The title of the book is "Religion i dagens Norge - Mellom sekularisering og sakralisering." Research fellow and gender researcher May-Linda Magnussen of Agder Research is one of the authors of this book which was released August 20.

It was recently revealed that Agder Research has received a new Arena Project – Arena Usus – for the tourism industry in southern Norway (Sørlandet). Visit Sørlandet is the contract partner, and Kirsti Hjemdahl from Agder Research is the project manager. Well done and congratulations!

Thore Karlsen and Dag Ellingsen of Agder Research will examine the development of the relationship between elderly people's income and municipal taxes in coastal municipalities in Aust-Agder based on SSB's data register and municipal documents. 

On commission from the Ministry of Immigration, Agder Research and the Centre of Urban Affairs have completed an analysis of the relationship between refugee reception centres and local communities in Norway.  

Top management salaries in Norway have in recent years increased more than salaries in the rest of society. This trend seems to have been broken in 2009, but we still do not know whether or not this is due to the financial crisis or whether changed management salary practice is also part of the explanation.

Researchers Trond Randøy and Ole Skalpe have examined this trend and summarise their recommendations into five initiatives in a recent research report.

Twisted South was launced June 4 in Kunnskapsparken in Kristiansand. Forty people from culture and commerce in Agde presented a sampling of various projects going on in the region, and had the opportunity to discuss the field of culture and commerce.

It is nearing the end of our trainees' stay at Agder Research, and Anna and Yang presented their work on 17 June. 

Did you know that 86% of companies that work in film and multimedia in the Agder counties are made up of men? That all women in film and multimedia have higher education? Or that after income from film and multi-media activities, most projects in the region are financed out of the filmmakers' own pockets?   

Projections and possibilities for the process industry were recently discussed at the Prosin conference in Kristiansand, which gathered together some of the most important stakeholders in the process industry.

The evaluation conference and EVA seminar 2010 will be held 8-9 September in Bodø. The theme of the conference is "What is a good evaluation?"

Researcher Torunn S. Olsen of UiA and Agder Research will be one of the main speakers at the Welfare Conference 2010. The Welfare Conference is a unique and popular forum for employees, clients, researchers and politicians who are interested in welfare policy and how reforms, laws and regulations affect individuals.

This year as last year we has got two trainees from University of Warwick working for Agderforskning. The two students are Anna Roh from Korea and Yang Guo from China .

Agder Research is going to evaluate the HEART initiative in Lillesand. 

The Board of Agder Research has the pleasure of announcing that Anne Lene Sandsten has accepted the position of Director of Agder Research.

The Eyde Network has received 300,000 NOK from Sørlandets Competence Fund to undertake a series of pilot projects. 

Agder Research's culture researchers have just come out with a report that explores the possibilities for an amusement museum at the water's edge on Odderøya. 

2009 was a very good year for Agder Research in terms of research results. We had a lot of activity throughout the year, which resulted in a lot of production.

Agder Research is in the final phase of a report that suggests creating a pirate's harbor on Odderøya.

Almost 50 female commercial stakeholders in Sørlandet joined together to form a think tank at the start of April. The Eyde Network and NCS NODE organized the event. 

No part of the country has so high a percentage of young people on welfare as Sørlandet, and the situation is worst in Aust-Agder. The project Youth on Welfare in Agder has received a lot of attention and raised debate. 

”A life I didn't choose”. About young people on welfare in four counties. What explains the high percentage of people on disability welfare among young people in Agder? A qualitative analysis of young people on welfare in four counties. The research report sheds light on the subject youth on disability. We have looked more closely at why young people receive disability welfare before they turn 35.

The individual plan is the document that makes visible what the client needs in terms of help and services in most areas of his or her life, and who will help him or her to attain this.

Vest-Agder county administration will grant 750 000 in funding to finance a cooperation agreement with Agder Research. Similar funding is foreseen to be granted annually up to and including 2012. The funding, which was recently approved by the county committee, is granted on the condition that Aust-Agder county will grant a corresponding amount. Agder Research applied to enter into development cooperation with Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder county administration with a view to developing strong research environments in selected areas and further develop Agder Research as a competitive research institution. 

The unwanted growth in the number of young people on disability requires political action, better coordination in the public aid apparatus, supportive employers, and that we all care about children and young people's conditions while growing up.

Agder Research has evaluated Good Circles AS. The results have been collected into a project report.

At the meeting of the county committee on Feb. 9, the board of the regional research fund Agder was established. Former rector of the University of Agder, Knut Brautaset, was elected chairman while municipal executive of Kvinesdal, Camilla Dunsæd, was elected vice-chair.  

Senior researcher Roger Normann has looked more closely at the reasons why some municipalities sell their ownership in energy companies, while others don't. He also goes so far as to say that municipalities are tricked by their own advisers.

