Sustainability in our research
VID's research initiative contributes knowledge and expertise for professional practice within the health and social sectors, the education sector, and the church.
At the end of April 2024, the Research Council of Norway (NFR) awarded VID NOK 30 million to establish the PATHWAYS research center. The center conducts research on children and young people in vulnerable institutional situations to understand their experiences in child welfare, in services for children and young people with disabilities, in healthcare, in the correctional system, and in NAV. One goal of the research is to identify blind spots in the systems, shed light on transitions between institutions, improve practice, and develop innovative institutional designs adapted to children, young people, and their families.
VID contributes to the development of knowledge and methods to reduce youth exclusion through participation in the project Positive Deviance – An Innovative Approach to Youth Exclusion (POSTUT), which is an innovation project funded by the NFR that was launched in 2024.
Social sustainability is also expressed within the truth and reconciliation work and the settlement with the Norwegianization of Sami, Kven/Norwegian Finns, and Forest Finns. The ReconTrans project (completed in 2023) examined truth and reconciliation processes in several different countries and provided important input to the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The project led to two book releases, among other things: Trading justice for peace (2022) and Cultivating Transformative Reconciliation (2024).
Kirkelig utdanningssenter nord / VID Tromsø works extensively with issues related to truth and reconciliation and social sustainability in the north. Among other things, they offer the continuing education course Sanhet og forsoning som teologi og praksis (Truth and reconciliation as theology and practice).
Other examples of research projects that promote social sustainability:
Research group Økoteologi, Bærekraft og Utdanning (ØkoBu)
Spesialkaffe som drivkraft for sosial bærekraft
Ontological Bridge-building for Climate Change Mitigation in Maasailand.