2026 speakers
Here you’ll find all the speakers at Nordregio Forum 2026. Please note that this page is updated regularly as we confirm speakers.
Anna Granath Hansson
Senior Research Advisor, Nordregio
With a background in real estate economics and law, Anna’s main interest is the intersection between housing, land and planning. Her research often explores institutional prerequisites for sustainable affordable housing development.
Anna Lundgren
Senior Research Advisor, Nordregio
Anna has a special interest in what makes urban and rural regions sustainable, liveable and prosperous. She has an academic background in political science and in urban and regional planning, and long experience in regional development, policymaking and governance.
Anne Katrine Ebbesen
Senior Communications Advisor, Nordregio
Anne Katrine has an academic background in rhetoric, specialising in campaign analysis, speechwriting and political discourse. Understanding exactly how language changes minds and behaviour, is what Anne Katrine is interested in. Most of her professional experience is from the fields of migration, human rights and public safety – designing strategies, writing/recording/editing content and leading projects.
Anne-Sofie Thomsen
Project Manager, VisitAarhus & ReThinker
Anne-Sofie holds an MSc in Economics and Business Administration, specializing in Strategy and Management, and has extensive experience in bridging theory and practice to create the best possible environment and experience for volunteers – experience and insights she is always happy to share.
Since 2016 Anne-Sofie has worked with volunteer engagement at major events in Aarhus. Among other things, she was responsible for developing and managing the volunteer programmes for The Ocean Race 2023 and the 2018 Sailing World Championships.
Annika Östman
Head of Communications, Nordregio
Annika has a background in international relations, communications and journalism. At Nordregio, Annika and her team are responsible for communications and stakeholder engagement as integrated parts of our research projects. Planning and moderating webinars, conferences and workshops for researchers, policymakers and regional development actors is a recurring task to ensure knowledge exchange and Nordic added value.
Axel Eriksson
Communications Advisor, Nordregio
Axel Erikson is a communications specialist with a background in political science. Interested in current affairs and societal development. He is committed to making research more accessible to policy makers.
Benjamin Ullman
Junior Cartographer/GIS analyst, Nordregio
Benjamin has a bachelor’s degree in urban planning and a master’s degree in urban studies. Working mainly with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to visualise and analyse spatial data. In addition to his analytical work, Benjamin has experience teaching in higher education and have worked as a research assistant in urban segregation.
Berit Irene Nordahl
Researcher Emeritus, Oslo Metropolitan University
Sociologist and Doctor of Engineering Berit Irene Nordahl have deep insight in housing research and housing policy. For more than 40 years she has studied the local governments housing policies, their capacity to develop new practices, and their ability to adopt and implement new housing policy instruments. Nordahl has been leading and participating in research projects examining the institutional frameworks governing housing policy and the collaboration between market actors and public authorities, both in Norway and internationally.
Nordahl’s professional background includes research at SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), and Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet). At OsloMet she served as Research Director of the Housing and Urban Studies Department at the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR). She is currently affiliated with OsloMet’s Centre for Senior Research and continues to give lectures and publish articles in her field.
Carlos Tapia
Senior Research Fellow, Nordregio
Economic geographer, with a multi-scalar focus on urban, rural, and regional studies. Carlos apply a combination of qualitative research methods and statistical learning tools to examine territorial inequalities, social vulnerability, and regional economic resilience across multiple scales. His research advances conceptual and empirical knowledge on social sustainability, environmental governance, and innovation systems, contributing to understanding the territorial dynamics shaping sustainable urban, rural and regional development amidst structural transformation.
Gunvor Eldegard
Senior Advisor, KS – The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities
Gunvor Eldegard is a Senior Adviser on business policy at KS – The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities. She works with local and regional business development, sustainable tourism, research and innovation, and the green transition, in close cooperation with municipalities and county authorities across Norway. She also brings extensive experience from local, regional and national public life, including serving as mayor of Ski and as a member of the Norwegian Parliament.
Henrik Lönnqvist
Manager of Urban Development, Finnish association of municipalities
More information coming soon…
Hilma Salonen
Senior Research Fellow, Nordregio
Hilma is a social scientist specialised in sustainability transitions, remote locations and energy politics. Her PhD focused on Russian regional development in the Arctic and how it links with renewable energy prospects, Hilma’s research ambition is to explore how to make sustainability transitions more just by putting more focus on habits.
Hjalti Jóhannesson
Researcher, University of Akureyri Research Centre
Hjalti is a researcher, regional development specialist, and lecturer at the University of Akureyri. He has more than 30 years of experience in applied research, regional planning, local government, and socio-economic impact assessment. He has been affiliated with the University of Akureyri Research Centre since 2000, serving as Researcher and Assistant Director, and has also taught at the University of Akureyri.
Hjördís Guðmundsdóttir
Research Fellow, Nordregio
Hjördís is a social scientist with an academic background in public policy and social protection, focused on quantitative policy analysis. Hjördís is currently finishing her MA degree in Research, specialising in rural development.
