Ms. Sommardahl has been involved in a variety of international task and has a broad experience in heading international networks, research groups and associations. Between 1999 and 2008 she worked for the Institute for Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University in Finland, and between 2008 and 2011 at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo. Ms. Sommardahl has also intensively followed the situation in the Balkans by being involved in a start-up of a human rights center in Priština, Kosovo, observing elections in the region through OSCE / ODIHR and by working as Senior Research Officer for the Finnish Ministry of Defense within a Crisis Management Project in the region.
Ms. Sommardahl has a diverse background in law from Åbo Akademi University and the University of Turku in Finland, UN Civil-Military Training from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Advanced Training in Humanitarian Law and Policy from the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University, USA. She also holds an MA in Peace and Reconciliation Studies from the Department of International Studies and Social Sciences, Coventry University, UK. Ms. Sommardahl lectures in gender and conflict management, gender equality, human rights, humanitarian law and policy.
Language skills: Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, English
Office: (+47) 61265408 - Cell: (+47) 98472560 - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Ms. Grande holds a Cand.Polit. Degree in political science (MA thesis on “Intervention as Conflict Resolution – A Study of the Role of India in the Sri Lankan Conflict 1987-1990”). She has previously worked as an advisor at the Norwegian National Commission for UNESCO and functioned as the National Coordinator for UNESCO’s Associated Schools Project (ASP), as lecturer at Follo Folk High School and in a number of NGOs. As director of the Norwegian Peace Center in 2001, she initiated a peace education program for young Afghans in Norway called "Afghanistan – hope for a future," and later "The Student Network for Refugees" for students with a refugee background from several areas of conflict.
Ms. Grande’s academic interest and speciality is the role of the diaspora in peace building and peace education with an emphasis on dialogue and identity. Ms. Grande also has experience with civil disobedience and non-violence as a tool for social change. Ms. Grande lectures in topics such as Norway's role as a peace nation, international conflicts and conflict resolution using her knowledge and experiences from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
Language skills: Norwegian, English
Office: (+47) 61265429 - Cell: (+47) 97672790 - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Christiane Seehausen, Senior Advisor
Ms. Christiane Seehausen develops and implements projects focused on diaspora involvement in their homeland. She develops educational programs for various audiences on topics such as communication, identity and conflict resolution. In addition she facilitates and guides dialogue processes between groups that are or have been in conflict with each other.
Ms. Seehausen has experience from development work in Latin America, educational development at the Lillehammer University College, IMDI, the Eastern Norway Research Institute, integration-work in the municipal and county administration, as well as management. Ms. Seehausen is a trained nurse with further studies in multicultural understanding, organizing / management, coaching and development studies.
Language skills: Norwegian, German, English
Office: (+47) 61265408 - Cell: (+47) 97706359 - E-mail
Mr. Steinar Bryn has his education (BA, MA) from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Minnesota. He has been a student, teacher, researcher and acting principal at the Nansen Academy. During the last 15 years he has developed dialogue centers in the Balkans. Mr. Bryn is responsible for the planning and implementing of inter-ethnic dialogue seminars in Lillehammer and in the Western Balkans.
Mr. Bryn has always placed emphasis on lecturing, but is currently focusing on documenting and publishing his experiences from peace and reconciliation work. He is particularly concerned with transferring the experience from numerous years of dialogue work in the Balkans to other areas of conflict, including Norway. He has received numerous awards, especially for the dialogue and reconciliation work done in some of Europe's most war-torn areas after World War II, such as: Vukovar, Prijedor, Srebrenica, Mitrovica and Kosovo Polje.
Language skills: Norwegian, English
Office: (+47) 61265408 - Cell: (+47) 97706359 - E-mail
Ms. Knagenhjelm is a trained social worker and has for several years worked with refugees in Norway, including as head of the Refugee and Immigrant Office in Bærum municipality. She has also worked for the Norwegian Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, mainly focusing on the Balkans and the partnership agreements with governmental and corporate donors. She has been working with the Nansen Dialogue project for several years.
Language skills: Norwegian, English, French
Office: (+47) 61265430 - Cell: (+47) 47385247 - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Ms. Skurdal is a certified teacher and has worked several years as a teacher in Norwegian high schools. Ms. Skurdal functioned as deputy mayor of Øyer municipality in the period 2005 -2008. She was a member of the women's network in the Norwegian Labour Party and leader of the International committee of the party branch in Oppland county.
Her work at NCPD includes reconciliation processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and she is responsible for the “School of Democratic Leadership”, a training program for politicians from Montenegro.
Language skills: Norwegian, English
Office: (+47) 61265418 - Cell: (+47) 92028175 - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Mr. Eidsvåg holds a Cand.Phil. Degree with a history major from the University of Trondheim. He has been with the Nansen Academy since 1978 and functioned as Principal at the Academy between 1986 and 1998. He has written several books, including about the functions and obligations of the school and teachers' duties. The last book is titled “Minnene ser oss” (“Our Memories Watch Us”). Mr. Eidsvåg has also been a member of the Norwegian Commission on Values – a commission set up to “contribute to a broad value-based and ethical mobilization to strengthen positive common values and responsibilities”. Mr. Eidsvåg is a widely used public speaker both nationally and internationally.
Language skills: Norwegian, English
Office: (+47) 61265411 - Cell: (+47) 41606232 - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Kristin Reistad, management and financial officer
Kristin Reistad is a certified accountant since 2001.
Ms. Reistad has previously worked for several years in the theater industry, with project management of youth, student and children's festivals. She has experience in leading ISO certification processes: quality and environment, respectively.
Language skills: Norwegian, English
Office: (+47) 61265430 - Cell: (+47) 90728849 - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Simon Souyris Strumse, Information Officer
Mr. Souyris Strumse holds a BA in Development Studies from the Oslo University College. Mr. Souyris Strumse has functioned as a representative with key offices in numerous organizations, including NGOs and political organisations. He has been an elected politician in Lillehammer municipality, and is now a politician at the county level.
Mr. Souyris Strumse’s main interests include international relations, refugee policy and integration issues.
Language skills: Norwegian, French, English
Office: (+47) 61265419 - Cell: (+47) 91717154 - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Aida Zunic, Project Coordinator
Ms. Zunic holds an MA in European and American Area Studies from the University of Oslo. During her studies Ms. Zunic worked as a visiting student at the Norwegian Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ms. Zunic is employed as a project coordinator, and works with school exchanges and coordinates programs for groups from the Western Balkans who visit the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue.
Language skills: Norwegian, Bosnian, English
Cell: (+47) 41336161 - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Chro Borhan, Project Coordinator
Ms. Borhan holds an MA in Administration and Organization Theory at the University of Bergen. She has previously worked as information officer at reception centers for unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Ms. Borhan has experience with work related to the Kurdish areas in Iraq, and she has taken an active part in peace efforts through the Norwegian Peace Association. She is also a conflict mediator in the Østfold county mediation council. At the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue she works as a project coordinator where she facilitates dialogue sessions between majority and minority populations in different cities in Norway.
Language skills: Norwegian, Kurdish, Persian, English
Cell: (+47) 45291377 -
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