Transformation, Innovation and Norm Studies Conference
Norms are central to societal change and innovation. They concern widely shared, but often invisible, rules and expectations that guide human behavior. The conference takes place at Halmstad University on 5–6 February 2026.

About the conference
At the research programme TRAINS’s first conference, members contribute research papers related to change, innovation, and norms. The conference is bilingual. This means that presentations may be given in either Swedish or English.
Programme
Day 1, Thursday 5 February
9.45–10.00: Conference registration (outside room S1018)
10.00–10.25: Welcome and introduction (S1080)
10.30–11.45 Parallel sessions
Track 1 (S1080)
Chair: Sara Svensson
- Controlling nature: Knowledge, norms, and the struggle against Japanese knotweed – D’Hertefelt T., Forsman E. & Åkesson M.
- The Right to Grow Old in a Liveable World: Ageing, Climate Change, and Human Rights – Janicke Andersson & Klara Öberg
Track 2 (S1004)
Chair: Helena Eriksson
- “Climate is not really my field” – Contrasting frames of expertise among academic climate activists – Jonatan Nästesjö, Anders Hylmö, Jakob Lundgren & Eugenia Perez Vico
- Managerial Governmentality: Rethinking the Relationship Between Managerialism and Neoliberalism – Linda Alamaa
Track 5A (S1016)
Chair: Jonas Gabrielsson
- Legal Prostitution as Persecution? – Catharine A. MacKinnon & Max Waltman
- Delade arbetsturer i äldreomsorgen – Hur påverkas hälsan och arbetsutförandet? – Johan Alfonsson
11.45–13.00 Lunch, Mangold Restaurant
Meal tickets will be distributed at the restaurant entrance.
13.00–14.30 Parallel sessions
Track 1 (S1016)
Chair: Sara Svensson
- Competing sectoral claims on biogenic hydrocarbons and the possibility of using the aviation sector to drive globally meaningful climate action – Rasmus Karlsson
- När normer motverkar hållbar samhällsomställning – Christoffer Kindblad
- ThinkBee – A new approach to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem services – Björn Klatt & Max Möritz
Track 2 (S1004)
Chair: Helena Eriksson
- Taking to the boardroom or the streets: Researchers’ framings and practices of relevance in the pursuit of societal change for sustainability – Eugenia Perez Vico, Jonatan Nästesjö, Anders Hylmö & Jakob Lundgren
- ”Makten över ämnet” – vetenskapliga referenser som guide till disciplinär stabilitet och förändring – Tomas Nilson, Erik Joelsson & Gustaf Nelhans
Track 5A (S3026)
Chair: Jonas Gabrielsson
- Experiences of Hatred and Threats Among Nominated Elected Representatives in the Swedish Municipal Election 2022 – Ulf Petäjä
- A New Conceptualization of Freedom: Relational Freedom – Tomas Wedin
14.30–15.00 Coffee break (outside S1080)
15.00–16.00 Keynote lecture (S1080)
An Intuitive Theory of Democratic Norms – Alexander Bor (Central European University, Vienna)
16.00 After-conference talk, Mangold Pub
Day 2, Friday 6 February
9.30: Coffee & tea (outside S1080)
9.45–10.45: Parallel sessions
Track 3 (S1004)
Chair: Jonas Gabrielsson
- Pathways to working life experienced by immigrant women in Sweden – Marie Lydell, (Cecilia Garell, Marie Heléne Zimmerman Nilsson, Eva-Carin Lindgren & Krister Hertting)
- Students’ Academic Approaches and Graduates’ Capabilities for Contributing to the Transformation of Work Practices – Anders Nelson
Track 4A (S1023)
Chair: Linnea Gustafsson
- Namn, normer och identiteter i skolans läromedel. Förändringsprocesser från 1920-tal till 2010-tal – Emilia Aldrin
- Formelspråk i vardande – om nyhetsspråkets utveckling från 1800-talet till idag – Linnéa Bäckström
Track 4B (S1072)
Chair: Sara Svensson
- Sociala innovationer för ”smarta” hallänningar vid tiden kring förra sekelskiftet – Åsa Bengtsson
- Normer och dygder kopplade till decorum i tidigmodern nordisk tillfällespoesi, ca 1660– 1800 – Daniel Möller
Track 5B (S1016)
Chair: Martin Åberg
- Negotiating Boundaries and Enacting Professional Resistance: School Counsellors’ Work with Newly Arrived Students in Sweden – Helena Eriksson, Sara Helmersson & Sara Högdin
- Policy Conditions for Kulturskola – Comprehensive School Collaborations: A Policy Document Analysis – Cecilia Jeppson & Adriana Di Lorenzo Tillborg
10.45–11.00 Coffee break (outside S1080)
11.00–12.00 Keynote lecture (S1080)
Disruption och kontinuitet: AI i relation till akademins normer – Måns Svensson, Jönköping University
12.00–13.00 Lunch, Mangold Restaurant
Meal tickets will be distributed at the restaurant entrance.
13.00–14.30 Parallel sessions
Track 3 (S1004)
Chair: Jonas Gabrielsson
- Reasons behind double work among street-level bureaucrats – Petra Svensson
- On site, in sight? Regional embeddedness of board chairperson in medium-sized manufacturing and tech firms. Swedish evidence – Fazle Rahi & Jonas Gabrielsson
- Occupational Health in a Warmer but Greener Europe: Norms, values and conflicts in sectors affected by Climate Change and the Green Transition – Sara Svensson & Oriana Miraka
Track 4A (S1023)
Chair: Daniel Möller
- 33-åringen och Gryningspyromanen: Språkliga normer för anonymisering i nyhetsdiskursen – Linnea Gustafsson
- Inkongruent tempus i svenskt talspråk: Preteritum- och presensformer med normbrytande tidsreferens – Per Klang
- Transforming Form: The Norms of New-Formalism – Maria Trejling
Track 4B / 5B (S1072)
Chair: Göran Sahlén
- Translation and communication of norms in cross-national organisations – an historical illustration: Moravian memoirs and the reorganisation of the Moravian Church, ca 1750– 1760 – Martin Åberg
- Safe houses in smart times: devising security in the risk society – Jonnie Eriksson & Tomas Nilson
Track 5B (S1016)
Chair: Tina d’Hertefeldt
- Disseminating research of goose damage prevention to support increased implementation in agricultural landscapes – Ann Eklund et al.
- Boredom, young people and everyday media practice in digital life – Martin Danielsson
15.00 Closing of the conference, Mangold Pub