Jimmy Sand
Analyst, Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research
Jimmy is an analyst with extensive experience of translating gender research and complex bodies of knowledge into analyses, reports and recommendations for policymakers, public administration, and the research and innovation system.
Jonas Kačkus Tybjerg
Research Fellow, Nordregio
Jonas has an academic background in political science, with a focus on global politics and regional cooperation, particularly in the Nordic-Baltic context. Both his bachelor’s and master’s theses explore opportunities for deeper collaboration between the Nordic and Baltic countries, with the aim to develop a stronger region.
Kenneth Nordberg
Senior Research Fellow, Nordregio
Kenneth is a political scientist specialised in democratic governance, public management and participation, with a multidisciplinary foundation in rural and regional studies. His work focuses on local and regional development processes, environmental governance, innovation systems and economic restructuring.
Kerstin Bly Joyce
Senior Research Advisor, Nordregio
Kerstin is an environmental economist, policy advisor and analyst with a special interest in working at the juncture of research, policy and communication.
With a track record of senior-level engagement within the Swedish government, EU and the OECD, Kerstin possesses a deep-rooted understanding of institutional processes and has the ability to navigate complex policy landscapes. Her work is evidence based, integrating social and natural sciences.
Lisa Rohrer
Research Fellow, Nordregio
Lisa is a creative and critical thinker who dwells on social and cultural questions related to urban spaces. Her academic and professional experience has included mixed-methods research in topics such as urban design, identity and movement (mobility, migration, tourism), nature in cities, and urban planning language. She also has a background in editorial work.
A central focus of his work is teacher supply in a region where the expanding mining and green industry sector competes for skilled staff. In 2026 he took part in launching the “Gällivare Package”, a municipal initiative to strengthen the supply of qualified teachers and safeguard educational quality for the children of Gällivare.
Miia Itänen
Senior Communications Advisor, Nordregio
Miia is a communications specialist with experience in cooperation, EU affairs and regional development through interregional learning and sharing of experiences. She strives to facilitate connections and foster collaboration among people and organizations to spark new ideas.
Nicklas Guldåker
Senior Research Fellow, Nordregio
Nicklas is a human geographer with research interests in disaster and risk management, preparedness, and resilience, often approached from citizen, regional and organisational perspectives. His research covers a range of topics, including spatial aspects of social risks, fires, crime, flooding, storms, critical infrastructure, and (un)safety.
Patrik Tornberg
Senior Research Fellow, Nordregio
Planner and human geographer with a general interest in cross-sectoral spatial planning and governance at the urban and regional level. A recurrent research theme for Patrik is the coordination of planning activities normally based on different professional perspectives, in particular at the interface between transportation and urban planning. Methodologically, Patrik prefers a combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches.
Peter Olsson
Head of Education, Gällivare Kommun
Peter Olsson is Head of Education at Gällivare Municipality in Swedish Lapland. He leads the municipality’s preschool, compulsory school and upper secondary education.
A central focus of his work is teacher supply in a region where the expanding mining and green industry sector competes for skilled staff. In 2026 he took part in launching the “Gällivare Package”, a municipal initiative to strengthen the supply of qualified teachers and safeguard educational quality for the children of Gällivare.
More information coming soon…
Rolf Elmér
Director, Nordregio
Focus on business and organisational development in an international context. Long experience in working with policy- and decision-makers within regional development and the labour market.
Rolf Johansen
Climate Director, City of Aarhus
Rolf Johnsen is Head of Climate and Energy in the Department of Technical and Environmental Affairs at Aarhus Municipality, Denmark’s second-largest city. He leads the municipality’s work on climate action and energy transition, supporting the implementation of Aarhus’ climate ambitions.
Before joining Aarhus Municipality in 2024, Rolf spent 17 years in Central Denmark Region, most recently as Head of Climate, Resources and Green Transition. His experience spans strategic development, policy implementation and cross-sector collaboration.
Rolf works to advance the green transition through partnerships between the municipality, businesses, research institutions, utilities and other stakeholders. His work focuses on turning ambitious climate goals into practical action while connecting climate and energy priorities with broader urban development. He is particularly interested in how cities can create the conditions for sustainable solutions, strengthen resilience and bring public and private actors together to drive change.
More information coming soon…
Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir
Urban Planning Specialist, Icelandic housing, construction and planning authority
More information coming soon…
Stine Kromann Dragsted
Head of Stakeholder Engagement, Partnerships and Press, Nordic Compass
More information coming soon…
More information coming soon…
Torben M. Andersen
Professor, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University
Torben M. Andersen, Professor at Aarhus University and research fellow at CEPR, CESifo, IZA , and PeRCent. His primary research interests include the economics of the Nordic welfare model, public economics, labour economics, and the economics of pensions. Within these fields, he has published extensively in internationally recognized journals as well as books. Moreover, he has been extensively involved in policy advice in Denmark, the Nordic countries, OECD, EU Commission, European Parliament, the World Bank, the European Economy Advisory Group, and various other contexts.
More information coming soon…