Symposium 2025: Practical information for participants

Welcome to Karlstad in August! This page is intended for participants of the symposium with the purpose to gather practical information and some instructions for how to prepare for your participation. Pleas note, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact our coordinator:

Tomas Mitander: tomas.mitander@kau.se

COLLABORATIVE WORKSHOPS

We will dedicate day two of the symposium to our collaborative workshops. In these we will discuss and work together with the purpose of formulating what we collectively find to be urgent knowledge interventions. This will be done through several steps during the day and more details will be communicated as we circulate the final program.

The basis for the workshops are the three themes of the symposium: space, technology and marketisation/managerialism. In preparation for the symposium you need to do two things:

  1. Select which theme you would like to be part of. You will get an email with a link to a form where you simply indicate your first and second choice.
  2. Prepare a short text (300 words) in which you reflect on three questions. Depart from your own research and your selected theme and try to formulate:
    • What do you view as prioritised research problems right now?
    • Who do you want to join forces with in your work? Disciplines, theoretical, empirical or methodological fields? Research and practice? 
    • How can this prioritized work be forwarded and supported through collective work?

You do not need to submit this text, but you should bring it to the symposium and be ready to read it in smaller groups of 4-6 people.

PROGRAM OUTLINE

A more detailed program will be made available as we get closer to the symposium, however, for planning your travels you can refer to the following times and dates.

Day 1 (August 21): Starts 10.00 at Karlstad university

  • Introduction
  • Keynote (William Walters, Professor of Political Sociology, jointly appointed in the Departments of Political Science and Sociology & Anthropology at Carleton University)
  • Lunch
  • Panel discussion 1 (Technology): Heidrun Åhm, professor at the department of sociology and political science, Norwegian university for science and technology. Kjetil Rommetveit, professor at the center for the study of sciences and humanities, University of Bergen.
  • Panel discussion 2 (Space): Mekonnen Tesfahuney, professor at the department of geography, media and communication, Karlstad university. Madeleine Eriksson, associate professor at the departement of geography, Umeå university.
  • Panel discussion 3 (Marketization/Managerialism): Laura Pantzerhielm, senior lecturer at the school of business, society and engineering, division of economy and political science at Mälardalen University. Paul Stubbs, senior research fellow at the Institute of Economics Zagreb.
  • Concluding thoughts and end of day 1 17.00

In the evening (19.00) we are hosting a symposium dinner at a restaurant in the city centre.

Day 2 (August 22): Starts 09.15 at Karlstad university

  • Introduction
  • Collaborative workshops (thematically)
  • Lunch
  • Concluding discussions

In the evening we are planning a social event for those who stay another night and wish to join.

Day 3 (August 23): The PhD-course day starts at 9.00 at Karlstad university

  • Introduction
  • Essay seminar
  • Full group discussion
  • Lunch
  • Continuing discussions and Q&A
  • Concluding reflections

TRAVELS AND ACCOMODATION

Airports: The closest major airports are Stockholm, Arlanda and Oslo, Gardermoen. Gothenburg, Landvetter is smaller but may also be an alternative depending on where you are flying from. Karlstad airport, is small but operates daily flights to Copenhagen, Kastrup and Stockholm, Arlanda.

The airline that flies from Karlstad is called Solaair (https://www.solaair.se). Tickets are available at: https://booking.solaair.se/home.

For more information on flying to and from Karlstad Airport you can visit the airport website: https://www.ksdarprt.se. Please note that you may wish to book a taxi for getting to the city on beforehand as there is currently no airport shuttle operating: https://www.ksdarprt.se/transport-parkering/tillfran-flygplatsen/

Trains: If you are flying to one of the major airports and need a connecting train, there are several daily departures to Karlstad from Stockholm, Oslo and Gothenburg. Please note that the Swedish railway system is undergoing lots of maintenance work during summer. This may affect the number of departures in a given day, and may affect parts of your journey. For tickets and information you can use:

Trains (SJ): https://www.sj.se
Trains (Vy): https://www.vy.se

Hotels: In general, hotel standard is high in Sweden and you can safely pick any of the main chains (Scandic, Elite, Clarion, Best western etc.) that all operate at several different locations in Karlstad. In addition, there are more expensive options as well as Hostels and B&B alternatives.

We have made reservations at Hotell Drott: https://www.drotthotel.se

Similar to drott in price, accessibility from the train station and proximity to bus stops are, for example:

Slightly more expensive options are:

If you are looking for more affordable, centrally located hotels and hostels you can check out: