History

NIES was formed in 2007 as a cooperation among small national groups in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Since then the network has grown from a group of researchers in these three countries to its present-day constituency of approximately 50 researchers based at more than 30 universities in four Nordic countries (plus several non-Nordic countries).

During its start-up phase (2007-2010) NIES organized multiple workshops at international conferences as well as two international research conferences: Counter Nature/s (Uppsala University, 2009) and Green Oslo (BI Norwegian School of Management, 2010). Two anthologies of essays that include contributions from leading scholars in the fields of ecocriticism, environmental history, architecture and urban planning, among other disciplines, are now being edited for publication in the series Studies in the Environmental Humanities.

Beginning in January 2011 NIES is anchored primarily at the Division of History of Science and Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. With generous support from Nordforsk the network will carry out a range of research activities and events during its current phase of operations (2011-2013), including semi-annual Nordic workshops and symposia, as well as an annual international conference, to rotate among the network's anchoring institutions in Stockholm, Uppsala, Oslo, Odense and Turku.

In due course the network also aims to support doctoral co-supervision and field research by facilitating the mobility of researchers, secondary supervisors and doctoral students engaged in relevant research projects.