Author Archives: Lara Cortes

Logistics

Welcome to the Bergen Exchanges on Law & Social Transformation 18-22 August 2025! Here you find all the practical information you need to attend the conference.

Facts about Bergen:

Bergen is located on the west coast of Norway, and known as ”the City of the Seven Mountains”. As of 2021 population was 285,900 – making it, after the capital Oslo, the second-most populous city in Norway.

What to do during your spare time: take the Fløibanen funicular or walk up mount Fløyen and visit the old docks at Bryggen (World Heritage Site). For other activities to do in Bergen or close to Bergen, check www.visitbergen.no

Please keep in mind that even in summer the weather in Bergen is unpredictable can be quite rough with a lot of rain. We highly recommend you to bring an umbrella and a raincoat as well as waterproof shoes or boots. And if you have a pair of waterproof pants, bring them along!

How to get from the airport to the city centre:

From the airport you have different options to get to the city centre:

We strongly recommend you to take the light rail, as this is by far the easiest and cheapest option. Having exited airport’s main hall you will find escalators and elevators leading to an underground station of the Bergen light rail. Beforehand you need to purchase a ticket. You can either download the Skyss Ticket app in advance to purchase your ticket or buy it at one of the vending machines outside of the main entrance of the airport. Using both options you can pay with your credit card. Having purchased your ticket you can board one of the trains at the underground station heading to “Bergen Sentrum”. Timetables can be found here (in Norwegian only). The stop the closest to your hotel would be “Nonneseter” which is the penultimate station. The trip will take approximately 45 minutes.

At the airport you will also find the Airport Bus waiting for you outside the arrival area. More information about the Airport Bus can be found here. The stop closest to your hotel would be “Bergen Busstasjon”. This journey takes about 30 minutes.

As taxi prices are very high in Bergen we do not recommend you to take a taxi to the city centre. However, should you need one due to medical reasons or because you will arrive in Bergen very late please contact Lara Côrtes (lara.b.cortes@uib.no) in advance.

We will provide you with information regarding reimbursement of the travel expenses right after the end of the conference.

How to get to the Grand Hotel Terminus:

Address: Zander Kaaesgate 6, 5015 Bergen.

To get both from “Nonneseter” light rail station and from “Bergen Busstasjon” airport shuttle station to Grand Hotel Terminus walk towards the train station and you will find the hotel behind the station (or at the left side of the station if you are in front of the building).

Please be aware that hotel rooms in Norway, particularly in the city centres, are much smaller than in countries such as the US and Canada.

How to get to Kulturhuset (Monday 18 August, Tuesday 19 August and Wednesday 20 August):

From Monday 18 August to Wednesday 20 August Kulturhuset (Vaskerelven 8) will be the venue.

How to get to Bergen Global (Thursday 21 August and Friday 22 August):

On Thursday, 21 August and Friday 22 August Bergen Global (Jekteviksbakken 31) will be the venue.

Bergen Global is located in the same building as the offices of LawTransform and CMI. It can be found on the same floor as the main entrance to the building.

Code of conduct:

All conference participants need to adhere to Chr. Michelsen Institute’s (CMI) code of conduct that you have received by email (please make sure you read both documents attentively). If you experience any breach of the code of conduct while in Bergen, Lara Côrtes is the person you should contact, and CMI will process any possible cases.

Health issues:

If help cannot wait, call the emergency room: 116 117. In case of danger to life and health, call 113.

If you are at the hotel and are experiencing health issues, please contact the reception, and they will be able to assist you. We bring to your attention that there are no telephones in the hotel rooms. Please have with you a printed version of your insurance policy.

Contacts:

In case you have any questions, please contact Lara Côrtes (we kindly ask you to keep WhatsApp for urgent matters).

