Bergen
Bergen Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Hordaland on the west coast of Norway. At the end of the first quarter of 2018, the municipality's population was 280,216, the Bergen metropolitan region has about 420,000 inhabitants. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway; the municipality is on the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen. The city centre and northern neighbourhoods are on Byfjorden,'the city fjord', the city is surrounded by mountains. Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are on islands. Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland, consists of eight boroughs: Arna, Fana, Laksevåg, Ytrebygda, Årstad, Åsane. Trading in Bergen may have started as early as the 1020s. According to tradition, the city was founded in 1070 by king Olav Kyrre and was named Bjørgvin,'the green meadow among the mountains', it served as Norway's capital in the 13th century, from the end of the 13th century became a bureau city of the Hanseatic League. Until 1789, Bergen enjoyed exclusive rights to mediate trade between Northern Norway and abroad and it was the largest city in Norway until the 1830s when it was overtaken by the capital, Christiania.
What remains of the quays, Bryggen, is a World Heritage Site. The city was hit by numerous fires over the years; the Bergen School of Meteorology was developed at the Geophysical Institute starting in 1917, the Norwegian School of Economics was founded in 1936, the University of Bergen in 1946. From 1831 to 1972, Bergen was its own county. In 1972 the municipality absorbed four surrounding municipalities and became a part of Hordaland county; the city is an international center for aquaculture, the offshore petroleum industry and subsea technology, a national centre for higher education, media and finance. Bergen Port is Norway's busiest in terms of both freight and passengers, with over 300 cruise ship calls a year bringing nearly a half a million passengers to Bergen, a number that has doubled in 10 years. Half of the passengers are German or British; the city's main football team is SK Brann and a unique tradition of the city is the buekorps. Natives speak a distinct dialect, known as'Bergensk'.
The city features Bergen Airport and Bergen Light Rail, is the terminus of the Bergen Line. Four large bridges connect Bergen to its suburban municipalities. Bergen has a mild winter climate, though with a lot of precipitation. From December to March, Bergen can be, in rare cases, up to 30°C warmer than Oslo though both cities are at about 60° North; the Gulf Stream keeps the sea warm, considering the latitude, the mountains protect the city from cold winds from the north, north-east and east. The city of Bergen was traditionally thought to have been founded by king Olav Kyrre, son of Harald Hardråde in 1070 AD, four years after the Viking Age in England ended with the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Modern research has, discovered that a trading settlement had been established in the 1020s or 1030s. Bergen assumed the function of capital of Norway in the early 13th century, as the first city where a rudimentary central administration was established; the city's cathedral was the site of the first royal coronation in Norway in the 1150s, continued to host royal coronations throughout the 13th century.
Bergenhus guards the entrance to the harbour in Bergen. The functions of the capital city were lost to Oslo during the reign of King Haakon V. In the middle of the 14th century, North German merchants, present in substantial numbers since the 13th century, founded one of the four Kontore of the Hanseatic League at Bryggen in Bergen; the principal export traded from Bergen was dried cod from the northern Norwegian coast, which started around 1100. The city was granted a monopoly for trade from the north of Norway by King Håkon Håkonsson. Stockfish was the main reason. By the late 14th century, Bergen had established itself as the centre of the trade in Norway; the Hanseatic merchants lived in their own separate quarter of the town, where Middle Low German was used, enjoying exclusive rights to trade with the northern fishermen who each summer sailed to Bergen. Today, Bryggen, is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. In 1349, the Black Death was brought to Norway by an English ship arriving in Bergen.
Outbreaks occurred in 1618, 1629 and 1637, on each occasion taking about 3,000 lives. In the 15th century, the city was attacked several times by the Victual Brothers, in 1429 they succeeded in burning the royal castle and much of the city. In 1665, the city's harbour was the site of the Battle of Vågen, when an English naval flotilla attacked a Dutch merchant and treasure fleet supported by the city's garrison. Accidental fires sometimes got out of control, one in 1702 reduced most of the town to ashes. Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, Bergen remained one of the largest cities in Scandinavia, it was Norway's biggest city until the 1830s, when the capital city of Oslo became the largest. From around 1600, the Hanseatic dominance of the city's trade declined in favour of Norwegian merchants, in the 1750s, the Hanseatic Kontor closed. Bergen retained its monopoly of trade with northern Norway until 1789; the Bergen stock exchange, the Bergen børs, was established in 1813. Bergen was separated from Hordaland as a county of its own in 1831.
