Field visits
On Tuesday, October 7th, participants will have the opportunity to join different field visits. These visits give you a unique chance to explore local initiatives, services, and projects connected to the themes of the conference.
How to sign up
The week before the conference, you will receive an e-mail with detailed information about how to register for a field visit. Registration will be digital, and places are limited. If there are still available spots, it will also be possible to sign up during the conference.
Explore the options
Below you can read more about the different field visits. New visits will be added continuously, so stay tuned for more information.
Time: 09:00-11:00
Dislocated workshop
Queer competency in the child welfare system from an intersectional lens
Facilitators: Rosa kompetanse barnevern (Pink competency child welfare) & Skeiv Verden (Queer World)
Objectives: This workshop aims to enhance the knowledge of child welfare professionals on gender and sexual diversity, ensuring that LGBT+ children, youth, and families receive equitable and tailored support from the system. By integrating insights from the 2020 report Skeive barn og unge i barnevernet, the session will address the gaps in competence among child welfare staff.
Target Audience: Social workers and child welfare professionals, students in social work and child welfare studies, and other relevant actors working with children and families.
Workshop Description: The workshop provides a comprehensive introduction to LGBTQ+ issues in child welfare services, with a particular focus on intersectionality, ensuring that professionals understand the diverse experiences of queer youth, especially those from multicultural backgrounds. The session includes both theoretical insights and practical applications, equipping participants with tools to create inclusive and supportive environments.
Activities include:
- Lecture & Discussion: Foundational knowledge on gender identity, sexual orientation, and minority stress in child welfare.
- Case Studies & Group Work: Analysis of real-life scenarios to develop best practices for handling sensitive cases.
- Interactive Reflection: Self-assessment exercises to identify biases and improve cultural competence.
- Resource Exploration: Guidance on using the updated online tool www.lhbtibarnevern.no for everyday professional practice.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the workshop, participants will:
- Understand key concepts related to gender and sexual diversity in child welfare.
- Recognize the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth in care.
- Develop strategies to ensure inclusive and respectful interactions with children and families.
- Gain familiarity with digital resources to support continuous learning and best practices.
Time: 13:00-14:30
Who are we?
Gatestemmer (literally “Street Voices”) is a Norwegian project inspired by the Danish initiative Gadens Stemmer. It is run by the Association for Humane Drug Policy.
The project has three main goals:
- To create meaningful work and activities for people who have fallen outside the ordinary labor market.
- To improve the quality of life for participants.
- To raise awareness in society—through schools, universities, and the general public—about life on the margins and the realities of drug policy.
What to expect on the tour
During this unique city walk, you will be guided by Janne, who has lived through the challenges of life on the street. The walk will take you to different places in Oslo that hold personal significance for her.
At each stop, Janne will share stories from her own life—moments of struggle, resilience, and hope. You will also learn about key events and turning points in Norwegian drug policy.
This is not a traditional guided tour, but an authentic encounter with lived experience. By listening to Janne’s voice and reflections, you gain rare insight into the realities of addiction, homelessness, and survival—and into the importance of dignity, inclusion, and policy change.
https://gatestemmer.no/
Time: 13:00-14:30
Ragna Ringdal Day Centre is a service offering meaningful daily activities for adults with intellectual disabilities. The centre is a non-profit foundation established in 1953.
The centre is organized into five different departments, each tailored to meet different needs. In total, around 90 individuals attend the centre, supported by approximately 120 staff members.
All services and activities are individually designed to meet the unique needs, abilities, and interests of each person. We offer a wide range of activities, including creative activities, physical exercise, music, sensory stimulation, gardening. .
The visit to Ragna Ringdal Day Centre will include a presentation about the organization and how we incorporate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into our daily practice. Our vision is “a good everyday life”, and our work is guided by the purpose clause of the Norwegian Health and Care Services Act, which emphasizes an active and meaningful life in community with others.
The centre also features a sensory garden with fruit trees and raised garden beds, where several departments grow vegetables together.
Time: 13:15-14:45
WayBack is a non-profit foundation that works for inmates return to society.
On this field visit you will learn about how we work. We focus on coordinating the relationships between various agencies such as NAV, educational institution, doctor, drug addiction care etc.
