Our mission:
Europe and the world is facing unprecedented challenges. The climate crisis, the shrinking trust in democratic institutions and politics, increased tension between global powers, migration and the growth of inequality are among some of the challenges our generation faces and need to deal with. Skaperkraft Europe aims to stir the entrepreneurial imagination and ability of emerging leaders, opinion builders as well as the population at large across the spectrum of society, anchored in the vision of the common good.
The purpose of Skaperkraft:
Skaperkraft exists to stimulate reflection, debate and engage people to actively and positively participate in the building of society.
Skaperkraft is based on the thinking that each individual human being has infinite value and on our common responsibility for the development of sustainable and inclusive communities in our European societies.
Skaperkraft is inspired by the foundational values of the Bible and by classical Christian thinking, as it among other places is expressed in the Cape Town Commitment (LausanneⅢ)
Ideology:
In order to shape the future, we must also understand our past. We base our thinking on Europe´s well-proven Christian heritage. Together with other streams of thought throughout history, the core ideas of the Bible have been resilient building blocks for our continent. This is especially the case regarding the inherrent dignity and creative abilities of man. We will collaborate with any organization or group of citizens where we find common goals - in order to move towards a vision of a flourishing societies for all Europe´s inhabitants.
Drawing from our Norwegian heritage, the case-study of Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771-1824) and the first nation-wide grassroots movement he initiatied between 1796 and 1804, is especially inspiring. Seeing a population subdued by the king and around him a small elite, Hauge stirred the population to a new level of faith both in God and in their ability to create. He personally helped initiated more than 50 businesess and the friends around him and in the decades to follow would start many more, in addition to schools, civil organizations, hospitals and social work, and helped bring about democracy through the 19th century. Historians acclaim Hauge to be one of two pivotal figures in bringing Norway into modernity.
Our history:
The think tank Skaperkraft was founded in Oslo on April 27th, 2011 and has since then become one of Norway´s visible think tanks. A core idea has been to empower new voices to communicate our foundational values of society, inspired by classical Christian thinking and the core values of the Bible, in a search for the common good for everyone in our increasingly secular and multi-religious societies. Skaperkraft has done this by publishing books, reports and op-eds (on a weekly basis), hosting numerous annual debates and seminars as well as empowering emerging leaders through our leadership program. Our key areas of focus has been the role of faith in society, society-building innovation, ethical thinking in relation to the emergence of new technology as well as poverty reduction, issues of injustice such as human trafficking as well as the need to build trust across divides in an increasingly polarized world.
In 2021, Skaperkraft is launching skaperkraft.com as its European platform.
Activities
Skaperkraft engages in the following activities to reach its goals:
- The writing of commentaries and letters to the editors. We currently publish 2-4 of these monthly.
- Books, reports and other publications: In addition to columns and letters to the editor, we have published various books on a number of societal, cultural and political concerns, including of the role of faith in society, the importance of innovation in our oil-dominated economy, as well as human trafficking and the status of the black economy.
- Events: We host monthly seminars/working group meetings for our connected writers, partners or the public.
- Leadership development: We equip, challenge and inspire young leaders to take ownership of the development of the society through our yearly leadership training program.
European office staff:
Hermund Haaland – Founder & European Director: Hermund is the founder of Skaperkraft and was its first Director (2011-2015). He holds a masters degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), as well as a Bachelor of history from the University of Bergen, Norway (UiB). He has four years of political experience from the city council of Bergen (2003-07) with the Christian Democratic Party (KrF) and is a serial entrepreneur. His role now is to oversee the expansion of Skaperkraft in Europe and beyond, as well as specializing in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship policies. He is the co-author of the books “Startup Europe” (2016) and “Startup Israel” (2016) and wrote "Samfunnsbygger - Kirken ut av isolasjon" (published in Norwegian) in 2019. Twitter: @hermundhaaland E-mail: hermund@skaperkraft.no
Linn Tjernsbekk Haaland - co-director Skaperkraft School of Entrepreneurial Leadership: Having completed a Bachelor of Entrepreneurship and Economics in 2016, she is also in the process of being an accredited life coach with Coaching Academy AS. With ample experience from youth work both in Norway and internationally, Linn is now involved in the startup of Skaperkraft Europe by providing project leadership and by developing Skaperkrafts European Leadership Training Program. E-mail: linn@skaperkraft.no
Norway office staff:
Filip Rygg - Director: Filip is the leader of the foundation Skaperkraft, overseeing the think tank, the consulting and the publishing parts of Skaperkraft. A former Commissioner in the city government of Bergen with the Christian Democrats, he has studied politics, islam as well as business administration at the University of Bergen and Nord University in Bodø. In addition to leading Skaperkraft, he is the Director of the investment company Rexir in Norway. E-mail: filip@skaperkraft.no
Øyvind Håbrekke - Research Director: Øyvind is a former Member of Parliament in Norway (with the 2009-2013) and has served as State Secretary in two governments, both in the Ministry of Oil and Gas and the Ministry of Environment. E-mail: oyvind@skaperkraft.no
Elisabeth Hovland - Adminstrator and co-ordinator for Centre for faith and work: Elisabeth holds a Master Degree in Human Resources from Nord University. She has previous experience both from social services and from NGO-work, and was a deputy member of the city council of Kristiansand with the Christian Democratic Party from 2015-2019. E-mail: elisabeth@skaperkraft.no
Bjørn Are Davidsen - Advisor: Educated as a civil engineer, Bjørn Are has held various roles with Norway´s leading teleprovider, Telenor. He has written several books in Norwegian on topics touching on faith and science, conspiracy theories and more. As such, he has been present in the public debates for a few decades. He is currently in charge of Think Tank Skaperkrafts project leading up to 2030, when the introduction of Christianity to Norway in 1030 will be celebrated across the country. E-mail: bjorn.are@skaperkraft.no
Petter Johan Sandvand - Trainee: Petter Johan is currently studying Technology and Leadership at the University of Oslo and has worked as a trainee with Skaperkraft to build up our Center for faith and work. He has extensive experience working with youth and children. E-mail: petter@skaperkraft.no
The think tank has several affiliated project managers working pro bono.
Contact us:
Skaperkraft Europe
St. Olavs gate 24
0166 OSLO
NORWAY
Pho: +47 92039201
E-mail: hermund@skaperkraft.no
Contributions
We welcome your contributions. Please contact us for details.
