Ragnhild Holmen Bjørnsen

• Olsen, Julia; Meyer, Alexandra; Iversen, Lisbeth; Schildberg, Ulrich; Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen & Hovelsrud, Grete K. [Show all 19 contributors for this article] (2025). Building transdisciplinary bridges and learning from the Svalbard context. The Polar Journal. ISSN 2154-896X. 15(2), p. 299–323. doi: 10.1080/2154896x.2025.2569950. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper explores the challenges and key enablers of transdisciplinary research in the specific context of Svalbard, offering methodological perspectives and recommendations. The interconnected climatic and socioeconomic changes in Svalbard call for collaboration across disciplines, as well as societal stakeholders. Such integrative research collaboration is conceptualised as a transdisciplinary approach. This approach emphasises a need for continuous and holistic knowledge co-production and relevant data-sharing across sectors, ensuring a robust foundation for informed decision-making and development strategies. However, navigating transdisciplinarity can be complex, as research often aligns with traditional disciplinary structures. This paper emerged from a collaborative exchange on how to carry out transdisciplinary research in Svalbard, a process that proved productive for transdisciplinary knowledge production. It incorporates insights from two workshops where both researchers from diverse disciplines and non-academic stakeholders actively contributed to discussions and the development of this article. Acknowledging the dynamic nature of transdisciplinary research, we present the themes that emerged from our workshops, categorised as challenges, opportunities, and best practices. These themes are then discussed in light of the democratic and pragmatic principles that underpin transdisciplinary research. We conclude the study by offering recommendations aimed at fostering further co-creation across disciplines and stakeholders from a transdisciplinary perspective.

• Bjerke, Victora Helen Rustad; Olsson, Maria Ingrid Teresa; Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen; Myklebø, Sigrid & Tveita, Thale (2025). " I Have Never Done That Before, So I will Probably Succeed": Higher Education Students' Self-Efficacy After the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Education. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1535070. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Open access. Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of traditional exams for Norwegian upper secondary schools, resulting in the “COVID-19 cohort” graduating with little or no exam experience. This study explores how this impacted their self-efficacy upon entering higher education. Guided by Bandura's social cognitive theory, it identifies mastery experiences, modeling behaviors, verbal persuasion, and physiological states as key predictors. Methods: To explore this, we conducted a survey among first- to third-year students (n = 248) at a Norwegian university in autumn 2022. Results: Students emphasized "prior experiences" and "teacher feedback" as vital for self-efficacy, though many reported receiving limited feedback. Interestingly, despite lacking exam experience-a central predictor of self-efficacy-students largely felt unaffected by this. Discussion: The pandemic's impact may not necessitate significant curriculum adjustments in higher education. However, some students believed easier coursework would enhance self-efficacy, a view inconsistent with self-efficacy theory, which underscores the value of challenging, resilience-building experiences.

• Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen; Myklebø, Sigrid; Olsson, Maria Ingrid Teresa & Tveita, Thale (2023). “There’s no place like campus”: Students’ need for social connectedness in a post-pandemic learning environment. Seminar.net - Media, technology and lifelong learning. 19(2). doi: 10.7577/seminar.5506. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study investigates the relationships between students’ psychosocial needs and their preferences for online vs. offline learning in a post-pandemic environment. A mixed-methods study was conducted at a higher education institution in Norway with 240 Bachelor students.Students in a post-covid learning environment value pedagogical forms of student-centered learning, through exploration and group reflection work. Second, students report a preference for limited amounts of online learning. Third, studentsexpress a significant need for social support, in the form of non-digital interaction with peers and teachers, and campus-based activities. Finally, while students prefer receiving feedback from peers in physical form, they are also positive toward receiving feedback in a digital form.These findings indicate that higher education institutions should carefully evaluate the amount of digital teaching offered to students, as such choices influence how and to what degree students are able to socially interact with peers and teachers, and their sense of belonging. More research is needed to understand the challenges associated with psychosocial health and well-being among students, and how this relates to online/offline forms of learning.