It was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdis
Odd Eriksen
Odd Eriksen is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. In addition to his political career he gained national fame after stopping an Algerian hijacker from crashing a Kato Air-flight in 2004. Eriksen grew up at Dønna, he started his working career in 1974 as an electrolysis operator at the Elkem aluminium works in Mosjøen. From 1986 to 1990 he was leader of the local trade union, among other things organising the strike during the lockout in 1986. Eriksen was a vice member of Parliament of Norway from 1989 to 1993, again from 1993 to 2001. From 1993 to 1997 he was vice chairman of the Standing Committee on Defence. From 2003 to 2005 he was the counsellor of transport in Nordland County Municipality and chairman of the Labour Party's county chapter. Eriksen was Minister of Trade and Industry in the Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet from 2005 to 2006, he resigned from his post on 29 September 2006, citing personal reasons and a wish to return to local politics. Odd Eriksen became a national celebrity in 2004 after he and a fellow airline passenger stopped another passenger who had attacked the pilots of a Kato Air flight near Bodø with an axe.
Eriksen himself broke his back in the fight, but managed to restrain the attacker while the badly injured pilots saved the plane from a nose dive, just 100 feet from hitting the ground. For his actions Eriksen, his fellow passenger and the pilots received the Polaris Award from the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations. Eriksen has three children. Odd Eriksen's CV Press release from IFALPA regarding the Polaris Award
Labour Party (Norway)
The Labour Party the Norwegian Labour Party, is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It was the senior partner of the governing Red-Green Coalition from 2005 to 2013, its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, was Prime Minister of Norway during that time; the party is led by Jonas Gahr Støre. The Labour Party is committed to social-democratic ideals, its slogan since the 1930s has been "everyone shall take part", the party traditionally seeks a strong welfare state, funded through taxes and duties. Since the 1980s, the party has included more of the principles of a social market economy in its policy, allowing for privatization of government-held assets and services and reducing income tax progressivity, following the wave of economic liberalization in the 1980s. During the first Stoltenberg government, the party's policies were inspired by Tony Blair's New Labour and saw the most widespread privatization by any Norwegian government to that date; the party has been described as neoliberal since the 1980s, both by political scientists and opponents on the left.
The Labour Party profiles itself as a progressive party that subscribes to cooperation on a national as well as international level. Its youth wing is the Workers' Youth League; the party is a member of the Party of Progressive Alliance. The Labour Party has always been a strong supporter of Norway's NATO membership and has supported Norwegian membership in the European Union during two referendums. During the Cold War, when the party was in government most of the time, the party aligned Norway with the United States at the international level and followed an anti-communist policy at the domestic level, in the aftermath of the 1948 Kråkerøy speech and culminating in Norway being a founding member of NATO in 1949. Founded in 1887, the party increased in support until it became the largest party in Norway in 1927, a position it has held since; this year saw the consolidation of conflicts surrounding the party during the 1920s following its membership in the Comintern from 1919 to 1923. It formed its first government in 1928, has led the government for all but 16 years since 1935.
From 1945 to 1961, the party had an absolute majority in the Norwegian parliament, the only time this has happened in Norwegian history. The domination by the Labour Party, during the 1960s and early 1970s, was broken by competition from the left from the Socialist People's Party. From the end of the 1970s however, the party started to lose voters to the right, leading to a turn to the right for the party under Gro Harlem Brundtland during the 1980s. In 2001 the party achieved its worst electoral results since 1924. Between 2005 and 2013, Labour returned to power after committing to a coalition agreement with other parties in order to form a majority government. Since losing nine seats in the 2013 election, Labour has been in opposition; the party lost a further six seats in the 2017 election, yielding the second lowest number of seats Labour has held since 1924. The party was founded in 1887 in Arendal and first ran in elections to the Parliament of Norway in 1894, it entered Parliament in 1904 after the 1903 election, increased its vote until 1927, when it became the largest party in Norway.
