Bård Kleppe works as a Research Professor at Telemark Research Institute. He holds an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies and a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from the University of South-Eastern Norway. His doctoral dissertation, Regulating Autonomy – Theatre Policy and Theatre Management in Three European Countries, examined how cultural policy and organizational structures influence artistic autonomy, with case studies from Norway, England, and the Netherlands. Since 2008, Kleppe has led and contributed to numerous research and evaluation projects on cultural policy, artists’ working conditions, the performing arts, music, museum organization, and cultural participation. Kleppe has published widely in evaluations, reports, and academic articles and is recognized for his expertise in both international and comparative perspectives on cultural policy. He also has extensive methodological experience, working with both qualitative and quantitative approaches, and is engaged in international networks and projects.

Web: https://www.telemarksforsking.no/medarbeidere/bard-kleppe/80/?lang=en

Research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bard-Kleppe?ev=hdr_xprf

Professor emeritus

Per Mangset is a Sociologist of Culture, Professor emeritus at the University of South-Eastern Norway and a senior researcher at Telemark Research Institute. Areas of interest include leisure; cultural professionalisation; arts audience; models and history of cultural policy in Western Europe; international cultural cooperation; artist roles in transition; comparative sports and cultural policy and entrepreneurialism. Mangset has conducted several large research projects on cultural policy. Together with Dorte Skot-Hansen (Denmark), he initiated the International Conference on Cultural Policy Research (ICCPR) and coordinated the Scientific Committee of the ICCPR for several years.

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This profile was first prepared by Sigrid Røyseng and Per Mangset and updated by Bård Kleppe and Mangset since 2008.

Senior researcher

Ola K. Berge is a Senior Researcher in Cultural Policy at the Telemark Research Institute, affiliated with the Research Group for Cultural Life and Cultural Policy Research. He holds an MA and PhD in Cultural Studies from the University of South-Eastern Norway. For more than 15 years, Berge has conducted research on cultural sociology and cultural policy, with particular emphasis on participation and inclusion, culture for children and youth, cultural professions, foreign cultural policy and diplomacy, and digital cultural practices. His PhD thesis examined the international cultural policy of Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Berge has led numerous research projects, surveys, and evaluations, and has authored several books, reports, and scholarly articles. From 2023 to 2026, he leads a national study on children’s participation in organized cultural activities commissioned by the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, and from 2025, a project on culture’s role in national preparedness and soft power.

Web: https://www.telemarksforsking.no/medarbeidere/ola-k-berge/90/?lang=en

Research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ola-Berge?ev=hdr_xprf