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Don Kalb and Kjetil Rommetveit: Knowledge for growth, or for a living world?

Is there a contradiction between this «knowledge for growth», and our need to meet the global challenges? If so, how must universities transform its research and teaching?

Don Kal and book cover
Photo:
Cover: Berghahn. Portrait: Eivind Senneset / UiB

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Universities are expected to contribute with knowledge to meet the global challenges. Both in the UN Agenda on Sustainable Development, the Paris agreement, and Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework, new knowledge and the revision of old is asked for. 

But for the most part, research councils and university leaders, in line with OECD´s knowledge politics, align the relevance of knowledge with capitalist economic growth.

Is there a contradiction between this «knowledge for growth», and the need to meet the global challenges? If so, how must universities transform its research and teaching?

Don Kalb is a professor at the Department of Social Anthropolgy (UiB) and the leader of GRIP (Global Research Programme on Inequality). Latest book: Insidious Capital: Frontlines of Value at the End of a Global Cycle (2024).

Kjetil Rommetveit is professor at Center for the study of the sciences and humanities. He is the initiator of the cross-disciplinary «Master on sustainability» at the same center. He will comment on Kalbs talk and the overall topic.

Chair: Tor Halvorsen