Creative Industries at Agder Research will hold a Showcase called "Twisted South" June 4 at 3 pm.

She defended her PhD from the University of Bergen with a dissertation entitled "Subject, skills and feelings: knowledge development in social work."

When it comes to gender equality, Agder's municipalities have come in low on Statistics Norway's gender equality index each of the 10 years that it has been published. The latest revision of the index has not changed that picture. Women's modest contribution to paid employment in particular has a negative effect, and it is likely that traditional family values  are behind the numbers.  There are more people with conservative attitudes to gender equality in Agder than in most other places in the country, but most Southerners say that they are for gender equality.

Wednesday February 10 Emma Lind from Agder research will hold a talk during a course in social media. She will talk about the ripple effect analysis and the effect of festivals on the region. 

A new project in the field of welfare research. 

The existence of national examinations have lead to greater emphasis on test results, according to a survey taken by Agder Research and DPU in Denmark. The educational value is small compared to the surveillance value.

The project "Internationalization of the labour market" has now been completed and published as a research report. 

Hove Festival addressed environmental work with the first festival in 2007, and this has been an integrated part of the Canal Street festival for a long time. The challenges the two festivals have met are in somewhat alike, but somewhat different because Hove Festival takes place in an outdoor recreational area while Canal Street takes place in the heart of the city.

Senior researcher Knut Hidle at Agder Research has, in cooperation with the Centre of Urban Ecology, completed a survey of Haugenstua in Oslo.

Agder Research has been commissioned by the Setesdal Regional Council to undertake a regional analysis for Setesdal. The first part of the analysis has been completed.

The University Press Social Science magazine "Plan" has just published an academic article by Senior Researcher Jørn Cruickshank on what prevents development in small places. Odda Smelting is used as a case.

Agder Research has been assigned the task of mapping research and development in Agder in connection with the Agder counties' work on developing a regional research strategy. 

Agder Research has undertaken an evaluation of Arendal International School. The background for the evaluation is that Arendal wanted to map the need for such a school in the region.

The annual Travel and Tourism Fair in Lillehammer is held from 14-17 January. On 15 January, the theme is "From the summer Olympics in Barcelona to "Heavenly Blue" in Ylvingen. What opportunities exist for Norway, Norwegian regions and cities? What can we learn from the world's ultimate event case study, Barcelona?  

Agder Research will, with the Centre for Urban Ecology, map and analyze relations between refugee reception centres and local society, commissioned by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). 

Haga visited Sørlandet as an environmental lobbyist for NHO. The goal was to learn more about renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The annual conuncture seminar will be held on December 4 in Kristiansand. The ninth in a row, the seminar is a part of Agder Research's project for the Bank of Norway. This year, Central Bank Director Svein Gjedrem is the key note speaker.

Senior researcher Kirsti M. Hjemdahl from Agder Research believes that one of the most important ingredients for success in creative industries is the courage to think differently.

This summer, Agder Research undertook comprehensive ripple effect surveys of Canal Street, Norwegian Grand Prix and Hove Festival in cooperation with Arendal's Commercial Development Fund.

In cooperation with 5 festivals in Sørlandet, Agder Research has completed ripple effect analyses of the Hove Festival in Arendal, Norway Rock Kvinesdal, Norwegian Grand Prix and Canal Street in Arendal, and the Seafood Festival in Mandal.

IPR is significant to anyone undertaking business development without physical products that can be  patented. Tuesday, November 17, you have the opportunity to learn from experiences of how the film industry, amusement parks and the music industry work with IPR. Welcome to Kunnskapsparken in Kristiansand!

Agder Research has looked at opportunities to map cultural habits in Kristiansand in a pre-project called "Cultural customers survey." The survey has been financed by Cultiva. 

The Ministry of Health is supporting the project "Disabilities, barriers and discriminatory conditions."

Sørlandet Competence Fund is supporting a 5-year welfare program directed by Agder Research. This welfare program received support from the Fund in September 2009 and should be completed by the end of 2013. 

The audience witnessed a well-executed thesis defense at Copenhagen Business School on September 11 when Kristin Wallevik defended her PhD thesis: Corporate Governance in Family Firms.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Research Days were held 18 - 27 September this year. Agder Research was represented suring "Fund's Day" where projects supported by Sørlandet Competence Fund and Cultiva were presented.

The organization was founded in May 2009 and will function as a membership organization for anyone who is interested in evaluation and would like to make use of evaluation results. The organization will build networks and promote opportunities for education and academic development in the field.

The evaluation id directed toward training in AI (Appreciative Inquiry) given to "process counsellors" as a part of the implementation of NAV's qualification programme, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a method which builds upon what already works in the organization.

In these economically uncertain times, the work is decisive for Norges-Bank's financial-political analysts.  Interest in theregional network results has also increased from stakeholders outside of Norges-Bank.