Almedalen Week is a meeting and discussion event for the public, private and non-profit sectors held in Visby every summer. The core of the programme consists of speeches by the political parties from the stage in Almedalen, supplemented by seminars and other meetings organised by a wide range of actors. Region Gotland is the host and local representatives of the parties currently represented in the Swedish Parliament (the Riksdag) are responsible for preserving and promoting Almedalen Week as a democratic and political arena.
Almedalen Week runs for five days in 2023, from 27 June to 1 July.
Apart from the roughly 40 seminars organised by Uppsala University, academics from the University are participating in a further 30 seminars arranged by others. You can access most of the University’s seminars on live stream or view them afterwards (see the link in the Fact Box).
Great breadth
The University’s seminars tackle a wide range of issues. Here are a few seminar headings as examples (all seminars in Swedish):
- När blir en AI en person enligt lagen? (When does Artificial Intelligence become a person within the meaning of the law?)
- Premiering av lantbruk - samarbete längs värdekedjan för en renare Östersjö (Incentivising agriculture: cooperation along the value chain for a cleaner Baltic Sea)
- Eftervåld. Hur kan samhället ge stöd och skydd till våldsutsatta kvinnor och barn efter separation? (Continuing violence. How can society support and protect women and children who are victims of violence after separation?)
- Hur ska Sverige hänga med i den snabba globala utvecklingen inom precisionsmedicin? (How can Sweden keep up with rapid global advances in precision medicine?)
- Hur kan forskning i samverkan med kultur och kreativa industrier bidra till en hållbar framtid? (How can research collaborate with culture and creative industries to promote a sustainable future?)
- När och på vilket sätt möjliggör havsbaserad vindkraft en lösning på våra energiutmaningar? (When and how can offshore wind power offer a solution to our energy challenges?)
Two overarching seminars
The University’s seminars include two that Vice-Chancellor Anders Hagfeldt has initiated on overarching issues to give them a more prominent place in public debate.
How little can a university education cost?
Wednesday 28 June, 13:00–14:00
“Sweden will be a leading knowledge nation – this is an ambition often emphasised by politicians and decision-makers. However, the direct government funding for education provided to higher education institutions has been diluted over a period of many years, while costs have increased. We have now reached the limit for how little higher education can cost.”
Mergers in higher education?
Thursday 29 June, 13:00–14:00
“In public debate in Sweden, the possibility of mergers between higher education institutions is a recurrent topic of discussion. Several countries in our vicinity have gone further than Sweden. What lessons can we learn from previous mergers?”