The party were members of Comintern, a Communist organisation, between 1918 and 1923. From the establishment of Vort Arbeide in 1884, the party had a growing and notable organisation of newspapers and other press outlets; the party press system resulted in Norsk Arbeiderpresse. In January 1913 the party had 24 newspapers, 6 more newspapers were founded in 1913; the party had the periodical Det 20de Aarhundre. In 1920 the party had 6 semi-affiliated newspapers; the party had its own publishing house, Det norske Arbeiderpartis forlag, succeeded by Tiden Norsk Forlag. In addition to books and pamphlets, Det norske Arbeiderpartis forlag published Maidagen, Arbeidets Jul and Arbeiderkalenderen. From its roots as a radical alternative to the political establishment, the party grew to its current dominance through several eras: The party experienced a split in 1921 caused by a decision made two years earlier to join the Communist International, the Social Democratic Labour Party of Norway was formed.
In 1923 the party left the Communist International, while a significant minority of its members left the party to form the Communist Party of Norway. In 1927, the Social Democrats were reunited with Labour; some Communists joined Labour, whereas other Communists tried a failed merger endeavor which culminated in the formation of the Arbeiderklassens Samlingsparti. In 1928, Christopher Hornsrud formed Labour's first government. During the early 1930s Labour set a reformist course. Labour returned to government in 1935 and remained in power until 1965. During most of the first twenty years after World War II, Einar Gerhardsen led the party and the country, he is referred to as "Landsfaderen", is considered one of the main architects of the rebuilding of Norway after World War II. This is considered the "golden age" of the Norwegian Labour Party; the party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1938 and 1940. In 1958 two Workers' Youth League members contacted MPs of the Labour Party, to have MPs sign a petition, as a part of what is known as the Easter Uprising of
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences or HVL is a Norwegian public institution of higher education, established in January 2017 through the merging of independent colleges across five campuses: Bergen, Førde, Haugesund and Stord. Its oldest programs - teacher education in Stord - can be traced to 1839; the total number of students at HVL is about 16000, there are 1800 academic and administrative staff. Its main campus is in the Kronstad neighborhood of Norway. Western Norway University of Applied Sciences provides professional education within health and social sciences, engineering and administrative science and teaching, it offers education on the Bachelor and Master levels, continuing education, on the Doctoral level. Around 2700 students graduate with degrees from HVL every year. In June, 2016, after more than one year of negotiations, the executive leadership of three west Norwegian higher education institutions – Bergen University College, Stord/Haugesund University College, Sogn og Fjordane University College – announced their decision to merge, becoming one of Norway's largest state higher education institutions.
From 2017, the English name is Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. The founding and current Rector of HVL is professor Berit Rokne; the college is organised in four faculties: Faculty of Education and Sports Faculty of Engineering and Science Faculty of Health and Social Sciences Faculty of Business Administration and Social Siences HVL emphasizes professional studies, but offers postgraduate programs through the doctoral level in some fields, has ten research centers to support its specialized postgraduate programs, providing opportunities for PhD research: Centre for Evidence-Based Practice Centre for Arts and Communication The Mohn Centre of Innovation and Regional Development Centre for Care Research, Western Norway Centre for Educational Research KINDknow - Kindergarten Knowledge Centre for Systemic Research on Diversity and Sustainable Futures The Centre for Health Research The Norwegian National Centre for Food and Physical Activity Centre for Creativities and Science in Education Maritime Research CentreThere is a Centre for New Media.