• Bjørnsen, Ragnhild; Köhler-Olsen, Julia; Fauske, Halvor & Fadnes, Jan (2022). Invisible children, untouchable cases? States’ legal obligation to protect diplomat children. Child and Family Law Quarterly. ISSN 1358-8184. 34(6). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article discusses the scope of legal obligation for contracting states to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to realise children’s right to protection from all forms of violence in diplomat families, while simultaneously acknowledging diplomatic immunity. Based on an in-depth, qualitative study consisting of 43 written and oral accounts of former Norwegian Foreign Services children from 2015 to 2019, we show that children growing up in diplomat families experience infringement of their rights with little attention being paid to their situation by public authorities, neither in a receiving nor a sending state. The effect of being invisible to the authorities of either state is intensified by the legal framework of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations granting diplomat families and their children immunity from jurisdiction in a receiving state. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, however, requires that measures are taken by contracting states. We suggest certain types of actions by the receiving and sending state that are in line with the legal status of immunity of diplomat families while still supporting the realisation of human rights of diplomat children.

• Bjørnsen, Ragnhild (2019). The assumption of privilege? Expectations on emotions when growing up in the Norwegian Foreign Service. Childhood. ISSN 0907-5682. 27(1), p. 120–133. doi: 10.1177/0907568219885377. Full text in Research Archive

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• Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen & Köhler-Olsen, Julia (2026). “Children on Svalbard: Childhood as embodied geopolitics in the context of blurry legal and geographic boundaries.”. doi: https:/sites.uef.fi/childhood-conference-xi/. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Svalbard is an Arctic Archipelago, situated at a two-hour plane ride from mainland Norway. It is under Norwegian sovereignty, yet citizens of signatory states to the Svalbard treaty (1920) are granted equal rights of access to, and residence on, Svalbard. As a result, Russia has a settlement on Svalbard, and the Norwegian state’s settlement Longyearbyen is an ethnically diverse population encompassing over 50 nations. Norway has strong national interests in the administration of Svalbard, explicitly stated in its latest policy document (Meld. St. 2023-2024, p. 13). The Svalbard treaty forbids military presence on the archipelago, even for Norway. Consequently, Norway has used family settlement as geopolitical strategy to signal Norwegian sovereignty. Given current rising tensions between NATO and Russia, Norwegian authorities emphasize that Norwegian rules and regulations apply on Svalbard. The state uses its strategy of “permanent Norwegian family settlement” to signal a normality to the international public (ibid., p. 14). However, the policy document also informs that the legal and political framework of Svalbard is different to Norway’s mainland, including children’s rights to health and welfare services. . In this tension between geopolitics, normality and unconventional societal and legal frameworks, 426 children live isolated in Longyearbyen. With their physical presence, these children embody representation work of adult geopolitics, and signal boundaries where boarders between states are blurred. Based on school texts, workshops, interviews with youth and with child welfare professionals, our paper examines how childhood in Longyearbyen is experienced both by youth and the adults with responsibilities for them.

• Gabrielsen, Lin Beate & Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen (2025). Dagsnytt 18 - TV: 8. september 2025 · Valgdagen 2025 - NRK TV. [TV]. NRK. doi: https:/tv.nrk.no/serie/dagsnytt-atten-tv/sesong/202509/episode/NNFA56090825. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Hvem har ansvar for UD-barna når de er utenlands? Debatt med utenriksråd i Utenriksdepartementet Torgeir Larsen, forsker Ragnhild Bjørnsen, og diplomatbarn Anna Tresse

• Gjellan, Marit Eriksdatter; Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen; Köhler-Olsen, Julia; Egedius, Tonje; Finstad, Vemund Sveen & Strømdahl, Monica (2025). Hør podkasten «Diplomatsønnens hemmelighet». Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Hvorfor ble det som det ble? Moren til Michael bestemmer seg for å fortelle sin side av historien.

• Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen; Egedius, Tonje & Finstad, Vemund Sveen (2025). Har forsket på diplomatbarn: - det som kommer frem i Michaels historie er ikke overraskende. [Journal]. Aftenposten. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  – Når man kjenner til det internasjonale expat-miljøet, er mye av det som kommer frem i Michael Kjelseths historie, ikke overraskende, mener forsker Ragnhild Bjørnsen. UD har et moralsk ansvar overfor dem, mener hun.

