I have collaborated extensively with public actors and voluntary organisations in applied regional, national and international research projects on co-creation and inclusion. Among other things, the research has contributed to developing the co-creation platform Med hjerte for Arendal, which subsequently gained much attention. The research also cast a critical eye on how we measure the integration of refugees, examined how to work across sectors against marine plastic litter, and more.
I am on the board of the National Research Network for Innovation in the Public Sector INNOFF. I am also one of the hosts of the podcast Fremtidens kommuner about innovation in Norway's municipalities. From 2021 to 2022, I was also an appointed member of the Labour Immigrant Committee.
I have my PhD from the University of Bergen and my thesis was about collective coping strategies among refugees. I completed my postdoc at the Institute of Public Health. I have also previously been department head for welfare research at Agder Research and been active in voluntary organisations such as Våre Strander ("Our Beaches") and Agder Gorj Utvikling.
