Pål Wilter Skedsmo

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My main research interests are environmental politics, civil society, public participation, democratization and development aid in post-socialist states. Geographically, my research has especially focused on Armenia, the South Caucasus, Russia, and more recently Poland. I have carried out a number of program evaluations of Norwegian and Western support mechanisms in the region, ranging from cultural exchange programs to deployment of security personnel in conflict zones. New areas of interest are the management of plant genetic resources in the post-Soviet area and new modes of mobility in urban development.

BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE

Academic background

PhD, University of Oslo (Social Anthropology) (2017)
Master in Social Anthropology, University of Oslo, (social anthropology, history of ideas, Russian and East European studies) (2005).

Professional experience

Research Director Marine and Polar Issues, Fridtjof Nansen Institute (2019-2025).
Senior Researcher, Fridtjof Nansen Institute (since 2017).
Guest researcher, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo (August 2015-March 2016).
Member of the Board and Council at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (2015 - 2019).
Academic advisor at Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, University of Oslo and International Environment and Development Studies, Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (since 2009).
Examiner at Department of Sociology, Political Science and Community Planning, University of Tromsø and Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo (since 2009).
Director of the Russia Programme at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (2008-2010)
Research Fellow at Fridtjof Nansen Institute (2006-2017)

PROJECTS

Project name

Status

Adapting LAw for MOving Targets: Climate Change, Overtourism and Biodiversity in Indigenous Arctic National Parks (ALAMOT)
Ongoing

Show past projects

BOOKS

Armenia and Europe: Foreign Aid and Environmental Politics in the Post-Soviet Caucasus

Pål Wilter Skedsmo

I.B. Tauris, 2021, 280 p. (Paperback edition)
Armenia and Europe: Foreign Aid and Environmental Politics in the Post-Soviet Caucasus

Pål Wilter Skedsmo

I.B. Tauris, 2019, 280 p.

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES AND CHAPTERS

Why not share it?—Understanding preferences for car sharing services in Warsaw, Poland

Jakub Zawieska, Michal Jakubczyk, Katarzyna Zagorska, Joanna Jaczewska, Ewa Zawojska, Pål Wilter Skedsmo and Michal Wolański

Case Studies on Transport Policy, Vol 19, 2025, 12 p.
Air quality and transport behaviour: sensors, feld, and survey data from Warsaw, Poland

Amirhossein Hassani, Anna Nicińska, Arkadiusz Drabicki, Ewa Zawojska, Gabriela Sousa Santos, Grzegorz Kula, Henrik Grythe, Jakub Zawieska, Joanna Jaczewska, Joanna Rachubik, Katarzyna Archanowicz-Kudelska , Katarzyna Zagórska, Maciej Grzenda, Magdalena Kubecka, Marcin Luckner, Michał Jakubczyk, Michał Wolański, Nuria Castell, Paweł Gora, Pål Wilter Skedsmo, Satia Rożynek and Szymon Horosiewicz

Scientific Data, published online 29.11.2024, 23 p. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-024-04111-4
Attitudes Towards the Polar Regions as a Reflection of the Sense of Responsibility for the Environment. Theoretical Background for Further Study

Hanna Mamzer, Pål Wilter Skedsmo and Jan Marcin Węsławski.

Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol 9, 24.06.2021. DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2021.610926
Governing crop genetics in post-Soviet countries: Lessons from the biodiversity hotspot Armenia

Pål Wilter Skedsmo and Regine Andersen

Euphytica, Vol 217, Article 94, 2021, 22 p.
Approaching the North: Norwegian and Russian Foreign Policy Discourses on the European Arctic

Leif Christian Jensen and Pål Wilter Skedsmo

Polar Research, Vol 29, 2010, pp. 439-450.