• Köhler-Olsen, Julia; Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen; Egedius, Tonje & Finstad, Vemund Sveen (2025). Rundt 400 norske diplomatbarn bor utenlands. Foreldrenes diplomatiske immunitet kan stå i veien for deres trygghet. [Journal]. Aftenposten. doi: https:/www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/25r7qB/professor-diplomatbarn-har-svakere-rettslig-beskyttelse-enn-andre-barn. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Diplomatisk immunitet skal beskytte diplomatfamilier i utlandet. Men hva hvis barna utsettes for fare i sitt eget hjem? I 2022 undersøkte Bjørnsen og tre kolleger hvilke juridiske forpliktelser stater har til å beskytte diplomatbarn. Invisible children, untouchable cases? het forskningsartikkelen deres. Den viser at det er fare for at uenigheter om et diplomatbarn eskalerer til konflikter mellom land.

• Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen & Hansen, Julie Holdal (2024). Disse NFFO-medlemmene får reise til Svalbard. [Internet]. Norsk faglitterær forfatter - og oversetterforening. doi: https:/www.nffo.no/aktuelt/disse-nffo-medlemmene-far-reise-til-svalbard. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  NFFO er glade for å kunngjøre at sakprosaforfatter Siri Helle og forsker Ragnhild Bjørnsen får kunstneropphold gjennom Artica Svalbard i 2025.

• Weihe, Hans-Jørgen Wallin; Lien, Lars & Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen (2024). "Hva skjer med synet vårt på illegale stoffer når de brukes i behandling?". Full text in Research Archive
• Bjerke, Victora Helen Rustad; Myklebø, Sigrid; Olsson, Maria Ingrid Teresa; Tveita, Thale & Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen (2023). Post pandemi-studentene tror faktisk at de duger. Og de er opptatt av mer enn bare karakterer. Full text in Research Archive
• Olsen, Julia; Meyer, Alexandra; Iversen, Lisbeth; Hovelsrud, Grete K.; Schildberg, Ulrich & Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen (2023). Building transdisciplinary bridges for sustainable Svalbard and Arctic development. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen; Broch, Tuva Beyer; Thoresen, Wenche; Solberg, Ida-Sofie Stryken; Søderstrøm, Kerstin & Blom, Tine [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2023). Lågen-bedraget. Full text in Research Archive
• Broch, Tuva Beyer; Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen; Thoresen, Wenche; Bjerke, Victoria Rustad; Myklebø, Sigrid & Søderstrøm, Kerstin [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2023). Lågendeltaet naturreservat og kommende generasjoner. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørnsen, Ragnhild Holmen (2021). A privileged childhood? : Autobiographies of growing up in the Norwegian Foreign Service. Universitetet i Innlandet. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This PhD thesis is a phenomenological and narrative inquiry into the lives of adults who have grown up within the institutional framework of the Norwegian Foreign Service (NFS). They have been mobile child dependents of employees who are sent on multiple missions overseas, commonly referred to as ‘classic’ “Third Culture Kids” (TCKs). The thesis asks: What does it mean to have had a childhood within the NFS? This is explored both as childhood experiences and circumstances, and in terms of how participants perceive themselves and live their lives as adults. Through narrative analysis of 43 written and oral retrospective autobiographies, the thesis aims to provide a bottom-up narrative of globalisation through participants’ eyes. Approaches from psychological anthropology and sociology of emotions are applied, conceiving cultural narratives as carriers of “feeling rules”. Article 1 finds a possible disconnection towards the emotional self and towards parents, due to a mismatch between a “privileged” narrative as told versus childhood as experienced. Narratives of ascribed “privilege” tighten the range of socially acceptable emotions. Article 2 finds that multiple relocations can lead to a disconnection towards place, friends and community. However, participants who negotiated “home” and “journeying” with their parents kept a connection to home, and journeys were experienced as predictable and meaningful. Article 3 finds that the diplomat child exists in a legal loophole from a child welfare perspective. Further, TCKs can face barriers to realising their rights because assumptions over “privileged mobility” foster others' non-involvement of the private sphere. Participants seek to resolve these tensions of disconnection. There is a tendency to go from serial mobility in young adult life, towards seeking connection to one location and to locally bound relationships in later adulthood. From fragmented pasts, participants create coherent narrative selves like a melody moving back and forth between perspectives: between opposing tones of push- and pullmigration; between the child and the adult self; between ascribed “privileged” status and selfperceived gratitude. Their gratitude is anchored in abilities to shift mental and emotional perceptions, and towards their accumulated values. A salient underlying value is a wide empathy map, stretching across cultural differences and physical distances, but rooted in local childhood encounters. These findings shed light on dimensions of disconnection, stereotypes and narrative power which will have relevance for a growing number of children and adults as 21st century professions become increasingly mobile.

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