Three new projects to NUPI

The three projects span widely across NUPI’s expertise, from women’s participation in war, to private and public investments in development projects and the new space race for infrastructure.

Two of the projects, BLEND-OFF and DISCOVER falls in under the RCN programme “Researcher Project for Scientific Renewal", while Gendered Transitions is part of the “Researcher Project for Early Career Scientists” programme. Together, the projects will receive almost 32 million NOK from the Research Council of Norway.

– I am very proud of our researchers who have won these new projects. They differ in topics, but they are all very relevant for Norwegian foreign policy. I’m looking forward to following these projects in the future, says NUPI Director Kari M. Osland. 

From combatants and war supporters to peacemakers? Women’s participation in political violence and political transitions (Gendered Transitions)

In this project, the researchers will look at how women’s participation in political violence translates into their participation in political transitions. After many years of international activism to advance the Women, Peace and Security agenda, women are still marginalized in peace negotiations and peace processes.

But women can play key roles as both war supporters and peace spoilers, and their exclusion risks undermining efforts to build sustainable peace in vulnerable societies. The project uses qualitative feminist and ethnographic methods to explore these questions in Mali and Colombia.

– We are incredibly proud and happy for the opportunity to carry out this project. The project builds on my research on women's participation in peace processes in Mali, and Priscyll Anctil Avoine's research on women ex-combatants in Colombia, with research partners in Mali and Colombia. The project is based on close collaboration between and supports research by four young female scholars based in different countries in the global north and -south, says NUPI researcher and project manager Jenny Lorentzen.

Trade-offs of Blended Finance for Development (BLEND-OFF)

Blended finance uses public funding to attract private investment for development projects, which is crucial for addressing the $2.5 trillion annual funding gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While increasingly important for development finance, we know very little about how blended finance works in practice.

Against this backdrop, BLEND-OFF asks: What trade-offs between public purpose and private profits are involved in blended finance guarantees? What actors are dominant? And what metrics are used to assess risks and to decide on investment decisions by public and private actors?

– This project, with partners in Norway, Ethiopia and Vietnam, enable analyses on how so-called blended finance with public and private means changes the international effort for development and green transition. A central question is the power balance between public and private actors and the emergence of a global market for services linked to development and sustainability, says NUPI researcher and project manager Ole Jacob Sending.

Earth to Orbit - Building Bridges in Space (DISCOVER)

Space has become one of the world’s most critical infrastructures, essential for services like climate monitoring and communications. As the new space race intensifies amidst rising geopolitical tensions, ensuring cooperative use of space’s limited resources is crucial.

DISCOVER analyses the key drivers of cooperation and conflict in space governance, highlighting the importance of international collaboration for global security and the stability of modern societies.

– Who is really in charge of space? And how should big powers and other countries cooperate on important questions outside of Earth? This is one of our time’s most pressing global issues, and I am really looking forward to embark on this project with all the skilled researchers in the project group, says NUPI researcher and project manager Niels Nagelhus Schia.