Our mission is to strengthen OsloMet’s ability to anticipate, question, and shape long-term societal developments and build expertise for an unpredictable world, in line with OsloMet’s 2050 strategic ambition – to advance research-based knowledge that benefits people and contributes to just, secure, equitable, sustainable, and democratic societies and human flourishing and welfare.
The need for critical futures thinking has never been greater. In a polycrisis-dominated reality, it is easy to exaggerate frightening trends, imagine dystopic future scenarios, and visualize future threats. It is far more difficult to imagine beyond the current narrative, envision positive alternatives, and try to make them a reality. Policy Lab aims to contribute to this difficult task: we move beyond the purely utilitarian approaches to foresight, seeking instead to expand the capacity of people, professions, and researchers to imagine differently, and break out of epistemic closure and path dependencies, and take a more active role preparing for and shaping alternative futures.
Three Pillars of the Futures and Policy Lab
Organizational Development at OsloMet: Futures-informed Research, Teaching and Professions
We start with ourselves. We recognize that even universities, the primary seats of cutting-edge research and shaping future generations and professions, can suffer from epistemic closure – disciplinary, institutional, structural and cultural lock-ins, path dependencies, silos, and inertia. Policy Lab addresses this challenge and seeks to strengthen OsloMet’s ability to imagine, adapt, innovate, and lead with responsibility and agency in uncertain times.
Futures Studies Research at OsloMet
We develop futures studies methods and theory and integrate these into ongoing research at OsloMet. While developing our own approaches to futures studies, we also engage critically with anticipatory modes of governance. We intend to publish internationally, contribute to transdisciplinary and international research projects, and develop methods that link academic insight with real-world transformation and policy innovation. Policy Lab is oriented towards a holistic understanding of security—one that includes human security, resilience, social welfare, health, well-being, dignity, justice, happiness, and human flourishing.
Research Internationalization – Futures and Governance
In a time of geopolitical tension and fragmentation, universities must remain as open spaces for dialogue, cooperation, and knowledge exchange across borders as possible. Policy Lab seeks to contribute to OsloMet’s internationalization and university diplomacy by strengthening international research partnerships and building networks in governance and policy-related future studies for the long-term goals of human security, peace, resilience and flourishing. We are working towards building partnerships across the world to enrich and inspire our visions of the future and to rethink the Nordic model in dialogue with others.
