Norwegian Network for Asian Studies

There is no doubt that Asia will play a decisive role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The region is resuming its historical role as the world's economic powerhouse, and a range of Asian countries have now achieved impressive economic development and poverty reduction. At the same time, the negative aspects of enhanced growth are increasingly visible across Asia, not least in the field of environmental degradation and climate change. This requires deeper insights and is the starting point for the Norwegian Network for Asian Studies work under the NORGLOBAL2 programme. We are a research network operating from the Center for Development and Environment at the University of Oslo. For more than twenty years, we have worked to advance and strengthen studies and research in and on Asia, and disseminate knowledge about the region?s history, society, culture and economics. Under NORGLOBAL2, we have significantly scaled up our activities and increased our focus on sustainable development challenges. We have worked even harder to become a genuinely national network that encompasses academia, civil society and the political world. Under NORGLOBAL2, the Norwegian Network for Asian Studies has hosted annual conferences to function as networking spaces and bring together people from across sectors. We frequently arranged seminars through our three dedicated seminar series (Asianettverket’s regular seminar series, Asianet: Fokus, Asianet: SDG) that have been open to a general audience and have, we believe, contributed to enhancing the general interest in and knowledge of Asian politics, economics, and sustainability challenges that increasingly impact us all. Through these seminars, we have been able to both expand on major events that receive some attention in Norwegian media, such as the new emperor in Japan, farmers’ protest in India or the protests in Hong Kong, and shed lights on some of the many events and developments in Asia that Norwegian media ignores, such as elections in Sri Lanka or student protests in Thailand. Similarly, these events have engaged discussions on major topics such as environmental policies in China and Indian politics, as well as more less discussed issues like mobility in Vietnamese cities, heritage crops in the Himalayas or the situation of migrant workers in Cambodia during the Covid pandemic. As part of these series, we have also arranged film screenings, concerts and book launches. including a dedicated series on Asia and the Sustainable Development Goals. We have also promoted Norwegian research on Asia by producing frequent contributions to 'The Nordic Asia Podcast' in collaboration with our Nordic partners. The podcast now has a truly global audience with each of our episodes reaching more than 5,000 listeners on average. Our expanded advisory board has been crucial in making the network successful. It now includes members from all institutions in Norway carrying out Asia-related research, and has collaborated closely with sister networks in other Nordic countries, in particular NIAS in Denmark. A new and up to date digital database on Asia-related research, weekly newsletters, daily news updates via social media, and a high level of interaction with our many Nordic partner networks will offer researchers, policymakers, civil society actors and the general public new tools with which to navigate the world's most important continent. Our websites have been developed into a tool to serve Norwegian Asia research and dissemination of Norway-based Asia research, as well as for policy makers and people in public administration tasked with working on Asia. The main results of this are (1) the Research catalogue, including information on 49 distinct ongoing and recently completed research projects that involve Norway based Asia researchers; and (2) an extensive list of more than 40 Asia experts based at Norwegian universities, providing a quick and accessible overview for policy makers and journalists. On the simpler side, we have had a series of “5 quick questions to an Asia expert” on our websites with the aim of sharing what Norway based Asia researchers are working on and what made them interested in Asia in the first place.

The network has carried out its mission as intended in further connecting Asia research in Norway and across the Nordic region, and in taking Norwegian-based Asia research onto the global stage. We have done so through mobility grants that have enabled researchers to move and connect; financial and logistic support for events across the country and internationally; our own dedicated seminar series (Asianettverket’s regular seminar series, Asianet: Fokus, Asianet: SDG); our annual national conference (one at UiO, one at MF, one at UiB and one at NTNU); and by being an active contributor to the Nordic Asia Podcast that has a truly global audience with each of our episodes reaching more than 5,000 listeners on average. Our expanded advisory board has been crucial in making the network successful. It now includes members from all institutions in Norway carrying out Asia-related research, and has collaborated closely with sister networks in other Nordic countries, in particular NIAS in Denmark. Finally, our websites have been developed into a tool to serve Norwegian Asia research and dissemination of Norway-based Asia research, as well as for policy makers and people in public administration tasked with working on Asia. The main results of this are (1) the Research catalogue, including information on 49 distinct ongoing and recently completed research projects that involve Norway based Asia researchers; and (2) an extensive list of more than 40 Asia experts based at Norwegian universities, providing a quick and accessible overview for policy makers and journalists.

As home to half of the world’s population and to some of the most rapidly growing emerging economies, Asia’s current and future development trajectory will crucially determine the fate of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Understanding the transformations taking place in this region is of outmost importance if Norway is to fulfil its role as a constructive global partner towards the realisation of the SDGs. There is thus an urgent need for creating new links and synergies between ongoing research on Asia in Norway, and for mobilising research-based knowledge on Asia’s political and economic transformations. This project seeks to contribute towards this goal by enhancing the quality and policy relevance of Norwegian research on Asia's developmental challenges by bringing regionally anchored research-based knowledge into an ongoing conversation with development practitioners, policy makers and a broader public through a range of activities. We pursue this objective by working along three tracks that seek to (1) strengthen dialogue and information sharing between researchers, policy makers and the general public who are engaged in the crucial question of Asia’s developmental challenges broadly defined; (2) facilitate a high degree of personal and virtual interaction across scales and sectors; and (3) strenghten the recruitment base for Norwegian research on Asian developmental challenges. The project builds on the Norwegian Network for Asian Studies' twenty years of experience with supporting, encouraging, and inspiring ongoing research on Asia in Norway, and to link and expand existing Norwegian resources across sites and scales. The project will work to significantly strengthen the network's role as a national facilitator for dialogue between scholars, development practitioners, policy makers and the general public across the country.