Invitation to workshop and seminar “Small communities and the future of local schools” 2.-3. February 2017, Oslo, Norway

Rural depopulation and schrinking communities is a challenge for many regions and areas across Europe. With the decreasing number of children the survival of rural schools is under treath. There is a need to re-evaluate the models of governance of education and to reconsider how to adequately ensure educational rights and locally anchored schools for rural children.

As part of a current research cooperation on schools and local communities in Latvia and Norway within the EEA/Norway grant “Rural Depopulation and the Governance of Education: Comparative Study of Latvia and Norway” (NFI/R/2014/014), and the Norwegian network “Democracy, equity and the local community – welfare and education in a globalized world”, we are arranging for a workshop and seminar in Oslo 2nd and 3rd February 2017. The aim is to present current research and to discuss and plan for further research on processes in rural communities and education governance in shrinking communities.
At the seminar on the 2nd of February we will present our research findings for a wider audience, as well as invite external researchers to present their research on schools and local communities. A detailed agenda will be completed as soon as the invited speakers confirm their participation.
At the workshop on the 3rd of February we invite researchers to discuss opportunities to partner on future proposals on the topic. The workshop will be a first step towards a research proposal.
Partners in the Latvian-Norwegian initiative are:

• Inta Mierina, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia www.migracija.lv
• Susanne Søholt and Aadne Aasland, Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Oslo http://www.hioa.no/eng/About-HiOA/Centre-for-Welfare-and-Labour-Research/NIBR
• Karl Jan Solstad and Therese Andrews, Nordland Research Institute, Bodø http://www.nordlandsforskning.no/english/category296.html
• Agneta Knutas, Programme for Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim http://www.ntnu.edu/plu
• Mariann Villa, Centre for Rural Research, Trondheim http://www.rural.no

Information on the ongoing Latvian-Norwegian research project is found here:
http://skolalaukos.fsi.lu.lv/about

Information on the Norwegian network “Democracy, equity and the local community – welfare and education in a globalized world” is found here:
/nettverksgruppa/