News, Research & Development

Establishes the research alliance NORIN

The research institutes NILU, NIVA and IFE have agreed to establish the research alliance NORIN. The alliance will be a new, Norwegian heavyweight in the sectors of climate, energy, the environment and civil protection.

The institute’s managing directors met on Tuesday 26th of April in NILU’s premises in Kjeller to sign the collaboration agreement. Minister of Climate and Environment Espen Barth Eide was present at the event, together with representatives from KLD, the Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Environment Agency.

Group plans

The trio refers to the collaboration as a research alliance but does not hide that they have a long-term ambition to form a research group.

– We believe that NORIN will eventually become the Nordic region’s leading research institute within energy, environment, climate and civil protection. Together we are approximately thousand employees with a focus on knowledge for transition to a sustainable society and industrial renewal, says John Rune Nielsen, CEO of NILU.

All institutes are on each side well established in their fields but see great opportunities in a closer alliance.

– The NORIN collaboration means that we can deliver even better on the social mission. Together with our clients and customers, we will to an even greater extent be able to contribute to innovative and socially beneficial solutions, says Nils Morten Huseby, CEO of IFE.

Great potential for collaboration

Together, the NORIN institutes will appear as complementary, academically outstanding and as a centre of gravity both nationally and internationally. The institutes shall develop a common strategy and common goals that shall form the basis for the cooperation. The institutes will use the collaboration to confront common research and innovation policy interests vis-à-vis the authorities and the policy instruments. Collaboration on common profiling in key arenas and conferences will also be relevant.

– We are large research environments with a significant national and international presence, and we have the best prerequisites for being a preferred partner for public actors, industry and business in the future. The NORIN institutes complement each other well professionally and we are pleased to see that the potential for collaboration is even greater than we assumed when the process started three years ago, says Tor-Petter Johnsen, CEO of NIVA.

The online newspaper Khrono has also written a story about the NORIN alliance (in Norwegian)