About the project
Capabilities for societal resilience – a study of public organizations’ responses to unforeseen events
The PhD project has the overarching objective to enhance our understanding of how public organizations change in response to their increasingly turbulent and complex environment. To achieve this goal, it investigates the capabilities which public managers and employees turn to in situations of high unpredictability and asks how crucial capabilities can be developed to help prepare for inevitable unforeseen events.
Public governance faces constant challenges from evolving factors like social conflicts, natural disasters, infectious disease outbreaks, and warfare. In today's globalized world, rapid digital communication and technological advancements exacerbate these challenges, leading to unforeseen consequences with a significant impact on human life. Recent emergencies underscore the critical role of public sector capabilities in crisis response and policy adaptation. However, public managers often find that they are unprepared to match the pace of these rapid and unpredictable conditions. Hence, achieving a better understanding of how to prepare for, maintain the operation of, interact and learn when these challenging unforeseen events occur has become increasingly crucial.
The thesis delves deeper than the crisis response aspects typically explored in crisis management literature. Rather, it pays attention to how public sector organizations can address societal challenges while simultaneously responding to the immediate and urgent consequences of these challenges through effective responses, new capabilities, and implementation practices. The overarching research question addressed by the thesis is: How are capabilities of public sector organizations changing in response to increasingly unpredictable and complex environments? The question is investigated qualitatively through three specific and interrelated research papers.
Thesis supervisors
Professor Magnus Gulbrandsen (TIK - Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo)
Professor Glenn-Egil Torgersen (Department of Educational Science, University of South-Eastern Norway)
Commentators
Professor Rainer Kattel (Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London)
Professor Taran Thune (TIK - Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo)
About Lisa Scordato
Lisa Scordato is a PhD candidate at the TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture at the University of Oslo. She has been employed at the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU) since 2007 and holds a Cand. Polit. in Political Science from Linköping University.
The PhD is part of a research project funded by the Research Council of Norway (Educating for the Unforeseen: using educational science and innovation to prepare managers and employees to work with unforeseen events). The project is led by the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU) in collaboration with the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN).
How to participate
The seminar is open to everyone and will be a hybrid event. Please register by sending an email to Lara Kristiansen l.b.l.kristiansen@tik.uio.no stating whether you would like to participate in person or digitally by 10 November 2023 at 12:30.
The manuscript is available upon request. Please send the request to Lara Kristiansen l.b.l.kristiansen@tik.uio.no.
Welcome!