Hanne Solheim Hansen has served as Rector at Nord University since 2019. She has an academic background in biology and animal nutrition, holding both a master’s degree and a PhD from NMBU. Since 2009, she has held leadership roles in the university and college sector, including positions as Dean and Pro-Rector, and she has extensive experience in institutional development.
Svein Magnar Øien Eggesvik from 2023 was the County Council leader and from October 2025 started as a County Council for Industry.
Anastasiya Henk (Ph.D.) is Associate Professor of Management and Strategy for Digital Transformation at Nord University Business School. Her research interests include the interface between humans and artificial intelligence, strategies for digital marketing, digital virtual consumption, and process management. Anastasiya is involved in various projects with national and international funding. She is the leader of an international research project that analyzes the implementation of artificial intelligence in public service organizations. Her research has been published in internationally recognized research journals, and she serves as a peer reviewer for several of them.
Olga Iermolenko (Ph.D) works as an Associate Professor at Nord University Business School. Her research publications cover issues such as the management of large sport construction projects and organization, evaluation and monitoring of international projects with societal impact, such as the retraining and social adaptation of veterans in Ukraine, management accounting changes in the context of transitional economies and business education at the master’s and Ph.D levels. Olga works with international education and research projects, with national as well as international funding. Iermolenko teaches accounting and budgeting, project management and management control. Iermolenko acts as a reviewer in several international peer-review journals.
Alena is a Postdoc in Monitor2024 project. Holds a Ph.D. in Business from Nord University Business School with a focus on management of small and medium-sized enterprises. In her doctoral thesis, she uses qualitative methods to explore how Norwegian seafood exporters deal with export challenges. Alena participates actively in international research conferences, acts as a reviewer in several international peer-review journals and publishes internationally. Alena was engaged in projects concerning the development of Northern Norway, such as the Business Index North and Youth in the North. Current research interests include dialogic accounting, social and environmental accounting, performance evaluation and management of large cultural initiatives.
Veronika Vakulenko (Ph.D.) is an associate professor at the Nord University Business School. Her areas of research are public sector management, especially public accounting, budgeting, finance and auditing, performance measurement and reforms. She prefers to use behavioral and institutional theoretical perspectives, but also to do interdisciplinary studies. Vakulenko is particularly interested in Ukraine and other developing countries with emerging economies. She acts as a referent for several international journals and is an editorial member of an international journal. In addition, she is actively involved in several international projects in education and practical research.
Evgueni Vinogradov (Ph.D.) is currently a part-time researcher at Nord University Business School and co-founder of software company LOS Analytics AS. In 2009-2022 Vinogradov worked as a senior researcher and research director at Nordland Research Institute in Bodø, Norway. He has publications withing the fields of entrepreneurship, regional development, and tourism. Most of his research/publications are based on quantitative methodologies. Vinogradov is expert in developing agent-based simulations for both academic research and more applied projects.
Bjørn Willy Åmo is educated as an engineer and economist, with a doctoral degree in economics from 2005. Åmo is professor of entrepreneurship at Nord University Business School. He researches entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education and how employees contribute to innovation at their employers. Åmo teaches entrepreneurship, strategy and economics, and quantitative methods for bachelor’s, master’s and MBA students. Åmo has led several research and teaching projects funded by the Research Council of Norway. His research interests include management of large cultural projects, entrepreneurship, innovation, entrepreneurship education, and statistical methods.
Anatoli Bourmistrov is the lead of Monitor2024 and Professor of Accounting at Nord University, Norway. Dr. Bourmistrov works with research related to the use of social audit in international projects as well as participatory forms of management and governance, as well as accounting and performance measurement with the aim of improving the governance of public and private organizations. He has considerable experience in implementing and monitoring community-oriented projects that address social issues facing citizens, including inclusion and equal rights in society, as well as education and capacity-building programmes. This particularly applies to the social adaptation of veterans and their families in Ukraine.
Yohei Hamada (b. 1987) is a Bodø/Bergen based dance artist from Japan, who holds BA Liberal Arts in Yokohama National University, MA in Philosophy at the Graduate School / Faculty of Urban Innovation (IUI) at the Yokohama National University (2013). Hamada recognises the body as a tool to rediscover dynamic systems such as earth, life and society, and the dance to rediscover relations, beyond Eurocentric dualism, between the systems such as self-body, body-object and human-nature.