The Norwegian diver school was a public diving school for professional divers located in Gravdal, Norway. Established in 1980, it was merged and became part of Bergen University College in 2005; the diving school is a part of the Faculty of Engineering and Science, is located in Skålevik 15 kilometers from Bergen city centre. Grieg Academy Bergen Teknikersamfund – Norwegian student organisation University of Bergen Stord/Haugesund University College Sogn og Fjordane University College Bergen University College HiB in English Research at HVL HVL in English
Øystein Djupedal
Øystein Kåre Djupedal is a Norwegian politician. Djupedal was born in Oslo, is the son of the linguist Reidar Djupedal, he is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party, a member of Storting for Sør-Trøndelag County, where he has sat since the 1993 election. For two years, from 17 October 2005 until 18 October 2007, he was the Minister of Education and Research, he is former deputy chairman of SV. Storting biography Norwegian government release
Sylvia Brustad
Sylvia Brustad is a former Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. Brustad graduated from high school in 1983, attended the media courses at the folk high school in Ringsaker until 1985, she worked as a journalist, among other publications she worked for LO-aktuelt, the news publication of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. Brustad was elected to a county council seat in Hedmark following the local elections of 1987. In the 1989 election, she was elected to a seat in the Norwegian Parliament and left county politics. In cabinet Jagland which held office between 1996 and 1997, she was Minister for Children and Family Affairs, she was Minister for Local Government and Regional Development in the first cabinet Stoltenberg between 2000 and 2001. Following the electoral victory of the 2005 elections, Brustad became Minister of Health and Care Services in the second cabinet Stoltenberg, she was moved to the post of Minister of Trade and Industry in June 2008 and left the government in October 2009.
Brustad became known for her role as Minister for Child and Family Affairs in 1996 when a law restricting the opening hours of shops on Sundays and after nine in the evening was passed. Only stores smaller than 100 square metres were allowed to remain open, such shops were somewhat disparagingly nicknamed "Brustadbuer", until the law was repealed in 2003. Brustad herself claimed that she had not advocated the law, but that she was required to follow through on a decision within the Labour Party. "Sylvia Brustad". Storting
Anniken Huitfeldt
Anniken Scharning Huitfeldt is a Norwegian historian and politician for the Labour Party. She was born in Bærum as a daughter of public prosecutor Iver Sidsel Scharning, she is granddaughter of judge Otte Huitfeldt. Huitfeldt grew up in the small town of Jessheim, she attended Jessheim Upper Secondary School from 1985 to 1988, worked for one year as county secretary of the Workers' Youth League, the youth wing of the Labour Party. From 1989 to 1992 she studied at the University of Oslo, minoring in political science and history, from 1992 to 1993 she took a minor in geography at the London School of Economics. From 1993 to 1996 she took the master's degree in history in Oslo. Huitfeldt was involved in student politics while attending school, as a member of Akershus county school board rom 1986 to 1988, she was a central board member of the Norges Gymnasiastsamband from 1987 to 1988, in her native Ullensaker she was a member of the municipal equality committee. She chaired the Ullensaker branch of the Workers' Youth League from 1985 to 1988 and became a central board member in 1990.
She advanced to deputy leader in 1994 and was the Workers' Youth League leader from 1996 to 2000. From 2000 to 2001 she was the vice president of the International Union of Socialist Youth, she was elected as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Akershus for the terms 1993-1997 and 2001-2005, entered the Labour Party's central board in 2002, but worked as a researcher in the Fafo Foundation from 2000 to 2005. Among other things she wrote reports on child slavery, child marriage and women's rights. Huitfeldt was a board member of the Falstad Centre from 2000 to 2005 and Save the Children Norway from 2001 to 2005. Huitfeldt was elected as a full representative to Parliament for the first time in 2005, re-elected in 2009 and 2013, she served from 2005 to 2008 as deputy leader of the Standing Committee on Education and Church Affairs, since 2013 she leads the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence as well as the Enlarged Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. On 29 February 2008 she became Minister of Equality in Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet.
In a cabinet reshuffle in October 2009 she became Minister of Culture. On 21 September 2012 she was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion, a post she held until Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet fell in October 2013, her seat in Parliament was covered by deputies Gorm Kjernli and Are Helseth
