Norway´s Council for animal ethics relseases statement with recommendations on animal ethics issues in Norway

Norway´s Council of animal ethics has released a statement to the ministries of agriculture and fisheries respectively titled "Brennende etiske temaer knyttet til dyrevelferd i Norge" (literally: Burning ethical topics related to animal welfare in Norway). Knut Bøe, Kristian Ellingsen-Dalskau and me are credited as Co-authors of the statement (14 pp.). The statement was written in response to the ministries´ work with the government´s forthcoming parliamentary notice on animal welfare.

Visit by Minister of Children and Families Kjersti Toppe to UIS attended

Today I have attended a visit by the Minister of Children and Families, Kjersti Toppe, to the University of Stavanger, hosted and chaired by rector Klaus Mohn and involving presentations from three of my close colleagues.

Another ad hoc-meeting yesterday; UIS shut down; first Teams meeting today

Yesterday a second ad hoc faculty leadership meeting was held in response to the quickly developing corona situation, which has caused much of Norway to shut down starting today. At 2 pm the government announced all universities in the country are closing down for the next two weeks. 

Today I attended a video conference meeting with colleagues at my own and another faculty. For the next two weeks all meetings will be digital, as the campus is closed.

Minding Animals Norway mentioned in government white paper on wolves

Today the Norwegian Stortingmelding (white paper) on wolf management, "Ulv i norsk natur: Bestandsmål for ulv og ulvesone" (Wolves in Norwegian nature: Population target for wolves and wolf zone) was released by the Norwegian government. Minding Animals Norway is listed on p. 83 as one of the 70 consultative bodies that responded to a related hearing.

Animals in changing environments project referred to in Norwegian Europe portal article

The research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" (EEA Norway Grants EMP151), which is carried out in cooperation between University of Tartu and University of Stavanger, is mentioned in the news article "Norsk-estisk forskningssamarbeid i verdensklasse" [World class Norwegian-Estonian research cooperation] in the Norwegian government's Europaportalen [The Europe portal]. The article, which briefly outlines all 13 projects that got funded, is written by Mari Lieungh Melby, who works at the Norwegian embassy in Estonia.

In the article, the project I am involved in is referred to in Norwegian as "Dyr og mennesker i skiftende miljø". The official Norwegian title of the project is "Dyr i landskap i endring".

Allotment letter from the ministry to UiS received and read

A few days back I received and read the allotment letter from the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research to the University of Stavanger, which is to be distributed to all board members (I am currently second deputy representative for temporarily employed education and research staff). The letter, which is part of the ministry's "management dialogue" (styringsdialog), details the government's educational and research policies and relevant financial dispositions for 2014.

Chronicles in Norwegian media - wolf politics

October 2nd my chronicle "Den kinesiske miljøbevegelsen" [The Chinese Environmental Movement] appeared in Adresseavisen, the major regional newspaper in mid-Norway (cf. previous report).

Yesterday I wrote a chronicle entitled "Ulven som syndebukk" [The Wolf as a Scapegoat], that I now submit to Dagbladet, Norway's third biggest national daily.

The political platform of the re-elected coalition government is said to be ready for announcement in one and a half hour. According to preliminary news reports, Senterpartiet (which has around 6 % of the vote) has not succeeded in its efforts to reach an agreement with the two other governing parties according to which all remaining wolves would be shot, and no wolves would be tolerated on Norwegian land.