CV Dr. KENNETH ABRAHAMSSON,

Senior consultant@networker Stockholm, Sweden

Skills portfolio

Kenneth Abrahamsson has a substantial experience not only in knowing and networking in the field of lifelong (longlife) learning, public health, welfare studies as well as labour markets issues and workplace challenges but also in doing and contributing to the practical development of these fields both in Sweden and internationally.

Evaluation: .Kenneth Abrahamsson has been member of the inter-agency group (of governmental research funders) on evaluation and policy studies and he has also been chairing evaluation groups and peer-review teams, as well as doing consultancy in this field. He has also coordinated Forte’s (former FAS work) on evidence-based policies and practices in collaboration with other Swedish agencies.

Academic duties: Kenneth Abrahamsson has been opponent at dissertations more than five occasions and member of dissertation examination boards more than ten occasions. He has also organized doctoral schools and summer schools in order to promote career development of young scholars (FLARE, Landskrona, Sweden 2009 and ISSA, Ancona, Italy, 2012). He is also asked to make scientitgic and educational evaluation of applicants to university lecturer positions as well as appications for associate professorships (docentur).

Advisory boards and steering committees: Kenneth Abrahamsson has been part of two advisory boards on ICT-based services, member of the Education Science Committee, Swedish Research Council (www.vr.se) , member of the Monitoring committee of the European Social Fund (www.esf.se) , chairing NORDFORSK programme on Nordic Centres of Excellence in Welfare Studies (www.nordforsk.org) and the Unesco/MOST-Committee on social transformations, member of the board of Swedish Association for Studies of Popular Adult Education, board member of the Swedish European Movement and he is senior advisor at the independent Swedish Think tank Global Utveckling/Global Challenge (www.globalutmaning.se ).etc.

Conferences and network: Kenneth Abrahamsson has organised or being active in planning of more than hundred conferences, seminars and networks meetings on education, work place learning, labour market issues, disability studies, ageing etc. Recently he has been coordinating a series of SWEDAGE-conference on bridges between research and practice in ageing research (www.swedage.se) .

Publications and editorial work: Kenneth Abrahamsson has published more than twenty books in fields mentioned above, and also been responsible for thematic design in series of popular reviews of current scientific challenges (more than 50 such reports /also in job creation, diversity management and work place learning, disability etc)

International networks and collaborative work: Kenneth Abrahamsson is now actively involved in a project to support networks of Swedish scholars with the objective to influence EU Horizon 2020 with respect to Sustainable work systems and healthy work places. He is also member of an ongoing CEDEFP-project on vocational education/apprenticeship education in Europe. He has also been active at board level in ERA-AGE, FUTURAGE, Work-In-Net, ERA-OSH and has also promoted new initiatives with regard to collaborative work with China, India, Japan, UK and the US. He has also been active in European network on social dialogue/work place development. He has also been working with capacity building in Mozambique together with FNI – National Research Council.

Network skills, intellectual and social capital: Kenneth Abrahamsson has an extensive network and contacts with at policy level, academic community and user groups. He is responsible for seminars for the Swedish Association for Popular Adult Education Research and has written about the research circle as a bridge between research and practice. He has also been one of the founders of SWEDAGE http://www.swedage.se a bridge been research and practice on ageing research.

Personal focus and interests: Kenneth Abrahamsson has paid substantial interest to the field of informal learning, tacit knowledge, life transitions and the value of work and everyday experience, but he has also published and being active in the field of education and cultivation (bildning-bildung). His doctoral thesis is in education, and he had his basic academic training as a clinical psychologist.

CV and background

Kenneth Abrahamsson has recently retired from a position as Programme Director at the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, FAS. (www.fas.se ) He presented his dissertation on adults in higher education at University of Stockholm 1976 and has over the years been working with research financing in the fields of education, working life and welfare and public health. He is also senior lecturer (docent) in education at the Faculty of Social Science, University of Stockholm since 1991. Beside his administrative function at FAS and other R&D-financers in Sweden, he has paid personal interest into labour market development, regulation and skill formation, job creation and entrepreneurship and policies promoting work place diversity as well as research on disability and ageing.

Dr. Abrahamsson was also a member of the Committee for Educational Sciences at the Swedish Research Council (www.vr.se) between 2001 and 2006. From May 2002 to 2007, Dr. Abrahamsson has been appointed as adjunct professor in Work Life Science and Learning at Luleå University of Technology (www.ltu.se ), in north of Sweden, a connection that has been prolonged until summer 2013. Kenneth Abrahamsson has published a number of books and articles on education and lifelong learning, workplace competence, citizen guidance and labour market issues.

He has been a member of the National Advisory Board (Monitoring Committee) of the Swedish part of the European Social Fund (www.esf.se ) until summer 2012 and has still an advisory function to the social fund in Sweden. In recent years he has paid strong interest into issues of informal learning, life transitions and work place learning and work organisation. He has been member of the steering committee of three ERA-NETs, WIN on innovative work organisation, ERA-OsH (on occupational health and safety) and ERA-AGE – European research collaboration on ageing as well as the advisory board of ERA-AGE and

FUTURAGE http://era-age.group.shef.ac.uk/ In ERA-AGE , FAS was promoting the FLARE programme on Future Leaders of Ageing Research, a programme that now is in action. He did also take an initiative to a summer school on aging in Sweden 2008 and was recently participation at an international summer school on ageing in Ancona, Italy together with leadings scholars from Europe and Canada. http://www.inrca.it/inrca/files/FOCUSON/INRCA-ISSA-120312.pdf

He is one of the founders of SWEDAGE – a national platform for dialogue and communication between researchers and practitioners on ageing research and the third SWEDAGE-meeting was organised in Gothenburg, October 1, 2012. See http://www.swedage.se which also had contributors from US, England, Ireland and OECD.

He is also chairman of the steering committee of Nordic Centres of Excellence in Welfare Studies, which has been in operation for five to six years with one centre in Helsinki NordWel and one in Oslo, REASSESS. http://www.nordforsk.org/en/programs/programmer/ncoe-programmet-om- velferdsforskning?set_language=en

Furthermore, Dr.Abrahamsson was chairing the Swedish MOST-Committee

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/most-programme/

which is promoting bridges between research and practice on issues of social transformation. He has also been supporting the Mozambican research council, FNI, Maputo in capacity building in collaboration with Sida, Swedish International Development Agency.

Kenneth Abrahamsson is also senior advisor at Global Challenge in Stockholm (www.globalutmaning.se ) and board member of Swedish Association for Research on Popular Adult Education/Folkbildning (Föreningen för folkbildningsforskning)

http://www.folkbildning.net/fb-forskning/

___________________________________________________________________________________________ Kenneth Abrahamsson is born in Stockholm 1945 and living in Mälarhöjden, Stockholm. He is now active as senior consultant and senior advisor in various policy issues and is adjunct professor at Luleå University of Technology. He is married to Maria Bosdotter and they have four grown up children; working for National School Inspection, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Swedish Cooperative Development Agency, Nairobi, Kenya (the daughters) and international film distributions (son).

Home address: Fastingsgatan 100 SE 129 43 Hägersten SWEDEN Kenneth.abrahamsson1@gmail.com ++46-705468353