Winds of Change and Streams of Solidarity

On 4 and 5 September 2023, the University of Bergen, in collaboration with a group of distinguished global partners, organized an international conference under the title Winds of Change and Streams of Solidarity: Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe in the 21st Century. The conference took place in the beautiful University Aula in Bergen.

• Album with official photos from the conference
• The conference programme.
• The official hashtag for the conference is #uibLAC23
• Video from the conference
  • Day 1 (4 September)
  • Day 2 (5 September)

Keynotes and moderators included Karina Batthyány, Executive Secretary of CLACSO; Emilce Cuda, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, The Vatican; Lise Øvreås, President for the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters; Walter Flores, American University, Washington DC; Fernando Galván, Secretary General of the International Association of University Presidents; Bert Hoffmann, Lead Researcher at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA); Tomás Reyes Ortega, Chair of Working Group - Latin America, Caribbean (COLAC) and Trans-Atlantic Relations (COTRA), European External Action Service; and Professor of History Terje Tvedt from the University of Bergen.

The conference aimed to focus on the overall common possibilities and challenges for Latin America, the Caribbean, and for Europe in the foreseeable future. The academic committee for the conference selected four interlinked themes of particular interest for discussion and analysis with water as a transversal theme. In alphabetical order these were:

(a) culture and arts,
(b) democracy,
(c) environment and technology,
(d) health

The conference gathered academics, practitioners, policymakers, civil society, and other stakeholders, trying to advance the conversation, the knowledge and the insight in order to find joint solutions to common questions. We were honoured by the presence of representatives from several prominent Latin American embassies in Norway: Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela; as well as the particpation of the ambassador of Spain to Norway. For more details, please see the programme for the event.