This means that the transition to freedom is facilitated for the individual on his and her own terms.
Our objectives are that inmates who are to be released get a better basis for building a crime- and drug-free life if they are motivated to do so.
We want to help those who come out after completing their sentence so that they have an easier transition into society and do not return to crime and drug addiction.
WayBack for whom?
If you are serving time and are about to be released – or have recently been released – and you have decided that you want to live a life free of drug abuse and crime, WayBack may be for you.
Time: 13:30-15:00
“Through a stronger presence in the Søndre Nordstrand district, we aim to jointly deliver solutions for the benefit of society.” (OsloMet University Board, May 12, 202)2
OsloMet-Holmlia is a project that seeks to connect and anchor OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University’s strategy to local and regional community development. By collaborating with institutions at the district level, conducting research to identify local opportunities and challenges, facilitating practice-based education, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, the project aims to strengthen the life opportunities of children and youth, promote access to higher education, and reduce social inequality.
Children and youth are a prioritized target group. OsloMet’s presence and visibility in the community hold significant value, offering children and young people a first encounter with a university. Through extensive collaboration with schools and local actors, initiatives are developed in which OsloMet students from various professional education programs play a central role as resources and role models. Experiences from the project provide valuable insight into how educational choices and self-efficacy are influenced by social and structural factors.
OsloMet-Holmlia serves as a hub for student practice placements, where the district becomes both a professional and societal context for interdisciplinary collaboration. By equipping students with knowledge and experience of the area, its population, and its services, the project aims to enhance the relevance of professional education to the multicultural realities of Oslo.
OsloMet-Holmlia exemplifies how academia can combine its societal mission with local engagement to strengthen its relevance. By integrating education and research, practice-based learning, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing across disciplines, OsloMet-Holmlia contributes to social sustainability and inclusive community development – fully aligned with OsloMet’s strategic goals.
Time: 09:00-10:30
Fafo is an independent social science research institute, founded by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. The Norwegian Union of Social Educators and Social Workers (FO) is a member of this confederation.
Fafo delivers critical, action-oriented research on welfare policy and working life. Our research covers topics such as the design of welfare services and benefits, living conditions, marginalization and integration, as well as labour market issues.
Fafo is an outward-looking research institute that works in close contact and dialogue with users and practitioners. We have a large number of collaboration partners and a broad academic network in Norway and abroad. We wish to create interesting meeting places and we are active communicators of the knowledge generated from our projects. We are proud of the fact that key decision makers give credence to Fafo’s research in important decision-making processes.
We will present an overview of Fafo’s research on social policy and social work issues, and some projects on welfare services, poverty, housing, child protection and how vulnerable groups experience their encounter with these services. Meet our researchers Ketil Bråthen, Inger Lise Skog Hansen, Anne Hege Strand, Anne Kielland and Arne Backer Grønningsæter. This field visits give an opportunity for networking on research.
For more information about Fafo: www.fafo.no
Time: 09:30-11:30
The Health Centre for Undocumented Migrants: operates by the Church City Mission in collaboration with the Red Cross. With the help of 140 volunteers, it provides essential and multidisciplinary healthcare services to undocumented migrants in Norway.
As Norway have restricted undocumented migrants’ rights and access to healthcare, the centre has a crucial role in offering medical care, mental health support, and counseling.
In addition to provision of healthcare, the centre advocate for improved health rights for undocumented migrants and aim to improve patients’ access to healthcare.
The Department for Destitute Migrants (Kirkens Bymisjon – Fattige tilreisende – English) is at the forefront of supporting some of the most vulnerable EU migrants in Norway who encounter major barriers to integration and accessing essential services.
At our Centre, you will meet a dynamic, multidisciplinary, and multilingual team of social workers bringing diverse backgrounds and expertise together to provide holistic care. Our mission is twofold: to meet immediate human needs with dignity, and to challenge discrimination and exploitation at their roots. During your visit, you will gain first-hand insight into our comprehensive services, which include our (off-site) emergency shelter, guidance and counselling, legal aid, clothes distribution and laundry/storage services. More than just support, these interventions embody an ethos of empowerment and inclusion.