This is how much UiO spent on a trip to Rome

Hosting a board meeting somewhere other than Blindern once every autumn has almost become tradition for the University of Oslo board. This year was no different, seeing as 21 people, including the board members and executives from the University, gathered for a seminar at the Norwegian Institute in Rome Sept. 12-13.

The price: 227,110 kroner.

Questioning a green reputation

According to the university’s own environmental report, UiO tallied 58 million kilometers of travel by plane in 2016. That’s almost four million kilometers more than the total from 2012.

Hashem Jafari, Green Party representative in the Welfare Council, thinks the university could take bigger environmental precautions when deciding upon locations for administrative events.

«The Green List has long been skeptical to the use of foreign venues when we have such good alternatives in Norway,» he said.

Jafari said there is no doubt that using foreign venues for seminars is more pricey than local alternatives. Combined with the environmental precautions, he claims holding board seminars abroad is unsustainable.

– «One expects the university to be a role model for the rest of the society when it comes to the environment,» he said.

This year, nearly half the budget was spent on hotel rooms and breakfast, while the rest was spent on travel costs and food.

Connecting the board and organization

University principal, Svein Stølen, did not want answer questions about why the seminar was arranged abroad.

«I’m strictly concerned with the contents of the seminar, that’s what I care about,» he said.

Stølen is, however, interested in talking about the purpose of the seminar.

«We wished to start off with a seminar, so that we can look at things as a whole, and at the same time let everyone discuss their own business. That way the board understands what the executives want, and we get to connect the organization with the board,» he explained.

«Not overly extravagant»

Henrik Paulsen Mandelid, student representative in the university board, attended his first seminar abroad this year. He talked about the seminar as a positive experience.

«The trip had more emphasis on content than most trips I’ve attended with the university,» he said, and stressed the importance of knowing ones colleagues well, especially when one’s workplace is riddled with «tough discussions.»

Mandelid claims he didn’t find the seminar more extravagant than that of normal seminars hosted by public institutions.

«We flew Norwegian Air Shuttle and ate at normal restaurants. In my view, it was a good mix of extravagance and restraint,» he said.

When asked about how this reflected on the university’s environmental impact, he was not overly concerned.

«Traveling by airplane is no doubt bad for the environment,» he said, «but I find it would be overly drastic to deny trips outside of Norway for that reason alone.» He emphasized the abroad seminars are only a fraction of the university’s environmental impact.