How do you Communicate on the Science-Policy Nexus in High-Level Diplomatic Settings?
Since participation as accredited delegates for the University of Bergen at the inaugural UN Ocean Conference in June 2017, Professor Edvard Hviding and communications adviser Sverre Ole Drønen have worked closely on the science-policy nexus. With a particular focus on the 2030 Agenda the duo has participated in (and often organised) many high-level events, policy-oriented conferences, and United Nations meetings, and produced printed material to bring science to policymakers both on the national level and internationally – and in particular in the United Nations system of multilateral diplomacy.
In the seminar, Hviding and Drønen will present how they have worked as a scientist-communicator team using an efficient mix of in-person attendances, virtual arenas, print material, and social media. Presenting their innovative ways of working in science diplomacy they hope to engage the audience actively in the session.
What we do:
Edvard Hviding is a Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen, and the founding director of the Bergen Pacific Studies Research Group. He has carried out field research in the Pacific, mainly in Solomon Islands, since 1986. Hviding is presently the PI and director of the international research project Island Lives, Oceans States: Sea-level Rise and Maritime Sovereignties in the Pacific (OCEANSTATES), funded by the Research Council of Norway’s TOPPFORSK programme for 2018-2025. He closely follows Pacific regional and United Nations meetings and conferences on ocean and climate diplomacy. For the past ten years he has been closely involved in science diplomacy in the United Nations context under the auspices of Norway, the European Commission, UNFCCC, UN DESA, Palau, and the Pacific group of Small Island Developing States. Between 2018-2022 Hviding led the SDG Bergen Science Advice group, a strategic initiative at UiB.
Sverre Ole Drønen is a senior communications adviser at the University of Bergen. After almost 20 years working for major media outlets in Norway (e.g., VG, Aftenposten, Bergens Tidende, NRK), he joined UiB in 2011 to work on the international communications of the university. This included a broad range of activities, including launching the annual UiB Magazine which was widely distributed worldwide. In 2017 he joined forces with Professor Hviding for the inaugural UN Ocean Conference. The immediate success in bringing scientific knowledge to policy-makers quickly led to the innovative SDG Bergen project (2018-2022), which institutionalised UiB’s critical engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Drønen was handpicked as part of the SDG Bergen team as its communications adviser and has been involved in several high-level UN events.