Erni Kask is an international relations expert and cultural manager. He was one of the initiators and the first employee of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024, having been involved in the Tartu 2024 journey for more than eight years.
He has advanced the international visibility of Southern Estonia, built cooperation networks, and represents Estonia on the European Commission’s panel of experts for the European Capitals of Culture.
Valentina Montalto is Associate Professor and Research Fellow at KEDGE Arts School, the centre of expertise in Culture and Creative Industries (CCIs) of KEDGE Business School, in Paris. Her research sits at the intersection of geography, cultural economics, and social statistics, with a focus on informing culture-led urban policies. For over 16 years, she has worked internationally, leading the “Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor” at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, advising on UNESCO’s Culture|2030 Indicators, and managing research projects at KEA, a Brussels-based policy firm specialised in CCIs. Her work is reflected in strong track record of academic and professional publications on CCIs measurement, creative cities and capitals of culture, and sustainable development, among which the 2025 Chemnitz White Paper “40 Recommendations from 40 Years of ECoC”.
Dr. Beatriz García is a leading expert in international cultural policy and mega-events, specializing in multidimensional research and evaluation frameworks. With 27 years of experience, she has shaped global discussions on culture-led regeneration, culture evaluation frameworks, Olympic cultural programs, and the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) initiative. Beatriz has conducted fieldwork at every Olympic Games since Sydney 2000 and assessed the long-term legacy of every ECoC in their 40 year trajectory.
A sought-after speaker, Beatriz has delivered keynotes in 40+ countries and published 200+ refereed papers on the impact of major cultural interventions on cities. She also serves as Chair of the International Expert Group for the Evaluation of Bodø 2024 ECoC, is Chair of Walk the Plank and Policy Expert for Culture Next, the European Candidate Cities network. Beatriz is a member of the Culture & Olympic Heritage Commission at the International Olympic Committee and Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Major Events & Cultural Policy at the University of Liverpool.
Marianne Dobak Kvensjø from October 2025 started as the Chair of the County Government, and before worked as Deputy Chair of the County Government.
Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen is the Mayor of Bodø for the period 2023-2027. This is his seventh term on the Bodø City Council, where he was first elected in 1988. Previously, Odd Emil has run a bookstore, been CEO of Boligbyggelaget Nobl, CEO of BRUS (Bodø Region Development Company) and CEO of Indre Salten Energi AS. Odd Emil has also been State Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and Minister of Fisheries and Seafood in the Solberg government.
Since 2021, Graziella has been a Research Support Officer II with the Faculty for Social Wellbeing at the University of Malta, contributng to projects on liveability, wellbeing, mental health, child abuse, and attudes toward death. Previously, she led the Research Team at the Valletta 2018 Foundation for eight years, overseeing the evaluaton and monitoring of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) process. During this time, she collaborated with local and international researchers, co-published studies, and delivered presentations at international events.
Graziella also has extensive experience in event planning, EU-funded project management, public engagement, and cultural accessibility. She previously managed Heritage Malta’s calendar of events, working to make museums and heritage sites more accessible to diverse audiences.
Camilla Therese Karlsen is a multitalented performing artist that does acrobatic- and aerialdance, hiphop, contemporary, singing, joik, poetry, playwriting, dj, choreography. During Bodø2024 she was a key person for the South Sámi Theatre’s trilogy, performed during the opening week of the title year.
Frode Fjellheim is a Southern Sámi musician, composer, joiker (one who performs joik), keyboardist, and professor, known for working with traditional Sámi joik mixed with contemporary and classical music. One of his most internationally known contributions is “Vuelie”, the opening piece for Disney’s film Frozen (2013), adapted from his earlier work “Eatnemen Vuelie”. Fjellheim is a professor of music at Nord University.
Lars Kolvereid (Ph.D.) was employed at Nord University from 1985, as professor from 1991 and retired in 2022. Kolvereid has published a number of books and more than 60 scientific articles in subject areas such as management, organization and entrepreneurship. He has been involved in a large number of research projects and supervised 25 doctoral students in Norway and several other countries. In his research, he emphasizes being able to explain and predict phenomena that are particularly relevant for individuals and businesses and have important practical implications.
