The annual Holberg Week takes place in the beginning of June as a celebration of the Holberg Prize Laureate, the Nils Klim Prize Laureate, and the Holberg Prize School Project winners. The week includes a number of events, that feature the Laureates as well as other prominent guests from Norway and abroad. 

More information on the Holberg Week events, including livestream links, can be found on the event pages, as well as in the list below. All times are UTC +2 / CEST, unless otherwise stated.

All events will be filmed and/or photographed.

Registration

The Holberg Week 2023

PROGRAMME DAY 1 - TUESDAY, 6 JUNE

The 2023 Holberg Symposium: World Movements for Environmental Justice

Date: Tuesday, 6 June. 
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Venue: The University Aula in Bergen
Link to livestream

Academic symposium held in honour of the 2023 Holberg Laureate, Joan Martinez-Alier. There will be an introduction of the topic by the Laureate, followed by presentations by invited guests, a panel discussion and in the end an open Q&A session. 

Speakers:

• Joan Martinez-Alier, professor emeritus, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; 2023 Holberg Laureate.
  Introduction of topic
• Silvio Funtowicz, guest resaercher, University of Bergen.
  'A political epistemology for environmental justice.'
• Ksenija Hanaček, postdoctoral fellow at Global Development Studies, University of Helsinki & Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (UAB)
  'Environmental conflicts along the Polar Silk Road'
• Brototi Roy,  postdoctoral researcher jointly based at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Central European University.
  'Mining coal while digging for justice'

The 2023 Nils Klim Seminar:  Enlightenment Perspectives on Fact and Fiction

Date: Tuesday, 6 June.
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Venue: The University Aula in Bergen
Link to livestream

Academic seminar held in honour of the 2023 Nils Klim Laureate Simona Zetterberg-Nielsen and her research. There will be an introduction of the topic by the Nils Klim Laureate, followed by presentations by invited guests, a panel discussion and a Q&A session. 

Speakers:

• Simona Zetterberg-Nielsen
  Introduction of the seminar topic
• Samuli Björninen
• Aina Nøding
• Ulrik Langen

An Evening with the Holberg Prize

Date: Tuesday, 6 June
Time: 6:00 p.m.–7:15 p.m.
Venue: House of Literature in Bergen
Link to livestream

This event will feature the Holberg Laureate and the Nils Klim Laureate in conversation about their background, their research and their experiences from academia, amongst other themes. Details to follow. 
 

PROGRAMME DAY 2 - WEDNESDAY, 7 JUNE

Seminar for the Holberg Prize School Project

Date: Wednesday, 7 June
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 14:00 p.m.
Venue: Tårnsalen, Bergen University Museum - Natural History.

A closed seminar where the School Project finalists and the Teacher Prize recipient discuss their respective projects. The students' teachers and researcher advisers also participate. Usually, the Nils Klim Laureate will also visit the students and discuss the research process.

The 2023 Holberg Masterclass with Joan Martinez-Alier: Political Ecology in the Arctic 

Date: Wednesday, 7 June
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Venue: The University Aula in Bergen
Link to livestream

For the 2023 Holberg Week we will offer scholarships for five PhD candidates in the Nordic countries to participate in a masterclass with the Holberg Prize Laureate. Each participant will be asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation related to the theme chosen by the Holberg Laureate. After the presentations there will be a panel discussion, moderated by the Laureate.

Speakers:

• Joan Martinez-Alier, professor emeritus, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; 2023 Holberg Laureate.
  Introduction of topic
• Laima Nomeikaite, PhD candidate in cultural studies, Roskilde University in Denmark and University of South-Eastern Norway.
• Lisa Jokivirta, PhD candidate in political science, University of Jyväskylä
• Elín Valsdottír, PhD candidate in anthropology, University of Iceland
• Shayan Shokrgozar PhD candidate, Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation, University of Bergen
• Ksenija Hanaček, postdoctoral fellow at Global Development Studies, University of Helsinki & Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (UAB)
  'Environmental conflicts along the Polar Silk Road'

The 2023 Holberg Lecture: Land, Water, Air and Freedom

Date: Wednesday, 7 June
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Venue: The University Aula in Bergen
Link to livestream

Lecture by the Holberg Laureate. This is the Laureate's academic statement during the Holberg Week. The lecture will be approximately one hour long.

Celebratory Dinner for the Holberg Prize School Project

Date: Wednesday, 7 June
Time: 6:00 p.m. – 
Venue: Grand Bergen, Nedre Ole Bulls plass 1. 

A celebratory dinner where the Holberg Prize School Project finalists will present their papers. By invitation only.
 

PROGRAMME DAY 3 - THURSDAY, 8 JUNE

Award Ceremony for the Holberg Prize School Project

Date: Thursday, 8 June
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Venue: Bergen Katedralskole / Bergen Cathedral School

20 upper secondary schools and around 1000 students from all over Norway participate in the Holberg Prize School Project each year. During the ceremony, Norwegian Minister of Education Tonje Brenna will announce the First, Second and Third Prize – awarded to the student finalists – as well as the Teacher's Prize. The Award Ceremony is open to anyone who is interested. Please note that most of the event will be conducted in Norwegian. 

Award Ceremony for the Holberg Prize and the Nils Klim Prize

Date: Thursday, 8 June
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Venue: University Aula in Bergen
Livestream

The Official Award Ceremony for the Holberg Prize and the Nils Klim Prize. The Award Ceremony will be followed by a short reception.  This event requires registration, and it will be livestreamed.

The Government Banquet at Haakon's Hall

Date: Thursday, 8 June
Time: 6:15 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. 
Venue: Haakon's Hall, Bergen

Banquet in honour of the Holberg Laureate and Nils Klim Laureate, hosted by the Norwegian Government. This event is by invitation only and will not be livestreamed. 
 

PROGRAMME DAY 4 - FRIDAY, 9 JUNE 

The Holberg Laureate LIVE (Oslo): World Environmental Conflicts and Justice

Date: Friday, 9 June
Time: 6:00 p.m.–7.15 p.m.
Venue: House of Literature in Oslo
Livestream

The day after receiving the 2023 Holberg Prize in Bergen, Holberg Laureate Joan Martinez-Alier will join Professor Mariel Aguilar-Støen, of the University of Oslo, in conversation at the House of Literature in Oslo. The conversation topic is chosen by the Laureate:

Social Metabolism, Ecological Distribution Conflicts and Valuation Contests in the Environmental Justice Movements arising worldwide. Economic growth goes together with growth and changes in the flows of energy and materials. The industrial economy is not circular, it is entropic. This gives rise to conflicts at the frontiers of commodity extraction and waste disposal.

A world movement for environmental justice is arising whose protagonists are involved in disputes over similar commodities, they resort to similar repertoires of action, they display a variety of valuation languages (often opposed to economic valuation).

PROGRAMME DAY 5 - MONDAY, 12 JUNE 

Joan Martinez-Alier: Joint seminar with CICERO and NMBU.

Date: Monday, 12 June
Time: 9:00 a.m.–12.00 p.m.
Venue: Oslo Science Park

This year, we are very pleased to conclude the Holberg Week celebrations with a joint event, in collaboration with CICERO Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research, and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

Speakers:

• Joan Martinez-Alier, 2023 Holberg Laureate.
• Kristin Halvorsen, Director, CICERO.
• Arild Vatn, Professor Emeritus, Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
• Erik Gómez-Baggetun, Professor in Environmental Governance at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford.
• Mònica Guillen-Royo, Senior researcher, CICERO.
• Ida Sognnæs, Senior researcher, CICERO.
• Marianne Aasen, Senior researcher, CICERO.

Register here. More information to come.