I have returned from two intense but inspiring weeks in Oslo, where I conducted a short-term scientific mission at Oslo Metropolitan University. My host was Professor Karoline Andrea Ihlebæk, who leads our COST Action WG3, and together we set out to map civil society and news media initiatives for depolarisation in the Nordic countries and beyond. We began our mission with office work, adding new initiatives to the repository focused on depolarisation interventions, preparing templates for country reports on harmful polarisation and efforts to counter it, and drafting initial examples for Norway and Turkey.
Later, I presented my own work on climate journalism and polarization to colleagues in the Digital Journalism and Media, as well as the Environment and Society groups. The discussions were sharp, supportive, and gave me lots of ideas for next steps. I also visited Faktisk.no, Norway’s fact-checking powerhouse, where Sølve Kuraas Karlsen walked me through their educational projects on democracy and elections. On another day, I met with the team at Stop Hate Speech and learned about their everyday struggles and creativity in countering online and face-to-face hostility. Then, I visited the Nobel Peace Center. There, I met Ingvill Bryn Rambøl, who shared stories about their projects like Oslo Talks, election education for students, and dialogue toolboxes. Walking through the Echo Chambers and Dialogue exhibitions reminded me that art and culture can sometimes say more about polarization than research papers ever could.
By the end of the mission, our repository had grown to 122 initiatives across Europe, enriched with Nordic cases. We prepared draft reports for Norway and Turkey to share as examples with other WG3 colleagues, and I conducted three in-depth interviews that will inform our publications. On top of that, we set the stage for two upcoming academic articles, an edited book of country reports, and follow-up activities like webinars and joint conferences. And then, something unexpected: I found myself on stage at the international Klimapress Conference in OsloMet, speaking about climate journalism in Turkey and explaining how our COST Action tries to connect local challenges with European debates.
Looking back, these two weeks weren’t just about collecting data; they were about building bridges. Between academics and practitioners, between Nordic and Southern European contexts, between journalists, fact-checkers, and civil society actors. I left Oslo with a notebook full of ideas, outlines of research articles, a network of new contacts, and the feeling that we’re slowly but surely piecing together what a more depolarised media landscape could look like.