Mervi Luonila (DMus, Arts Management) is working as Senior Researcher at the Center for Cultural Policy Research, Cupore and as a Project Manager in the Oulu Business School at the University of Oulu. She holds the title of docent in cultural policy (networks, effects and leadership of cultural events) at the University of Jyväskylä. In her current projects Dr Luonila explores the impacts of arts and culture in cities and regions focusing on especially on cultural-led development and cultural policy. Her research interests also concern issues of community and culturally sustainable development as well as the management topics of arts productions especially in the context of arts events and festivals. Currently she leads the Oulu2026 evaluation and research project in Cupore.
Olli Ruokolainen is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Cultural Policy Research CUPORE. His main research interest is strategic development of cultural activities in urban and regional contexts. In addition to this he has conducted research on regional (economic) impacts of cultural activities. He has also researched cultural participation in urban contexts, participatory processes in urban planning as well as national urban development policies in the Nordic countries. Dr. Ruokolainen has also led a project that analysed the impacts of the Finland 100 centenary year. Currently he is working with the impacts of Oulu 2026 ECoC year.
Tomas Blomquist is a Professor of Business Administration at Umeå University, Sweden. With support from the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, he and his colleagues studied Umeå 2014 as European Capital of Culture during 2013–2015, focusing on project management, organizing, and long-term impacts. His research explores project organizing, innovation, and the role of cultural initiatives in societal development.
Martin Piber is a Professor in Business Administration at University of Innsbruck (Austria). Martin focuses on managing and evaluating cultural organizations, the understanding of impact and performance measurement, the relevance of culture for society, aesthetics and business ethics. Other current (change) projects address the evaluation, the impact and the organization of European Capitals of Culture.
Linn Rebekka Åmo is educated at art academies in Copenhagen, Bergen and Trondheim, and has participated in a number of exhibitions nationally and internationally since 2009. She has recently been represented at, among others, the Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Bodø Bymuseum and Anca Poterasu Gallery in Bucharest.
During the conference you may experience her new work Visitors (2024), produced as part of an EEA-funded project in collaboration with art communities in Romania. The work is hand-sewn and consists of textiles collected in both Romania and Northern Norway, and combines patterns and materials that point to traditions from both Sami and Romanian culture. A central yellow/orange heart symbolizes human community and the desire for peace – in contrast to big politics and power.
Henrik S. Dagfinrud worked on project development and co-writing for the Bodø2024 bidding team, and later as the program director of the official European Capital of Culture delivery body. Henrik, originally from Oslo, has a degree in classical song and vocal pedagogics from the Norwegian Academy of Music. His performing career includes work with various theatres and professional ensembles, including Nordic Voices, the National Opera in Oslo and the Norwegian Soloists Choir.
Hilmar Rommetvedt is a researcher I at NORCE Research and member of the reference group for Monitor2024. He served as project leader for the evaluation of Stavanger as European Capital of Culture in 2008 and has published numerous books on political institutions and processes, policy development, and implementation.
Thor Brenne is an award-winning director born and raised in Nordland. Interested in dissecting human themes and character driven narratives, Thor’s work has been supported by platforms such as NOWNESS, Pitchfork, Vice and NBC New York to name a few. In 2010 he won the prestigious award for best music video at the Norwegian Short film Festival. Thor was commissioned by Bodø2024 to follow five different projects in the ECOC program, and create short documentaries from an artistic perspective.
Arne Ivar Mikalsen is an Executive for Community Development, Culture and Environment from 2023. Elected member of the Nordland County Parliament since 2011. Holds a degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Oslo. His political responsibilities cover a wide range of areas, but in this context, the following are relevant: Culture, Libraries, County-owned Cultural Institutions, Volunteering, International Work within Society, Culture and Environment Sector, Art, Museums, Sami Language and Culture, Community Development (strategic and operational) and the European Cultural Route Via Querinissima.
Oliver Henk has a Ph.D. in Business from Nord University Business School with a focus on internal control and risk management. In his thesis, he focused on internal control in interorganizational relationships in different complex environmental contexts, such as the fishery and health care sectors, as well as accounting firms. Particularly, Oliver is interested in calculative practices and their effect on governance mechanisms in situations that involve phenomena, which are non-quantifiable by nature. Beyond that, Oliver is interested in social impacts and organizational change. With his research, Oliver has participated in several research conferences and published internationally.