Conference marks double cooperation – between Roskilde and Lund universities and between the associations of EUPRERA and LOKE

The international research conference on the interrelation between organization and society: “Legitimacy in a changing world” September 2007 is the result a double co-operation; partly between the universities of Roskilde in Denmark and Lund in Sweden; and partly between the associations of EUPRERA and of LOKE.

The main venue of the conference will be Roskilde University in Denmark (www.ruc.dk), while one day of the conference – Saturday, September 29, will take place at Lund University in Sweden (www.lu.se). For preliminary programme, see programme.

Although in different countries, the two universities are situated only one hour away from each other by the Øresund bridge (www.oeresundsbron.dk) via Copenhagen. The bi-national co-hosting of the conference is part of the general endeavours to further cooperation in the Øresund region across national borders. See map

The conference constitutes the 9^th annual EUPRERA congress and the 1^st LOKE conference. EUPRERA is the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (www.euprera.org). LOKE is the Nordic research network on organizational legitimacy (www.ruc.dk/pr/LOKE/ ).

The Nordic perspective has clearly influenced the theme of the conference. Historically, we can see essential similarities between the cultures and political systems within the Nordic countries. They are characterised by common democratic traditions, including freedom of expression, independent news media and non-hierarchical forms of coordination. Consequently, the interrelation between society and organisation, and the challenges and changes in society’s processes of legitimisation have high priority on the agendas of Nordic public research and education. Since the 1980es, public relation as a field of research and academic education has grown within Nordic university communities, and is growing more rapidly than ever. The approach is characterised by coupling together societal, organisational and individual dimensions, and by coordinating social scientist and humanist disciplines.

For more about the organisations behind the conference, see EUPRERA and LOKE.