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Hedda Flatø

Researcher

Education

PhD, University of Oslo, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, 2020

MA, University of Oslo, Department of Political Science, 2011

BA, International Relations, University of Oslo, 2007

Chinese language studies, Huazhong Normal University, Wuhan and Renmin University, Beijing, 2008

Area of work

China; risk and vulnerability; environmental and social protection; health and welfare systems; popular legitimacy and political support


Fafo publications

Completed projects

Career Guidance for Newly-Arrived Migrants: Cooperation between Municipalities and Career Centres

Newly arrived refugees and immigrants have the right and obligation to receive career guidance shortly after settlement. How can county career centres and municipalities collaborate on this form of career guidance in a way that they consider successful?

Norwegian UN junior professionals

Commissioned by Norec, this project examines factors that can induce a higher proportion of Norwegian Junior Professional Officers (JPOs) to remain employed in the UN when their JPO assignments end. The project builds mainly on information from 7 key informants, in-depth interviews with 11 former and 2 current JPOs, and a questionnaire survey disseminated to 127 former and current JPOs. Data were collected in the second half of 2022. The project resulted in a Fafo report and a Fafo paper, which summarises the findings of the report.

Career guidance for newly arrived refugees and immigrants

According to the new Integration Act, refugees and immigrants have the right and/or obligation to carry out career guidance when they arrive in Norway. In this project, we examine how the offer of career guidance is organised, what strengths and weaknesses exist in the current models and how the offer can be further developed so that it best meets the needs of newly arrived refugees and immigrants.

Evaluating "Snakke" and "Jeg vet"

The overall objective of this project is to evaluate the implementation process as well as the effect of, and experiences with, two learning resources about violence and abuse against children: "Snakkemedbarn.no" (talk with children) and "Jeg Vet". (I know)

Living conditions among retirees and elderly

Increased life expectancy and changes in the pension system entail a need for updated and more knowledge about the living conditions of the elderly and pensioners. The purpose of this project is twofold. On the one hand, we want to deliver updated, relevant and quality-assured statistics on the elderly's income, health and living conditions. On the other hand, we will provide detailed analyzes in which we try to uncover possible causes for any differences.

Living conditions after the Sichuan earthquake

A major earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale hit Wenchuan County of Sichuan province on 12 May 2008. Its strength and its catastrophic impact made it among the strongest earthquakes recorded in the history of China as well as in the world.  In order to inform the planning of post-earthquake restoration and reconstruction, Fafo and its partner institution Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development (CASTED) were entrusted to conduct a rapid needs assessment of the affected population immediately after the earthquake, and to do three follow-up studies of living conditions in disaster areas in 2009, 2011 and 2017.

Knowledge building: Measures fighting negative social control and forced marriages

This is a research project in two parts: 1) an evaluation following a measure where young people exposed to negative social control, honour based violence and/or forced marriage - have access to mentors who are volunteers. 2) an examination of civil society projects supposed to promote negative social control and forced marriages. We are going to explore how organizations evaluate their measures and how users evaluate them. An important question is whether measures fit the ambitions of authorities, civil society and volunteers.

Chinese Perceptions of Distributive Justice

The research project “Towards a Chinese Welfare State: Chinese Perceptions of Distributive Justice” focuses on how Chinese citizens’ experiences, perceptions, norms and values relate to the development of China’s social security regime.

World Development Report 2013: Good jobs

The Perceptions of Good Jobs study has been conducted in order to better understand and explain how jobs are perceived in a number of selected countries. The report is primarily targeted to provide inputs towards the WDR 2013 and is part of a series of studies conducted on perceptions of good jobs in four countries: Colombia, China, Egypt and Sierra Leone. The main emphasis has been to explore the nature of jobs that affect living standards and enhance social cohesion.

Sustainable Development Indicators

The purpose of the project "Sustainable development indicators in China" was to strengthen policy formulation and governance through developing indicators of social and environmental sustainability in China.

Sichuan Earthquake Victim Survey

The project is a rapid assessment of the situation, characteristics and coping strategies of the population in Sichuan following the May 12, 2008 earthquake. A survey of about 4000 households is fielded the 40 most-affected counties. The project was carried out in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development.