Mikael Granberg, professor of Political Science
Mikael Granberg has a long and versatile background – carpenter, travelling assembler and night receptionist, amongst others – and started his academic career as a student when he was 31 years old. Since then he has been working both as a researcher and administrator at the universities in Örebro and Karlstad, and has been a guest researcher at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
The main focus of Mikael Granberg’s research is political processes in a broad perspective, for example, issues of how policy making is organised, which actors participate and on what terms. In recent years, he has primarily studied how institutions address global climate change. He is interested in how risks and opportunities linked to climate change are managed, particularly on the local level, in Sweden and abroad. One of the issues that he finds especially interesting is if we have the ability to manage these challenges within the frames of the processes and organisations offered in present society, or if some parts have to be changed to create the conditions required.
“If we don’t understand the existing processes and organisation responsible for handling different challenges and how these are interrelated, then there is an imminent risk that we will fail. Different authorities such as MSB, Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap [The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency] and also international bodies such as UNISDR, The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, are getting more and more interested in the political processes related to the management of the risks posed by a changed climate. My research can contribute to this problem area.”
Mikael Granberg is the Director of the Centre of Climate and Safety at Karlstad University and has long experience of interdisciplinary environments and research projects nationally as well as internationally. He thinks that the climate issue and other environment-related issues are particularly urgent to study from interdisciplinary perspectives, also using trans-disciplinary methods such as engaging professionals in the field, who are involved in the management of a specific problem, in the formulation of a research project.
“Regrettably, I have to say, it is clear that the research field I represent will grow in importance into the future, as the central issue of how progress in science and technology can be applied in practice requires an understanding of political processes. Unfortunately, I see a number of problems on the road to an adequate management of climate change, regarding both the need to reduce hazardous emissions and the need to implement the adjustment required to minimise the effects we can see today.”
Mikael Granberg lives in Örebro with his wife and two children. He devotes a great deal of time to his youngest son who plays icehockey, a sport in which he has been a youth coach. The family’s favourite pastime is outdoor life and skiing – horizontally and vertically.