18 new participants in FutureLab Europe

January 29 2018

The seventh group of FutureLab participants met last week in Brussels for a tightly-packed programme featuring workshops, debates and meetings with key EU politicians. The topics discussed included political participation, populism, and young people’s opportunities to influence decision-makers in Brussels. Following this session, the group will continue working with their own projects related to civil society and local democracy in their respective countries. The projects may involve e.g. photo exhibitions, media projects, school visits, training or debates.

Futurelab Europe is an initiative aimed at young people between the ages of 20 and 30, who would like to debate the future path of Europe and the EU. The programme serves as a debate arena and a think tank, bringing together participants from all over Europe. FutureLab was established i 2011 as a joint project among 10 European foundations, including Fritt Ord. The European Policy Centre in Brussels handles the practical implementation.

The programme has its own Advisory Board consisting of former FutureLab participants. This year’s advisory body members include Stine Solvoll Navarsete from Norway. Along with two other participants from the 2017 group, Dimitrie Mihail (Romania) and Violetta Tsitsiliani (Greece), she has worked with the project “”https://futurelabeurope.eu/2017/05/25/skill-up-workshop-in-bergen/“>Skill Up!”, consisting of workshops in social entrepreneurship for young immigrants and asylum-seekers in Bergen and Athens. She has previously also received a Fritt Ord Foundation student research grant for her master’s thesis on young asylum-seekers.

Read more about the initiative here: https://futurelabeurope.eu/

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Call for nominations: Free Media Awards 2025

March 14 2025

In collaboration with the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS of Hamburg, the Fritt Ord Foundation has allocated the Free Media Awards annually since 2004 to Eastern European journalists and media that defy every obstacle to tirelessly ensure independent press coverage. Russia’s war against Ukraine and the subsequent wave of disinformation clearly demonstrates the need for independent reporting in the region. Journalist, editorial teams and media companies in and from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine and Hungary who make a contribution to press freedom through their investigative, independent reporting can be nominated for the Free Media Awards.

Civitates' Tech & Democracy open call

March 6 2025

Civitates – The European Democracy Fund is a pooled philanthropic fund that was set up in 2018 for the sole purpose of addressing democratic decline and closing civic space in Europe. The case for confronting these threats is growing increasingly urgent. Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the initiators and partners of Civitates.

Civitates has launched its Tech and Democracy open call to support organisations working to ensure safer, more inclusive online spaces (social media platforms, search engines etc.) by improving the enforcement of EU tech regulations at the national level.

This open call offers a unique opportunity to strengthen civil society’s role in holding the tech sector accountable, with a focus on key EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act, GDPR, AI Act or the European Media Freedom Act to name a few.

Norwegians increasingly more positive to computer games

March 5 2025

Norwegians are increasingly more positive to accepting computer games as culture

About 17 per cent have developed a more favourable view of computer games over the past year. Six of ten play computer games, and one of three plays computer games weekly. At the same time, computer games are ranked as having lower status than books and music, for example.
“Computer games deserve more attention and discussion”, contends Joakim Lie of Fritt Ord.

– Computer games are also art

March 4 2025

“The problem with far too many media reports about computer games is that they start begin with sentences like: ‘computer games have come a long way since Pac-Man’,” sighs American computer game critic Jacob Geller.

“Let us first simply agree that computer games are indeed an art form and an expression of culture, and then let us examine the works as part of the history of art and culture.