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@work in Norway: Getting Started

Twenty-three young Europeans from 12 countries met in Oslo for the Eustory History Camp “National Constitutions and European Democracies in Times of Crisis”. Read here from their daily blog.

Day 1: Exploring the Dimensions of Institutional Work in Norway

All excited to go to Norway, we finally arrived. At dinner we were almost all represented, apart from 4 people, who had a very late flight. We all looked at each other with curiosity and we talked on and on and on… We found out that even though German participants had the biggest sub-group, there were also a lot of other interesting nationalities. After dinner we got to know each other better, while playing some FUN games.

From this point on we were not only 23 young people from Europe, we were Lady Gaga, Queen Elisabeth and Mr. Bean, just to name a few. After laughing a lot and not feeling as shy anymore, we finally went to bed after a long day with travelling and meeting new people! The (unlucky) last ones arrived around midnight and shortly said ‘hey’ to their sleepy roommates. Everyone arrived and only one piece of luggage got lost!

A Day of Interviews and Discovery

Participants in front of Oslo's famous Opera house

The first working day was dedicated to interviewing different kinds of people. We started off by interviewing each other aka getting to know each other a little better. After the whole group had been properly introduced including the midnight peers, we got our first assignment! We needed to visit 7 different institutions and ask about their role in the Norwegian democracy – which was not always an easy task! Some went to Gyldendal (publishing house), some to Cicero (climate research) and others to LO (the labor union).

The person we were going to interview should also tell us 3 words that he/she associated with democracy – this was harder than expected, some had to think really hard.

After some hours of research the groups could go to their destination on their own. We were all able to follow the maps, but some had trouble finding their way back to the hotel. Another challenge on the way back was to ask 10 random people to name their 3 associations with democracy too. This was not easy, as some people suddenly got very busy! You can find these associations summed up in an tag cloud soon!

Luckily everyone returned safely with a lot of footage and information. We spend hours preparing our presentations with all the information that we had collected – doing our best to impress Tina, Karsten, and Jørgen – but of course as well also the other peers and to answer the leading question about the role of that institution for Norwegian democracy. 

Kristine (Denmark), Gregor (Germany), Mette (Belgium)

You can find all presentations here:

Visiting CICERO (Centre for international climate and environmental research)

Visiting Havlar Tjønn (Journalist)

Visiting Juss-Buss

Visiting the Ombudsman for equality (Likestillings og diskrimineringsombudet)

Visiting Gyldendal Norsk Forlag (Publishing House)

Visiting the Labour Union Archives