourage you to find out more at our conference website. There you will find an overview of the programme, learn about the speakers, contact information, and practicalities like registration, travel and hotel etc.
To follow up Centre Director, Siri G. Carson’s challenge: You should not risk missing out on the starting point of this fairy tale!