Lara Côrtes: lara.b.cortes@uib.no; +47 466 46 946

Life and Work in Balance: Legal Responses to a Working Life in Transition and in Times of Crisis (LaW-BALANCE)

Date/Time: 23th of November 2023 (Thursday) 14:00-15:00

Place: Bergen Global, Jekteviksbakken 31

Melanie Hack will talk about LaW-BALANCE, a new research project led by her. “Life and Work in Balance: Legal Responses to a Working Life in Transition and in Times of Crisis” will examine how the law can address the challenges and opportunities posed by societal changes such as demographic change, digitalization, migration and globalization. The project will also analyze how the law can promote an inclusive working life and a well-functioning welfare state.

Her presentation will be followed by a conversation with Katharina Sass moderated by Jørgen Pettersen.

Attendance:

  • Free and open to all.
  • The RDV WEBINAR SERIES is a collaboration between the Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism (DIPA) at the University of Bergen and the CMI-UiB Centre on Law & Social Transformation (LawTransform). The RDV seminar series is an interdisciplinary seminar where we invite national and international researchers to talk about their pioneering research on topics regarding law, democracy, and welfare.
  • Join us at Jekteviksbakken 31.
  • Refreshments will be served at the event.

About the speakers:

Melanie Hack is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen

Katharina Sass is Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Bergen

Jørgen Pettersen is a guest researcher at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen

Coming soon! LawTransform PhD course

Save the date!

Effects of Lawfare:  Courts and law as battlegrounds for social change (15- 24 August)

With two options of specialization: Effects of Lawfare concerning Child Rights and Health Rights.

The course page will be available soon with further information about the course program and admission.

The course combines lectures specifically designed for the course and participation in lectures, panels, round-tables, and workshops of the Bergen Exchanges on Law & Social Transformation.

Students will receive 3 ECTS for participating in the course (80% of seminars), submission of paper abstract (150-300 words), and presentation of their own work to the other participants. Students who submit a publishable journal article (4,000-6,000 words, with an additional reading list of 500 pages, which can be from the elective reading list) by 14 October 2018 are awarded an additional 7 ECTS. (Postdoctoral researchers and MA level students will be accepted if space permits).

The PhD course is free of charge and open to applicant from Norwegian and international institutions on a first-come first serve basis. Participants do, however, have to cover their own travel and accommodation costs, as there unfortunately are no scholarships available.

Course leaders:  Siri Gloppen (Comparative Politics, University of Bergen & LawTransform Director);  Bruce Wilson (niversity of Central Florida/CMI);  Camila Gianella (CMI); Marit Skivenes (Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen), Alicia Ely Yamin (Georgetown University Law Center) and  Paola Bergallo (University of Torcuato Di Tella, in Buenos Aires).

Lecturers (tbc*): Malcolm Langford (University of Oslo/CMI); Jeroen van der Slujs (Philosophy of Science, UoB); Daniel Brinks (University of Texas, Austin).

PhD course at the Bergen Exchanges 2016

The past three decades has seen an accelerating juridification and judicialisation of societies and politics. In all parts of the world and at all levels, from the global to the local, increasingly complex webs of legal norms and institutions regulate our societies and lives. Courts and law have become increasingly important as arenas for political struggles. Constitutional reforms and international treaties aim to transform social dynamics from above, among others though new and stronger protection of citizens’ rights, while individuals and groups engage in legal mobilization from below to seek justice for their cause. In either case dense networks of international activists and experts are ready to engage with and aid local actors, creating a dense global network of actors, legal norms, and adjudicative institutions. In this context, it is urgent to better understand law as a political field. Does this turn to rights and law have a transformative potential? Does it provide institutional spaces for the voices of marginalized groups to be heard and tools that can provide political leverage? Or does it, rather demobilize and depoliticize struggles in ways that exacerbate unequal power-relations and marginalization dynamics? These are urgent issues on which there are deep disagreements in the literature. The course offers an introduction to the scholarly debates on the potential and limits of law as an instrument of social change, and opportunities to engage with some of the foremost scholar in the field, and international research projects currently seeking more compelling answers to these questions.