Organizers and venue
The conference is a co-production between Nordregio, CRS - Centre for Regional Studies at Karlstad University, UIO TIK – Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture at University of Oslo, LUKE – Natural Resources Institute Finland and NIBIO – Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research. It will take place on 27-28 March, 2019, at Karlstad University and Innovation Park in Karlstad, Sweden.

Organizers
- Michael Kull, Senior Research Fellow, Nordregio
- Karen Refsgaard, Research Director / Deputy Director, Nordregio
- Elin Slätmo, Senior Research Fellow, Nordregio
- Margareta Dahlström, Professor of Human Geography / Director of CRS, Karlstad University
- Ida Grundel, Senior lecturer in Human Geography, Karlstad University
- Bianca Cavicchi, P.h.D Fellow, Department of Economics and Society, NIBIO Norway
Conference venue
The conference will take place at Karlstad University and Innovation Park which is located close to the university.
Innovation Park
Welcome to Innovation Park – a meeting point for ideas and people. Come to us with your idea or your company to develop in an open environment with co-creation, activities, seminars and events. In this creative setting, you will meet a number of startup businesses, established companies and the cluster organizations Paper Province, Compare, IUC Steel & Engineering as well as Karlstad University – along with support for any entrepreneurial challenges you may face. We meet with many who have mused over their idea at home by the kitchen table – and when moving into our facilities, the ideas spark off to the next level.
Here you will also find Karlstad Makers, a Maker’s space where you can prototype and develop your idea using all kinds of tools – from 3D printers to electronic labs. It is no requirement to have an innovative idea to come to us, but your idea will become innovative when you are here.
We offer a variety of spaces to attract a number of different people:
- Start lab: This is where you come with your idea and work with it together with other people – also working with their ideas. Together, you will inspire and develope each other.
- The Great Journey: If you are interested in Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR), this is the place to come if you want to develop ideas together with your soul mates.
Innovation Park has local offices in Hagfors and Sunne and ongoing establishments in Kristinehamn and Arvika.
Karlstad University
Karlstad University is situated in Karlstad, in the southern part of Sweden, right between Stockholm and Oslo. It's a dynamic university with a wide range of education programs and research. Karlstad University (KAU), is one of Sweden’s young and dynamic universities, located at the beautiful lake Vänern. Currently Karlstad University offers a wide range of programs in humanities and fine arts, social and economic sciences, natural sciences, engineering and technology, health care and teacher training. The Centre for Regional Studies (CRS) is an cross-disciplinary research center for research on societal and scientific challenges for the past, present and future in regional contexts.
